We've Got a Climber!

Boy, this one sure takes me back. My daughter Cherokee, who is now 5 1/2, used to climb into the crib with her little sister, who's now just about to turn 4. This was happening when the girls were about 2 & 6 months. I worried about it at first and tried to put Cherokee back into her own bed (we took her out of the crib because she was climbing out of it anyway), but as soon as our backs were turned, back in she'd climb. After I spent a few sleepless nights watching I came to the conclusion that she just wanted some alone time with her litttle sis. She was always very careful not to step on Sequoyah climbing in or to take the blankets from her. In fact, I watched Cherokee on several occassions as she gently laid down beside her sister, pulled the blanket over the both of them and went right to sleep, just as pretty as you please. The girls are still very close and like to take naps together, although, they now prefer to sleep apart at night. I wouldn't worry to much about your Alexis climbing into the crib with your little one. I might still invest into a bigger crib, let's face it,you'll need it eventually anyway. But I wouldn't count on that stopping this issue. Might be better, to stand watch, and just see what happens. Could be this is just the girls bonding with mom or dad's help. It's bound to happen sooner or later anyway. Good luck.

Hi M., I'm a 26 year old mom of 3 kids. Do you think your daughter would be ok in a toddler bed? All 3 of my children were put into toddler beds between 15-18 months of age and all did great. Ive read that when they start climbing out of the crib they are usually ready for a toddler bed... and it sounds like that might be safer since you sure dont want her falling out of the crib and getting hurt. Well I just wanted to throw that suggestion out there :)

I read mixed reviews about crib tents, too. But, I decided to go ahead and get one. It worked GREAT for us. My son thinks it's neat. We talked it up, like it was a great, fun thing to add on to his crib, fun to sleep under, etc. He likes it. I was pretty sure he wasn't ready to transition to the big kid bet yet. I think every kid is different in some ways, and I'm sure you'll figure out what the best thing to do is.

The thing about crying, for us, was that I felt my son had to learn how to soothe himself, and learn to fall asleep without lots of intervention from me. I had a good book, and advice from a family member who advocated the book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. There's some medical/biological info in the front, but in the chapters for each kids' age range, it's mostly very practical advice, various suggestions (not just one solution, but choices!!), and stories from parents.

hi. I am a mother of twin daughters. I loved the Crib Tents.... they were awesome. I had one for each of my daughters cribs. It was soothing for me to know I wouldn't have anyone falling out of their crib during the night. It wasn't even a second guess for me to purchase them. I believe they were definitely worth the money. I used them on their cribs until I switched them to toddler beds at age 3. It made it much easier to put my girls down for naps regardless of whether they slept or not.. it was considered quiet time. It allowed me to have the opportunity to get a few things done around the house and not have to be concerned one of them was going to 'escape' from their crib or get hurt in the process. Good luck with your challenge...

Hi,
From reading your blog it looks like your older daughter is using her new skill to get your attension from your younger daughter. She probably just needs more time to adjust to having a younger sister. With my son it took a while for him to adjust to having a sister. He did all the things you described but didn't want to be in the crib with her, he wanted her out so he can go in by himself. You might want to try letting her help you with the care of her younger sister. Like getting a diaper (if its in her reach) or sharing a toy etc....... I hope this helps you in some way.