Need Advise - Seattle,WA

i know maturity levels are different but we moved our daughter out of the crib at 18 months.
I have a friends kid who broke his collar bone the first time he climbed out.
We did consider leaving her in the crib with the side down so there is a small rail, but if she climbs out the fall isn't as high. We often think of cribs by a certain age don't work but think more of their height. If their armpits are easily over the crib rail on the beds lowest setting they could easily climb out.

There is a real possibility she will fall out again and hurt herself, so I would just move her to a toddler bed and see what that brings. No doubt, she will relish the new found freedom and spend her time popping in and out of bed...we'll wait for that request to come through! *Smiles*

All four of my kids were moved into a toddler bed before they were 2 as they were all monkeys and walked early and the cot side proved useless early on.

The most likely problem with your daughter being able to get out of her bed at night will be her wandering into your room. At least, that is the scenario in my family. I know of families that locked their children's doors at night but personally, that didn't feel right for me.

Good luck!

Cheers,

C.

My oldest son was 18 months when he climbed out of his crib! We opted for a twin bed with a safety gate instead of a toddler bed (why waste the money!). They can of course get out of bed and while it's a pain for a little while, they DO get used to staying in their beds (although you may have a little one trying to climb in YOUR bed sometimes :-) ). Since you are expecting another one, it may be a good idea to move her to a big girl bed BEFORE baby comes...the transition from baby bed to big boy bed was a lot easier for my son when baby wasn't there yet. He was completely unattached to his crib by the time the new baby was here and ready to take it over. It went SO smoothly that we transitioned our second son to a twin bed at 18 months also since we are expecting boy #3 at the end of this month!
*Keep in mind though, that it IS a change for them and it will be a little difficult at first for your little girl because of the freedom a big girl bed offers! :-)

If you really don't want to get a toddler bed, I have seen "crib tents" that you that enclose the whole crib area for saftey.

If you have another baby coming in May then this might be a good thing. Now you can use the crib for your new baby, unless you can make it into a toddler bed now and have another crib for the baby. Our 18m old daughter is a big climber and I am sure that by the age of 2 she will also be climbing out of her crib. It isn't safe for them to be in a crib after they can climb out so it's time for a toddler bed. You can find toddler beds and door gates on Craigslist for very little $$. Once they can get out of bed you need to keep them in their room at night. It's not safe for them to roam the house. If they can open doors then you will need a door gate for the bedroom.

Wow! 2 years old! you're lucky in my eyes. I have a little boy and you want to talk about a monkey, He climed out of his crib before he was 1 year old. He was walking at almost 10 months and has always been a climber. He is 18 months old now and just mastered climbing over the gate at grandmas house. The one at the bottom of the stairs to keep him downstairs. Now she is going to have to put up 2, one on top of each other. The only thing I can suggest to you is to go ahead and get him a toddler bed or if you don't want to waste your money on one of those since they grow out of them so fast, you could get a twin bed and get those bed railings that they sell I forget what they call them but there is a pole like bar on each end that folds down and slides in between the mattress and box spring and creates a side rail for the bed that is high enough that the kid won't fall out of the bed if she rolls over to far. it leaves an opening just at the head portion of the bed. you can get 1 for 1 side of the bed id the other is against the wall or get 1 for each side of the bed if you like the bed in middle of the room. If you don't want to deal with getting those then a twin mattress (or any size for that matter) on the floor works well too. Then get one of those no climb gates. The ones that have either clear or frosted plastic window like area for the middle part of the gate (hopefully you know what I am talking about)I just bought one for the top of my stairs that can be pressure mounted or hard mounted and can swing both ways if put in a door way or it swings 1 way if on stairs. Any way put that up in his bedroom door way so that if she gets up in middle of the night she can only roam her room (which should be baby proofed and safe, I assume) hopefully your room is close enough that if she stands there crying you will be able to hear her. If its not then just go back to using the monitor if you are not still using it already.Good luck in finding the right solution. if you try this one I hopoe it works as well for you as it has for me.

We moved both of our kids to a twin size bed when they were 13months and 15 months and love having done it so early. Sounds like she is ready...kids can get injured badly if they fall out of the crib.

