When Is It Too Early??

Crib tent is a great idea. I wish I had been able to find one for my children... they were little acrobats, even standing on the top rail... we made several trips to the ER for stitches for several of the kids. For three of the kids we just put the mattress on the floor to save on ER visits.

I would buy a crib tent since he is still so young. It is a safe way to ensure that he stays in his crib and does not hurt himself.

My son (now 16) was able to escape from his crib by the time he was 8 months old. We tried everything we could think of, but he continued climbing up and falling out. He did it during the day and the night, so I finally decided to teach him how to get out without falling. But the rule was that he had to come get me whenever he did. Within a week he was able to get in and out alone. And he would come get me wherever I was. We would use the day "escapes" as an excuse to go on walks, bike rides, or even chore time. At night, we read books or listened to quiet music on a small tape player.
After a while at night, he got tired and would go back to sleep and so would I. The day times gave me a chance to spend a little extra time with him. By the time he was 2 he slept through the night and had a nice day schedule that allowed both of us some rest time. We had more bonding because of it and I don't regret teaching him this.
Mainly I was concerned that he would be seriously injured by a fall. Thankfully we never had to deal with this and he is now a very active young man with enough wisdom to avoid dangerous situations.

My dughter is 14 months and we bought her a toddler bed when she was two weeks shy of her 1st birthday because she could also get out of her crib. We have just made sure that her room is total baby proof we leave her door open but put a baby gate up she loves her bed..

We moved our 5 year old when she was 11 months. She had a skull fracture as a baby and we couldn't chance her falling. She climbed out of her crib before she could walk. She did awesome in a toddler bed. We put a gate on her door and took everything out except her toys. Now our 3 year old daughter is still in her crib. Our 3 year old son just moved to a twin bed. Our daughter hates her bed. So I am just not fighting it yet.

Hi J.,

That's a tough one. Depending on your personal parenting philosophy you could either go with a crib tent or a toddler bed (or even just a mattress on the floor with the room very child proofed). He's so young that I think it's likely he'll do it again.

Good luck! Let us know what you decide to do and how it works out. :)

C.

I would say that's something to ask your pediatrician really, however if my son were pulling himself over his crib than I would be putting him in a toddler bed myself. Or even as bad as this may seem get one of those nice large dog beds and keep him on the floor so he can't get hurt. Good Luck and I hope he doesn't do it again until you are able to find a safe alternative.

If he is not sleeping through the night I don't think I would move him to toddler bed. If you need to keep him in his bed I have seen these crib tents at www.onestepahead.com. You attach it to the crib and it has zipper that you use to get your child in and out of. I am not sure how well they work, but it anything is worth a try.