Keeping 2 Year Old in Bed - Frederick,MD

Hi Christa,

Get involved with a Mom's support group.

http://attachmentparenting.meetup.com

Keep putting her back to bed, religiously.

Good luck. D.

You have two real options here.
1. If you want her in the crib still, get a crib tent. This lovely device mounts to the top of the crib and zipps closed from the outside, thus safety and securely keeping your darling in. We used this with our son when we all shared a room in our tiny house. He howled the first two nights, but after jumping around a bunch, he went back to his usual routine. (he was 15 months at the time and we kept it on till he was over 2 I know, maybe two and half)

2. If you don't mind her moving up to a bed, convert the crib. However, invest in two door gates. If she is a climber, you will probably need one on top of the other to rangle her in her room. This is better alternative to just closing the door because often children feel trapped and scared when the solid door is shut. Tell her though that once she has been put to bed, you won't come running everytime she calls from the gates--and she willl--(and be prepared for her to sleep on the floor sometimes as she will fall asleep trying to get through the gates) Our first child did this. But as long as there is carpet in her room, it won't hurt her to sleep there. just throw a blanket over her if it is chilly or keep her in warm jammies. I know this sounds awful, that your child is sleeping on the floor, but really, it's not. She will soon decide that her bed is more cozy. Also, if you convert her crib, really make sure her dresser and bookshelf are bolted to the wall, and that there is NOTHING she can destroy or get hurt on, as she will be alone and could be a nightime explorer (my son once again LOL)

Best of luck!
A.- mom of 3, nanny for 16 years

For safety, yes, no more crib!!!! Absolutely.

The leaving bed is probably just toddler shenanigans - assuming you have ruled out potty problems, nightmares, pain, etc. Emphasize the "big girl" rules and routine. Maybe let her pick some new sheets or pillows to make it "her bed." Just be firm, my guess is she is testing you and her new found abilities. If this is your first child - this is what two-year olds do. 8pm is a great and appropriate bedtime for that age if not a little on the late side (depending on whenshe wakes in the morning). Keep at it - if you know she willup and procrastinating, start bedtime earlier. Have fun!

Yes! Change to a toddler bed! If she can get out of the crib anyway, she will. Chances are she'd be fine, since she's able and hasn't hurt herself so far, but you really don't want to take the risk that she'll fall on her head. I know with our daughter's bed, it said when she gets to 36? inches tall, maybe 32, to turn it into the toddler bed.

As to keeping her in the bed, simply tell her it's time to sleep, and when she gets out, calmly and quietly put her back in it. Repeat as needed. She is going to test you - and test you - and test you...She may do it ten times an evening, but keep at it, don't get frustrated or mad. I know, difficult, right!? You can do it though, and you'll be so proud of yourself in the end. Keep doing that and she WILL get the message. It shouldn't take that long, either, if you're consistent! And calm. Stay calm! If she's sees you out of control, she'll know she's won and you'll never have any peace.

-S. K

P.S. No tucking and cuddles past the first time you put her in! That's the attention she's looking for! And make her walk to the bed herself when you can, and put the blanket pack over herself helping only as much as absolutely necessary. Good luck!

I know exactly what you are going through! I am a mom of 3, 5yr, 21mos, & 12mos. My two oldest were switch from a crib to a toddler bed at age 2. It is hard but it should only take about a week if you are consistant. Just do your normal routine, my boys liked me reading to them in their bed. And then when she starts to get up after you leave the room then you just have to go back and put her back in bed. This might take an hour of just putting her back in bed until she finally gives in. Also, I went out and got their favorite character sheets to make it a fun! I did it wrong with my first, I would sit with him each time and talk to him but after watching the Nanny on TV, I did it a lot better with my second. After about 3 or 4 times of putting her back in her bed, don't say a word just help her in her bed and leave. It's hard but you will soon have your evenings back! Good luck, I hope this helps!

My daughter started hating naps and climbing out of her crib when she was 18 months. It scared me because once she fell, so I had to put bean bags outside of her crib to make sure she wouldn't hurt herself. I put her in a toddler bed and would lie down in her room until she fell asleep, then go to bed. It worked well, although now, she wants someone to be with her every night until she falls asleep, but I think 2 is definitely old enough for a toddler bed.

Yep,it's time to say farewell to the crib, as another responder said, for safety's sake. She could hurt herself climbing out--consider how long a fall it is, for a child her size, from the top rail of a crib. A friend's toddler broke an arm climbing out of a crib so I'm a supporter of getting them out as soon as they can climb out. Your child will indeed probably get up from a toddler bed, and you likely will not get back your evenings for a while as you gently but firmly return her to bed with loving but unequivocal "good-nights." It will be worth the effort and the many return journeys, though! She might stay in her room better if you put a CD player in there and have a few special bedtime-only CDs that only go on once her light is out -- soothing music (nothing too fast or loud) or even her favorite simple kids' books on CD that don't go on too long, so she falls asleep listening to them. That helped my daughter a lot as she loves music and stories. Good luck and be prepared to have quite a while of getting her to stay in bed --but you'll be glad if you can stay calm and firm about it.