I have two kids ages 8 and 4. Both of my children could climb out of the crib by the age of 2. I personally think it better to get her in a toddler bed then risk her falling trying to get out of the crib. If you are worried about her getting up while you are sleeping and getting into things you could try putting some bells or something that makes noise on her door so you could hear it when she wakes up. If your room isn't close enough to hers to hear them try using a baby monitor. For me, my kids didn't usually go anywhere when they woke up other than straight to my room to crawl in bed with me and wake me up.
GOOD LUCK!!
CK

Hi J.! My kids are only 15 mos apart, so my son got moved to the toddler bed around 14 mos (we didn't want to kick him out after she got there). We we opted for the toddler bed because we could use his crib mattress and they had to share a room so it saved on space. Then we only had to worry about him climbing into the crib to see his sister:-) We did use a baby gate to keep him in their room and it worked great. You'll probaby want to make sure to remove anything like ointments, baby lotions, etc from the room (if you keep them in there), because they do get into things. Good luck to you!

Hi,

I have a little monkey too! She climbed out of her crib and over the babygate. I went ahead and put her in a "big girl" bed because I was afraid she would hurt herself climbing over the crib. I also put one of those child proof door handle things on the inside of her room. She was getting up and walking around the house at night while we slept. If your little one doesn't climb babygates then you could just babygate her doorway. She still gets out of bed, but at least I can hear her trying to open the door and get up to put her back to bed.

I'm guessing someone already posted this.. but you can buy crib tents. They cover the top/sides so they can't get out;-)

Hi J.
My Son was out of the crib and in a toddler bed at two. We did not have any problems with him (lucky us) getting out and wondering, I just told him he could not get out of bed until I came and got him. I have friends that put a baby gate on the door so they could still hear their children but they could not get out until they came and got them. Good Luck!

My son crawled out of his crib before he was two. Keep her in her crib for a while longer. You can put pillows or soft blankets on the floor around it if you are worried she will get hurt. I agree that the toddler bed at two is too early, however it depends on your daughters personality. if you think she can handle staying in it and still going to sleep then go for it, but if, like me, you know she will just keep getting up and exploring then keep her in her crib. She will continue to climb out, but it will be a deterent for her and if she is tired she won't want to do it. We kept out son in his crib until he was close to three years old even though he could climb out. He stayed in it to sleep then when he woke up he would climb out and come get us. He never got hurt climbing out of his crib. If nothing else if will give her good climbing confidence and she will be less likely to hurt herself climbing on the playground. Just make it safe for her and she will be fine.

Hi J.,
All 3 of my kids went into their toddler beds when they were 18 months. Believe it or not, it's not that hard of a transition (maybe the first night). I recommend putting a "knob lock" on the inside of your childs door so that 1. they can't get out and 2. you will hear them if they try to. My kids, but especially my daughter, were really excited for their big kid bed. Good luck :)

Hi J. - Before our boys were born we were given a crib tent because we have cats in the house & I did not want them sleeping with the kids when they were babies. It was a good thing that we had that tent because both of my boys were able to climb out of their crib way too early. The nice part is I could zip up the cover and know that they were safe. We were also doing remodeling on our home and their room did not have a door on it at the time so it was the best way to make sure they were safe no matter what. When they were a little bigger we moved them straight to a twin mattress but just had that on the floor with no box or frame under it. This way if they "fell out" it was only a few inches. Dot waste your money on a toddler bed, they grow way too quick. Just get a regular twin & put a plastic cover over it to help with any future "accidents" when potty training. Hope this helps, take care

My daughter trasitioned at this age to a toddler bed. It has to happen sooner or later and the tendency to explore is a kid thing so waiting till she's older won't solve that problem (ie all the requests on how to keep kids in bed on here *winks*). Toddler beds are very low to the ground and usually have side rails to help with the transition. My daughter trainsitioned to a regular, twin bed without any issues at two. It really is 18 mo to 2 years that kids start climbing out of the crib and once they start they don't stop.

If you are really worried about her falling out of bed take the toddler mattress and put it on the floor (a toddler mattress is the same as a crib mattress so you just use the crib mattress). You will probably have a bit of a fight on your hands and a few weeks of putting her back in bed. Mine actually had no problems and stayed in bed, but that's just her personality (my son was a nightmare! but kids are not usually as difficult as him anyhow).

