Climbing out of crib but not ready for a toddler bed

Clarey - posted on 09/13/2012

My 2 year old recently fell out of her crib and broke her arm in an attempt to escape. We had done the crib tent prior to her accident but due to it's recent recall, we took it off only to have our daughter fall the very first time she attempted to climb out! We Immediately switched to a toddler bed (should have done it before she fell!) but sadly, she will not stay in it. My husband and I are honestly more sleep deprived now then we were when she was a newborn! ARRG! I have no idea what to do, I think she is just way too young to understand the concept of staying in bed at night. I just wish Tots N Mind would come back with a safe tent for all of us [poor parents] in this [exhausting] position!

Jen - posted on 03/08/2009

I do have a crib tent for our daughter and we love it!!

Sasha - posted on 11/14/2008

i have a conversion crib and i turned it into a toddler bed about 3 or 4 months ago. when i did that all i did was tell her night night and tucked her in and left quietly and shut the door. she would occasionally get up and come to the door but i would tell her night night and she'd walk back and get into bed. I found if when she wakes up and i play or tuck her back in she doesnt want to stay, but making her go back to bed on her own seems to work. just try it out and don't give up. I treated it like breaking her off the bottle...

Andrea - posted on 11/12/2008

hi, we had the same problem. Henry is now 17 months and from 12 months he pulled himself over the railings. we removed the sides to the cot bed and put pillows on the floor. at first when we put him to bed he was awake. about 10 minutes later we heard a thud over the baby monitor. when i went into his bedroom he was fast asleep on the floor where he had landed. i was really please because i knew that he had not hurt himself. i put him back to bed and about 2 hours later there was another thud. again he didnt wake and i put him back into bed. he fell out one more time that night and it woke him. again i gave him a quick cuddle and put him straight into bed.

the following night he only fell out once and then that continued for a few nights. after about one week he fell out. when i went in to get him he had stood up and was in the process of climbing back into bed. i was really shocked but so excited.

it is a terrifying thought to do it but your daughter will be fine. put pillows there for her to fall onto and she'll soon realise her own space.

what we also do is leave a drink on the floor next to the bed. when he wakes in the morning he has a drink and plays in his room until you go and get him.

let me know how it goes but i bet she surprises you.

sorry, forgot to say, we do not and never have used a netted tent or any barrier. no reason really, just didnt use one.

bye

Danielle - posted on 11/11/2008

My daughter climbed out at 16 months and it freaked us out! Heard the big thud too and when we got there she was lying on her stomach on the floor. She has only done it the once though. Maybe your daughter won't remember how she did it and might stay put for a little longer? I just put two body pillows on the floor and pulled the crib away from the dresser for now but she hasnt' tried again. I looked into the nets for over the crib but they were pretty expensive (at least $100). If she keeps getting out, you might just have to switch to a mattress on the floor or toddler bed.

Amie - posted on 11/08/2008

The mattress on the floor is a good idea if you don't have one of those cribs that turn into a toddler bed. For my oldest daughter who isn't that tall but is bright she figured out how to climb out of her crib just before her 1st birthday. She always hated her crib though. So she got to turn hers into the toddler bed fairly early. My son just had the mattress on the floor when he was two. My 17 month old has not shown any interest in giving up her crib yet though. Neways, what worked to keep them in their beds/rooms for us was we would lay them down and sit with them for a little while but not until they fell asleep. We didn't want them waking up in the middle of the night and finding out we'd left them. They had their sippy cups and got to read a book with us. They each got a nightlight with some soft toys to play with if they did get up and we put a baby gate at their door and left it open. Some nights they would wake up and throw a fit but the baby gate was there so they couldn't get out and potentially hurt themselves in the house. We would get up and lay them back down and again sit with them for a little bit until they calmed down. It took a few nights for them to adjust as all kids do to something new but by the end of a week they were all happily sleeping alone in their big beds.=) Our 17 month old knows how to tear down the baby gates as her older brother taught her how to do this so we probably will have to find a new technique when she's ready. Hope it helps though.

Cherise - posted on 11/07/2008

We have to give our crib back to the people who borrowed it to us in the next little while so we recently put our son on a mattress on the floor. It's just the mattress, no frame. In preperation for the midnight wakes up we took basically everything out of his room and made sure he couldn't get into everything. When we put the bed down, we made it up with a new comforter with balls on it ( his fav ) and went to bed about an hour later. He woke up and walked around about 4 times but eventually he got tired and went to bed. We found him sleeping on the floor and just moved him to the bed. When he woke up at night I took him out of the room, read a story, gave him some milk and put him back to bed. He was still tired so I had to wait about half an hour and put him from the floor into the bed again but we just close the door and wait for him to sleep. All kids will adjust eventually, just don't go in every time she gets out or you'll be in there all night.

Just - posted on 11/07/2008

I heard someone else did this before, you take the bottom out of the crib, tip it upside down and then put the mattress on the floor so the basicalloy the mattress is still caged around it so she can't get out. Or if you have a playyard gate thingy that could work too I think.