Climbing Out of Pack and Play

Updated on March 03, 2008
L.D. asks from Bristow, VA
24 answers

We went on vacation over the weekend and found out our daughter can climb out of her pack and play. We actually had to lay with her in the bed until she fell asleep which took an hour and 1/2 one night and an hour the next. She doesn't crawl out of her crib yet (knock on wood). We are planning another trip in April. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get her to sleep without laying with her for hours? We most likely won't take the pack and play since she'll climb out of it anyway. She's never particularly liked it either.

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So What Happened?

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions on how to handle my daughter climbing out of her pack and play. She really hasn't attempted to climb out of her crib yet so we are going to wait on transitioning her to a toddler bed. We have decided to get her a blow up type of toddler bed for our vacation at the end of April. Thanks again for everyone's input!

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A.V.

answers from Washington DC on

There is a product called CozyKids or something like that- it's a mesh netting arch that goes over the crib and the pack and play (you have to get two of them). If you google "crib tent" or "pack and play tent" it usually pops up. My friend ordered it from WalMart.com but I think Amazon has it as well. There are other options for travel- PeaPod travel bed and Phil and Ted's travel bed- both are air mattresses with tent coverings and the child is zipped in. Good luck!

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J.L.

answers from Washington DC on

My daughter used to be the same way! I put her in a toddler bed and gave her a special blanket, and told her that it was her very own special big girl bed! We were in a house and/or condo so she had a room that she slept in, so we blocked her in with baby gates! If you are in a hotel room sometimes you can rent cribs, but it will be harder to get her to fall asleep. since you will be in the room with her! I hope this helps!

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E.M.

answers from Washington DC on

Depending on where you are going, you may be able to rent a crib. Many hotels have cribs and if you're going to a resort destination you may find a company that provides rental equipment. Good luck.

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A.R.

answers from Norfolk on

Our daughter is almost two and when she started climbing out of her crib we switched to a toddler bed. We didn't want to take the chance that she would climb out with us not around and get hurt. It will take a few nights and tries, but what you might have to do is put your daughter down in a toddler bed and if she gets up or fusses, go right back in and lay her down. On Supernanny, they use the 1st time, say, "it's time for bed, I love you"...2nd time, "It's time for bed"(again, putting the child back in ther bed)...after that you say nothing and just keep putting the child back in their bed. It worked for us, and I hope I helped in some way. Good Luck!

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A.F.

answers from Washington DC on

My twin boys began climbing out of their cribs very earl on. So I bought a mesh crib tent (sold by OneStepAhead. It securely fastens to the top of the crib and has a zipper to open and close it, with a tiny pocket on the outside to tuck the zipper pull into so little finger cannot manipulate it. My boys are very crafty and they never could figure out how to open the tents. They are very high, so toddlers can still stand up and even jump up and down in their cribs without touching the top. It works beautifully. If you can take a crib with you on your next trip, or better yet, rent one where you are going, you can then take the tent with you and attach it. It is easy to install and 100% safe if properly installed. I have rented cribs on trips myself and they will deliver the cribs to the place where you are staying and they will also pick it up when you are finished with it. If you are staying in a hotel, hotels offer cribs as well. Here are links for the crib tent and for crib rentals (and a whole slew of other baby rentals):

Crib Tent http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/search.jsp?N=0&Nt...

Crib Rental:
http://www.babysaway.com/products/portable-cribs.html

There are hundreds of rental places for cribs and other stuff. So I would just do a google search for one in the area you are visiting.

I hope I was helpful. I have traveled a lot with my twin boys and have tried just about everything (including trying to keep them in pack n plays and laying with them until they fall asleep. At one point, I switched to a small tent with blow-up kiddie beds for each of them. I hung a battery powered night lite in the top of the tent and locked the tent zippers on the outside. It was their own little portable bedroom and they LOVED it. I even played soft music outside the tent to soothe them. But, of course, you have to be somewhere a tent will fit (large living room or bedroom). It worked for me most places, and where it didn't... I rented cribs. My boys were doing summersaults from one pack n play to the other and cracking themselves up. It was very frustrating.