If you are worried about her leaving her room at night put a childproofing devise on the inside of her door - she'll yell for you if she really need something but if she's bored this will usually just deter her back to bed. Our son is special needs and he would spend the night pulling all the food out of the fridge or breakng glass items (yikes!). We also had a two story and the rooms were on the second floor (of course). For his safety we put one of those door thingys on the inside of his door and he'd just go back to bed.

At any rate she's telling she's ready for a regular bed and the responsibility of learning to stay in bed. Just stay consistent and it will happen. Best of luck!

Hi there,

My Daughter is 16mo and she has climed out once but thankfully hasn't figured out how to do it again :) Her crib turns into a day bed so we are thinking about making the transition. I too am nervouse because like you said she will go exploring before we wake up. My plan is to make sure everything in her room is safe if she does decide to get up earlier than the rest of us but we are going to put the baby gate in her doorway so she can't go any further than her room until everyone is up for the day. We might even get more sleep this way because she won't cry when she wakes up if she is able to play. Maybe you could try the baby gate. Good luck :)

Both my kids were climbing out of their crib before they were 1. You are lucky you got as long as you did. My son fell out of the converted crib, so we ended up getting him a twin mattress and build a low frame for it. My daughter is sleeping in the day bed that the crib converts into, and has yet to fall out.

Every kid is different! Do what you feel is safe for yours!

I agree with the other moms. I moved my daughter straight to a twin bed at 14 months (she walked at 8 1/2 months and was physically advanced), she was ready. We had a safety rail up and never had a problem. Once she learned how to open the door she would generally come down to our bedroom. We are such light sleepers (or accustomed to the sound) we would wake up at the sound of her door opening (you could always put a bell on the door). Our son we put him in a twin at 18 months and he loves it. Again we are using a rail and he doesnt know how to open the door yet so he just gives us a holler when he wakes up...He doesnt ever get out of his bed, but if he did that would be alright, no harm in playing quietly, giving mommy and daddy a few more minutes of sleep.
The hardest part of the transition is the thought that they are growing up! If she is crawling out of the crib, it is definitely time for a bed. And dont waist your money on a toddler bed. :)

My suggestion would be not to spend money on a toddler bed. If you wish to buy a bed now, I would just buy the mattress of a full or twin bed (whatever you would see her in in the future). Do not buy a bed frame yet. Just place the mattress on the floor. Many of the kids bed frames don't require boxsprings anyhow. And, if you were to need one later, you can buy it then.

We were also concerned about safety outside of her room, so I took a pressure mounted safety gate and put it in her doorway. Basically she couldn't get out of her room, but it wasn't like the door was closed and locked on her. She could call out if needed and I could hear her. Yours may be more of a monkey and try to climb out, but who's to know. I made sure we had toys in her room, books, etc. and spoke to her about staying in her room; rewarded her for that behavior. Later when she was consistently staying in (e.g., showing no signs of trying to get out in middle of night), I took down the gate and put it at the top of the stairs, so I could protect against her going down; and made sure her level was completely child-proof. She didn't go digging around the rooms anyhow, just enjoyed her room until I went and got her in the morning. She is 4 now, and still has great bedtime,room-time, quiet time and morning habits.

Hope that helps.

Toddler beds are a rip off...unless you have money to burn or come from a VERY petite family...don't bother. When it's time just go for a twin or a full and put the matress on the floor and raise it gradually, or put a guardrail up.

In the meantime:

You can *probably* depending on the type of crib either take the side off entirely, or at least lower it. Do so...that solves the fear of injury while falling.

Second: it's time to toddler-proof and babygate/dog-gate. Make her room a safe place to be all by herself. Then gate her doorway so she can't get out at night. These gates should be able to work even if the door is shut.

If she's a real climber you may need two gates across her door. An easier solve is a Great Dane type dog gate (they're MUCH taller). Some even have latches so that you can swing them open and just walk through. The "solve" on her using the latch herself to open the door? Tie off or lock it.

She is at a good age to break into a Toddle Bed. She wont fall out of it and if she gets up in the night. Chances are she will head straight for you bed.
With a new baby coming it will be so much easier for you to only have one child in a crib. Less lifting for you and she can help like a "Big Sister". It will make her feel more involved.
Good luck and God Bless you & your family

Hi J.

