Lil' Climber

It may be safer to move to the next step. For all three of my kids, after the child showed signs of climbing out of the crib, we moved into the mattress on the floor stage and then eventually to bed with rails.

They make these great tent-like things you can put over the crib that fastens inside and zips up so they can't get out. I have a good friend with two year old climb-y triplets, and they are a life saver at their house.

It also seems that the more you 'try', the worse it may get, as he is learning that if he cries you will stay with him. He may have a bit of separation anxiety, and when I had those problems with my son, I simply let him cry it out. It was really hard to hear him scream, but after 3 difficult day, he knew I wasn't going to come get him, no matter how much noise he made.

He has to know that bedtime is bedtime, and not temper tantrum time. I don't know if this is helpful or not, but i wish you the best of luck, and can ask about he name of the crib tent things if you'd like me to.

Good luck!

A.,

We moved our twin girls into toddler beds at 17 months. They aren't climbers, but they would bounce up and down on their crib mattresses so hard I was afraid they'd bounce right out! We really didn't have any trouble transferring them to big girl beds. They each fell out one time, but then that was it. Age wise, your son is fine to move to a toddler bed.

Convert the bed immediately. It's time.

He's definately ready for the toddler bed. it's not a good idea to keep climbers in cribs - that's how they get hurt. Chances are that he is going to climb out of bed at sleep-times anyway, but just put him in bed and leave the room closing the door behind you, so that he stays in his room. If he happens to fall asleep on the floor, so be it. Our daughter slept on the floor for about 6 months. So we bought her a sleeping bag, and she liked that. I would also give her some stuffed animals to sleep with in bed - that helped keep her in bed sometimes too. Good Luck!

We're having the same problems with our 2 year old.

We got the crib tent ($80 at the Right Start, but I think you can find it elsewhere for alot less). It should work with your crib even if it converts. So far it has worked well with our son -- he actually likes -- seems to think it makes his crib into some sort of fort.

Now we need to figure out how to prevent him from climbing into his high chair, into his siblings' crib, and onto the kitchen counter ;-)

Hi A.,
If your son can climb out of his crib then yes, I would say it is definitely time for the toddler bed. Keeping him in the crib is not going to do anything but maybe get him hurt from climbing out and tire you out from stopping him.
Good luck,
J. J.

will he sleep elsewhere? if so, i'd say convert to a toddler bed. my 22 month old sometimes sleeps with her sister in my older duaghter's full size bed and we have no problems with that (as far as falling go). when the baby wakes up, she gets out of bed and comes into me, no big deal. it seems like it might be worth a try so he doesn't climb out of the crib or get caught or fall.

Climbing like that scares me. My daughter broke her arm severly on her first attempt at 15 months to climb out of her crib. She had to have surgery to rebreak and re set.

I beleive in toddler beds as soon as they are about 18 months...or if they tend to climb and be "monkey like" sooner. I say 18 months because you never know when they will start to climb. (like my daughter on her first attempt)

As long as the room is baby proofed and furniture screwed to the wall with safety belts (for climbing)...a gate at the door suffices as a wandering deterent. He is almost 2 and can start learning early that his bed, is for sleeping. I didn't have to many problems with that phase.
There was a time when I had two kids in toddler beds in the same room (13 months apart in age)and what worked for me, and can work for you and your son if he has issues staying in bed....is sitting outside his door (out of sight) and reacting IMMEDIATLY if he gets out of bed. I told my girls they were not allowed to get out of the bed and goof around. we did a routine which included reading etc and then it was time for lights out and to go to sleep. If they wandered they knew I was right outside and would catch them. I only did this about a week, then they just started thinking I was going to catch them and that I would be there every night and eventually laid there till they fell asleep...so I wouldn't "catch" them getting out of bed.

Time for the toddler bed! Or just put the mattress on the floor.

Our daughter was also about that age when she realized she could hoist her leg over the rail and let herself drop down. We tried the toddler bed, but she seemed scared and asked for the crib. What worked for us was an extra large sleep blanket (looks like a sleeping bag that zips up the front with sleeveless arm holes at the top). I read on another forum that this worked. It worked for many months until she mastered the zipper, but even then she still asks for the sleep blanket. She stopped trying to excape. She's 26 months now and with a two story house (we have gates up!), I feel much more comfortable with her in a crib until she's more receptive to the toddler bed. But we do have the toddler bed assembled in her room waiting for her to ask.

I got a crib tent when my middle son started climbing out of his crib at around 15 months. He wasn't ready for a toddler bed, and I wasn't ready to have him potentially roaming around the house at night when everyone else was asleep. (If he could climb out of his crib, he could also climb over a gate in his doorway.)
Once he got used to it, the tent worked great for us - it also made bedtime and naptime easier. One he got zipped in he knew he wasn't going anywhere, so he'd just lay down and go to sleep. I also think having the tent made him feel more secure.

My son hated the crib!!!! At 12 months he Refused to sleep in it, and screamed whenever it looked like we were going to put him in it. We let him cry it out for 2 weeks (no one slept for more than 20 minutes during that time), but he got the hang of making himself throw up after 5 minutes of crying so it was no longer worth keeping him in it. I got him a fold out foam couch on the floor for $20 which he slept in till 16months, at which point he was big enough to go to a big boy bed. I avoided the toddler beds because the expense wasn't worth it to me. I didn't want to spend that kind of money on furniture that would be used for only two years. He does much better in his bed and while he can open doors and walk out of his room and into mine when he wakes, it's easier to get him back in bed and we get a lot more sleep. Just baby proof the heck out of his room, and if the bedrooms are on an upstairs level, put a gate up at the top of the stairs. I always heard that when they can climb out, it's time to graduate, so I think its a safe bet your little one is letting you know he's over it. Granted cribs are easier when you can keep them contained, but even with the covers and tents, injuries can happen easily.

sounds to me like he's ready for a bed. the trickiest part of this will be making sure that when he gets out of bed in the morning and after naps (which he certainly will) that his room isn't too enticing. i know that my little one would destroy her room at this point if she were trying to get out of the bed :) good luck!!

Yep! Put him in a bed! Convert his bed and use siderails. If he continues to get out of bed, you need to continue to silently walk him back to his room, kiss him, say goodnight (or see you when the sun comes up!) and leave the room. I promise you you'll have to do it at least 50 times the first night, and it'll be hard for you to do it but it'll work. In a few nights he'll get back into his good sleeping habits. He's getting a lot of your attention by crying and screaming - you rocking him, sitting on his floor, peeking in. The bed is probably a safer place since he's climbing out - so why not cry and scream? He has good reasons for doing it right now, he gets you!

I got our crib tent from walmart.com...it shipped to my house in 2 days...I couldn't find one in any local stores....IT WORKS GREAT....and even though our crib is the type with a solid back wall (ideally the crib tent attaches to the front and back railings) my FIL attached a rod along the back wall to attach the crib tent to)...it is a life saver...DS is only 2 and we are not prepared to have him roam..he's a climber, investigator, and fearless! It's the Cozy Tent...it was about 42.00, but I've seen the exact same item much higher on other websites...I guess price isn't always that important when you're desperate!

B.