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L.D.

answers from Norfolk on

For our family, our son was climbing out of his crib by 10 months, and first escaped from the pack and play around 1 1/2 on vacation, like yours, and had a similar experience with the long, long time it took to settle him down. We began to travel with his toddler bed mattress (same thing as crib mattress), made up with his own sheets and blanket and a special pillow that he loves. It's lightweight and easier to transport than a pack and play, and he never had trouble adjusting to it from the first night we tried it on vacation. The trick is to find a room where you are vacationing that is as childproof as possible (we bring a monitor also) so you can close her in so she can settle to sleep without distraction. This has worked for us both in sharing a room (as long as he's asleep before we enter the room to go to bed, or he wants to sleep with us), and in rooms by himself overnight. Best of luck!

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T.M.

answers from Washington DC on

Hi L.,

My kids were climbers and I got those tent covers for the bed and the play yard where it looks like a big canopy and you have a zipper to open it up. It keeps the pets out and while it is not totally destruction proof, it works great when they are small and slows them down a lot when they are older.

Teresa

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P.F.

answers from Norfolk on

For travel, we have two PeaPod Plus Travel Beds for our 21 month old daughters. They are basically little pop-up tents. They are fun, and portable, and so easy to travel with. I got ours at Traveling With Kids dot com.
http://www.travelingwithkids.com/proddetail.php?prod=711&...

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A.T.

answers from Norfolk on

I would let her stay up later, so she will be more tired when you lay her down, and don't let her take a nap during the day, so she will be tired when its time to lay down. Also putting her in a place that is dark and quiet helps also.

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L.B.

answers from Washington DC on

My son was jumping out of the crib at 16 months. He never liked pack and plays either. I got a crib tent for his crib and it was great. When he eventually moved to his big boy bed, we got him a bed tent (through Target.com - looks like a train)to help him with the transition. He loves it. Two and a half years later, he still has the bed tent and every time a friend comes over, they start begging their moms to get one for them,too!

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A.

answers from Washington DC on

Both my sons we the same way. Nothing we tried could keep them in the p-n-p. One friend would actually make a nest on the floor and turn the p-n-p up-side down over their kid.
We just got to the point of one of us sleeping on the floor and the other in bed with the kid.

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M.A.

answers from Washington DC on

Most hotels offer a crib that they will roll into your room that she may not be able to climb out of - you can bring your own sheets for the crib. If you are staying with family or friends I am not sure how you would do it other than lay with her.

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S.S.

answers from Lynchburg on

I switched my son to a blow up bed. You can get them at Walmart or Toys R Us. Kinda like a sleeping bag blow up deal. After a while he really took to it. Practice at home. If it doesnt work at least he is only inches away from the floor and not feet. Good luck

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C.H.

answers from Washington DC on

My kids have done the same! I have a 6 year old, 4 year old and 10 mo. old. When we travel, we make sure we keep up the bedtime routine - pjs, brush teeth, read books (one per kid), prayers, kisses and hugs, lights out. We have special sleeping bags that we bring and put them on the floor. The kids bring their pillows and blankies and one stuffed animal (I'm a little tough, but it would be too devistating to leave an animal behind at the hotel!). We call it having a sleep over and the kids love it. Make it fun and they seem to play by the rules. We also start around 7 PM for an 8 PM bedtime when we're on the road because they are very excited to be in a new place and it takes time to calm them down. We started doing this with the two older ones ever since they were just over a year because they would flip over the pack-n-play (and my daughter didn't hit 20 lbs. until 18 months so you can see how much she wanted out!).

We had to transfer the 6 yr. old out of her crib and into a bed when she was 18 mo. old. because she would flip herself out of the crib. We had to transfer the 4 yr. old. out of his crib at 18 mo., too, becuase he would do the same and more which was very dangerous. I bought side rails for a full size bed in each room and we still use them (I'm a little over protective).

Good luck!

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M.A.

answers from Washington DC on

Hi L.!
This is just a thought - When my son was about 2 1/2 he suddenly wouldn't sleep in his crib at night or even nap time, but he would sleep on the sofa or our bed. We were stumped for a bit, then I thought maybe the crib felt to confining. So we took the crib down, bought just a mattress, but it on the floor and he slept like a rock. We only bought the mattress at first so he wouldn't get hurt trying to get in and out of bed. Maybe your daughter feels the same way. As far as vacation, if you find this works for your daughter, most hotels have the folding beds and you could just take the mattress off of that for her.

Like I said, it's just a thought for you. Good luck.