My first daughter was a total independent and climbed out at 13 months. We didn't want her hurting herself, so we just took the crib mattress and put it on the floor, with fun sheets and her favorite blankets and stuffed animals, then made sure her room was safe, so if she did wake up she could play and climb back on her mattress when tired. That worked for us. She was still familiar with the mattress but didn't like the bars( confinement) She was then ready for a twin bed by 21 months when baby #2 came.

Good luck
Polly Mom of 3 girls

Get a crib tent! This has happened to several people I know. The ones who have put their kids in beds that young have really regretted it, and have ended up getting the crib tent anyway.

Good luck!
C.

I got a crib tent for our son, when he started crawling out. He actually loved it, he thought it was fun. He ended up sleeping in the crib for a long time after that. (until he was over 3!)

I would avoid crib tents, I mean, would you want to sleep in a cage? She is not too young for a toddler bed. I moved my boys into toddler beds at 15 and 16 months. I had to use a baby gate with my oldest for a while to keep him in his room, and the first few nights he fell asleep on the floor. I would move him into the bed, and after a few mornings of waking up in the bed he figured out what it was for and we had no problems after that.

On a side note, she can not really start potty training until she is able to get out of bed to go use the potty.

My oldest was climbing out at 18mos!! Two thuds and that was all I could take. She should be fine for the toddlers bed. Our girl preferred a queen sized bed that we had in her room and did just fine with it. They all do things on their own schedules. lol :) Definitely do not put her back in the crib. She should stay asleep, once she gets to sleep. We didn't have any troubles with wandering, but you could always put up a baby gate in her door, just in case. Hope this helps! Good luck with your new transition!

Hi J.,
this is what I did for my boys (23 months and 3 years old). I put their crib mattress on the floor and a child door-knob cover on their door so they couldn't get out of their room - I also didn't want them wandering around the house while I'm sleeping. Sometimes they don't stay in bed when you want them to, but also sometimes my youngest will wake up in the morning, cry for about 15 seconds and then start playing with his toys so I can stay in bed a little longer!
Good luck,
Celena

A friend had this problem. She got a crib tent and put on her sons crib. It keeps him from climbing out.

We moved all of our kids out of the crib and into either a toddler bed or a big kid bed before they were 16 months. We just put a knob on the doorknob that they couldn't open.

Hi J.,
I have heard that they have canopies that go over crips to help with that. Though I have never looked for one. If she does keep getting out I would move her to a bigger bed.. Hope you can figure it out! I hate always trying to figure these things out. Kids sure do keep up learning.

Switch her to a toddler bed or a normal bed and then put a gate across the door to her room so she has some freedom to explore her room, but is also safe. You can also just put a mattress straight on the floor to prevent the fall issue. My daughter is 20 months and that's our project for this week.

I haven't read any of the other responses but I would take that as a sign to put her in a toddler bed.We put my daughter in a toddler bed shortly after her 2nd birthday when she started trying to swing a leg over.
Just put up a good baby gate at her door so she can't escape and wonder the house or if she will, close the door while she's sleeping and put an alarm on it for in case she tries to escape.I used to climb outta my crib when I wasn't yet 2.She said it would freak her out at first to find me not in bed when she'd get up, but normally I would just wonder across the hall to her roommate April's room and crawl into bed with her and pass back out.lol

we put our son in a big boy bed at 2 years I thought he would be all over but he stayed in his bed really well. If you don't want her out of her room you could always put a gate at the door. but I wouldn't keep her in a crib if she is getting out of it. Good luck

I noticed someone else mentioned crib tents. I know someone who used them and the kids just thought it was a great, fun thing to get to sleep in their tents. I bet you could find one cheap on Craigslist. Just an option. Good luck!

So many of these kinds of "problems" wouldn't exist if we all just slept with our children. I highly recommend cosleeping, getting a big bed. Especially since you have a baby coming soon. I slept with both of mine till they were about 4, and now they both sleep with their children. All of them are very happy and secure. If you choose not to bring her into your bed, I would at the very least not lock her in her room! how traumatic, just imagine yourself in her place. So many children these days grow up feeling abandoned and terrified at night. You could have a mattress on the floor in your room for her, it could be right next to your bed, that way if she needs you during the night, you are right there. Or just get a bigger bed for all four of you.