You will have to reevaluated what is okay concerning her sleeping patterns. When my little ones start doing this I always begin leaving their doors opens with a baby gate up. That way I can see if they are climbing on any thing. But if they get up they play for a little while before realizing that it is sleep time and would fall asleep on the floor amongst their toys...after about a week they realized that getting out of bed in the middle of the night isn't all its cracked up to be and they begin to stay in bed. The trick is not to make them feel like it is a big deal or else they will desire to do it.

If she's climbing out of her crib, put her in a bed TONIGHT. If you don't have a bed available, put the crib mattress on the floor or something. I watched my son climb out of his crib at 18 months old, landing flat on his face. Too many little kids are injured that way... some of them seriously. You may not be ready for the transition, but she is, and she won't slow down now! (Sorry to say.) Our crib is a transitional crib... we just took off the one side and lowered the mattress way down, so it was like a toddler bed. He got to pick out new sheets and a pillow and we had the whole discussion about how big boys in big boy beds stay in their own beds all night long. We still have the occasional midnight visitor, (he's four next month) but after the initial struggle, he's really done well. You have to make it her special place to sleep and be consistant with putting her back to bed. I think it's the novelty of being able to get up out of bed that does it and if she's inclined to do it, you just have to teach her how to stay in bed. I've heard it recommended that you push bedtime later 1/2 hour so she's really tired and will sleep sooner works... we tried it, but had a hard time inching that back to a reasonable time. Good luck. It's a big change for you and her!

If your daughter is climbing out of her crib I would definitely recommend the switch just for her safety. As far as keeping her in her own bed, I'm sorry but I have no advice. My oldest is 5 and he was probably 4 before he started staying in his own bed completely through the night. We haven't made the switch yet for my youngest, he just turned 2 a few weeks ago. Good luck!

Hi Christa,

I would definitely transition your daughter to a toddler bed at this time. There is no humane way to keep her in her crib and she will be a lot safer in a toddler bed than she will be climbing out of her crib. If you come up with a really good consistant bed time routine that can really help. I have a two year old son and at 7 we do diaper, pjs, teeth brushing, kisses, and then up to his bed where he has exactly three stories. Then we give him a kiss and say " Goodnight, it's time to sleep now". Then we leave the room. The first time he gets out of bed we gently pick him up and put him back and say "it's time to sleep". We don't respond in any other way. The next time and any consecutive times he gets out of bed we put him back gently and calmly with no words and no reactions. The first two nights we did this he threw hellatious fits and we had to put him back to bed 15-20 times. Now he goes to bed without a fight and stays there. Good luck!

J. T.

Christa,

Welcome to the wonderful world of two's. At about 18 months my son jumped out of his crib, only to land on his 3-year old sister's back. At least he was smart enough to find a soft landing. At that point, we had to put him in a toddler bed. We were concerned about his safety in his room, so we took out anything that could hurt him; basiclly all he has is a bed and dresser and his toys. What is our saving grace is a very tall safety gate that keeps him in his room a bedtime. It has work wonderfully for the last year and a half. Just make sure you place the latch on the outside so she can't climb out.

M. C

hi there

i had this problem when my son was 10 months old. he climed out of his crib and hurt himself but mostly scared himself big time. at this point we converted his bed to a todla bed. for the most part he would sleep in his bed no problems but then he started to get out and wonder around. so we shut his bedroom door. now he can open his door we have put a gate in the door jam and close the door also so if he opens the door he cant get out of his room.

there was a period where he would just play for hours so we picked everything up and put it where he couldnt reach it. that even ment taking it out of the room.

you need to tell them that they are growing up and that she should go to bed when told and that she can play in bed for a little while but that she must stay in bed. they will some times fall asleep on the floor, if this happens one of two things will happen either you will put them back into bed when you go to bed or the will wake up enough to climb into bed by themself.

also i read my sons bedtime story to him in his bed he likes that.

well i hope this helps. just remember they usually tell us when they are ready for the next stage and this is a sign.

You've got to switch her to the next bed before she falls. It might take a few nights of you putting her back in bed but she'll get used to it. Welcome to the next stage!

if you have a good bedtime routine, stick to it. if not, start one now, one that gives her plenty of warning that it's approaching and lots of love and warmth when it arrives. then each time she gets up AFTER the snuggly-wuggly routine, gently and firmly return her to bed. no snugglies (so it won't be appealing to continue) and no variance (which will foster hope that this time will be the exception.)
it might SEEM long while you establish this, but it won't be and all of you will be happier.
khairete
S.

we loved the crib tent. After watching my niece - she climbed out of her crib so they put her in a toddler bed before she was two - she would NOT stay in her bed and she didn't sleep through the night until she was 4 (and neither did her parent), I swore that I wouldn't go through that. So when my son jumped out of his crib at 16 months, we got a crib tent and he slept comfortably in his crib until he was 2.5 then went straight to a twin bed with a bed rail...we never needed a toddler bed.