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A.R.

answers from Washington DC on

Most hotels have cribs that they can set up for you if you as, usually at no extra charge. One caveat- sometimes they use pack-and-plays, so that does not always work if that is an issue. You could also try telling her "no" and sticking around to remind her in a firm voice every time she starts to try to climb out. She'll eventually tire of it and go to sleep probably. Good luck.

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S.A.

answers from Richmond on

You can't keep a good kid down. Don't start something you don't want to finish. Give her a bath right before bed time,
tell her a good night story,then her prayers,now turn the light out and say good night.This is from a mother of 1 and a grandmother of 4 I am old school.

Good Luck

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M.M.

answers from Washington DC on

We had this problem with my son when he was 2 as well. We tried lots of ideas but the only one that worked was using a crib tent with the pack and play. He liked it - it was like a cool fort for him - and the best part was he couldn't clib out. :-) Good luck! 2 is a tricky ages for travelling - especially with curious little people.

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J.K.

answers from Washington DC on

I think a crib tent is the way to go. My sister has a climber in her daycare. I bought her a tent for the little boy's pack in play and he does well with it. He sleeps great with my sister, but he climbs out of his toddler bed all night when he's with his parents. Good luck.

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B.B.

answers from Norfolk on

My daughter started climbing out of her crib when she was about 11 or 12 months old. I did not have a pack in play, but I did have the old style play pins with her and she would climb out of that as well. If this was the first time that you had stayed in a hotel or traveled she might have been scared of the new place and wanted to be by her parents. You could try reading a book, singing a song, rocking her a little, or giving her a warm bath before you put her to bed when you travel. Also, you could move the pack n play closer to your bed so that she feels more comfortable and giving her something from home would also help with the comfort. When put our daughter in a toddler bed she was almost 2yrs old. She stayed in it all night long and did not get up. Another thing that we did when we traveled was (since we did not have a pack n play) get a room with double beds and give her, her own bed with pillows all around her. She will feel more independent this way. We did this with our daughter since she was 5 1/2 months old. She never fell off the bed once because of the pillows. The hotel will always give you extra pillows and blankets if you ask for them. You can even put some pillows on the floor around her just incase she would happen to fall off the bed she would be hitting some cushion. Well, I hope that all the advice that you have been given works out for you.

Good Luck!

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T.H.

answers from Norfolk on

they have pack n plays with lids. other than that get her good and tired and then lay with her.

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J.B.

answers from Norfolk on

I am a mother of 4 and you are about to embark on another stage of parenting. At this age you should be transitioning her to a toddler bed. This will get her use to sleeping in a bed while visiting others. Make it a fun time and talk about being a "big kid". Get one with a rail to help her stay in at first. I would suggest NOT laying down with her at home from the start or you will find yourself in their every night. Have patience with this stay as they will now have the freedom to come out of the room at night. Good Luck

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S.R.

answers from Washington DC on

Hi there! I have a daughter who is almost 3 and a son who will be 1 tomorrow. We moved our daughter to a full size bed when she was about 1 1/2 since we knew that we would be needing the crib for our son. She got to "help" paint her new room and watched us moving the furniture in, etc so she was very excited about her new room. She also has lots of stuffed animails in there so she had "friends" close by too. :) Anyway, we also started using a reddybed (inflatable kids bed) when we were away from home. She never had any trouble. Reddybeds are great because they're all ready on the floor- you don't have to worry about them falling out. Ours is a toddler version which has little bumpers on the sides. We also set up the reddybed in our living room and let her wallow in it before we took our first outing so that it would not be new to her. If she is able to crawl out of the pack n play then my thought is that she's probably ready for a "big girl" bed. Our daughter also got to help pick out the reddybed so it had a theme that she liked and that helped with her being excited to try out somethig new. I've seen some reddybeds on craigslist, but we got ours at Costco- so they're not too hard to find if you decide to go that route. The biggest benefit that we saw from the reddybed is that it is SO much easier to transport than the pack n play!!! Good luck!! :)

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S.E.

answers from Lynchburg on

Your daughter may've just felt out of sorts all of a sudden. For your next vacation, simply take the P&P mattress w/sheet and try placing it on the floor. This way you won't have to worry about your little one falling on the floor. Unfortunately, some children become a bit worried when they are in new surroundings. Hopefully with encouragement from the family, she will enjoy her next "adventure" away.
:-)

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