Lower the mattress. Your crib should be adjustable. I have a 2 yo & will be having this problem soon.

I agonized about this, too! We moved our little girl to a "big girl bed" at this age -- we needed the crib for her younger sis. We purchased a kid's bed rail (with the covered bars and mesh netting) because we were worried about her rolling out. A few of our friends advised against the toddler bed, saying that their kids grew out of it so fast that it didn't make sense to buy it.

You could also just put the twin mattress on the floor if the bed rail idea isn't do-able for your little girl.

Good luck!

Put her in a toddler bed, toddlerproof her room, gate it, then let her do what she will. At two, she's old enough to get out of bed to get a drink of water or play if she can't sleep.

We transitioned our son to a "big boy" bed a little after he turned 1 which is pretty early for most. Grandma actually purchased the bed for his birthday so fortunately $$ was not an issue. The bed we got transitioned from a toddler bed using the crib mattress with bumpers to a single bed just add mattress. Our son thought it was the coolest thing (its a racecar bed). I didn't worry too much about the exploring, we lived in a small house at the time and could hear everything. The bed was low to the ground too so there was no worry about him falling and getting hurt. I'm raising my child the way I was raised, no locks on doors or cupboards, no baby gates (though we may need one for our next baby now that we have stairs!) We kept all hazardous items and things we did not want him to get into high and out of reach and made sure to teach our son how to properly climb and go down stairs at an early age. He was always too curious to keep away from them our thoughts were, he's going to have to learn to do it sometime, why not now? Now its not always an easy process and sometimes it takes a lot longer then you may want, but if you can be patient and persistant, they will learn the way! Our son is about to turn 2 years old now, he loves to be able to climb in and out of bed on his own. When he wakes up from naps or in the morning he can get out and come find us, or sometimes he'll call from the top of the stairs because hes too tired to walk down himself. I know that probably sounds scary, but it's a lot more helpful if you can help them learn to do a few things themselves,.. and with having a new little babe coming it may be a good time to teach her how to be a little more independent. Good luck & congrats!!!

My son, who will be two in May, did the same thing last month so I know how you feel! I didn't think he was ready for a toddler bed and I didn't want him having free reign of the house or his room so I bought a crib tent at babies R Us. He loves it! It also makes me feel better that I know he is safe in his crib at night. If you feel she's not ready for a big girl bed then I highly recommend a crib tent. They also sell them at some Walmart stores or on Walmart.com. Hope this helps. Oh, what I did is really talked about how "cool" or neat it was while my husband and I were putting it on his crib, I think it helps to play it up as something neat and not a punishment, like it's their own little fort or play area.

You can buy a crib tent but that won't last too much longer too keep her in. You can also just lower the side so she can easily get in and out or put her in a toddler bed. You should completely baby proof her room and put a tall gate on the door so she can't get out or just a safety handle that she can't open the door with. So that way if she does get out of bed then she won't be running around the house. I skipped the toddler bed when my 2 year old started jumping out of her crib and bought a big girl bed and used a safety rail on it. Strangely she jumped out of her crib all the time but she stays in the big girl bed.

You could set up the toddler bed in her room and see how she does with it first. Keep a monitor on, so you can hear her. You could also just set up her toddler bed next to your bed so that if she wakes up, she's near you and will most likely look for you first before exploring. As long as your room is baby-proofed, it shouldn't be a problem. Keep a gate up at the stairs to prevent falls.

You are absolutely right in thinking that it is too dangerous to keep her in the crib when she knows how to climb out. I had to put my son in a toddler bed at 18 months for the same reason, and I was NOT ready for the switch. He was though and it went very very smoothly. Because he was still so young, I pushed the toddler bed up against the wall so he wouldn't fall out as easily. He doesn't always stay in his bed, but he does always stay in his room. It only took a week and a baby gate to teach him what I expected. If we hear him get out of bed and start playing, we just ignore it and very soon, it gets quiet and we find he has crawled back in bed and has fallen asleep. We have also found that he snuck out and fell asleep on the hall floor spying on us.

Good luck.

we just moved our 2 year old into a "big girl" bed. she turned 2 in january. we have had no problems.... good luck