Advice on an 20 Month Little Houdini

My second boy climbed out about the same time...I used a tent (intended to keep cat's out- but also keeps kids in!). My son LOVES it- and even though it is now broken (we are the 3rd owner...) he still has it up and wants to sleep in the crib with it on. It gave me a bit more time to have him safe in the crib.

I was a bit hesitant to use it, but know many others that recommended it, so I did- very happy.

Go for the toddler bed. Mine was 22 months when we switched. He may get out of the bed, but at least it will be safer than climbing out of the crib. Keep supernannying it up too! He needs to know that it's bedtime and that you'll keep putting back to bed. Now's as good a time as any!

My son did the same thing, and is not yet reliable enough to be in a toddler bed (he's sneaky, plays with outlet covers, climbs bookshelves, etc.) And, our crib has a tall backside (that's theoretically a headboard when it eventually converts) so we were never able to use a tent. What worked for us is to continue using the crib, but instead of putting the mattress on the lowest setting, we took the spring bottom out altogether, and put the mattress on the floor. (This is only safe if there is NO gap between the bottom of the side rails and the top of the mattress.) We ended up using 4x4s and plywood to raise the mattress up slightly to eliminate the gap. It's super-sturdy, and was cheap. He can no longer scale the crib to get out.

My son was 20 months when we moved him to a toddler bed and he did great. He wasn't trying to climb out of his crib but we had baby #2 coming and we needed the crib. Your son will be able to get out of the toddler bed easier, but at least he won't get hurt if he falls. He would also be able to climb back into bed himself. Good luck with whatever you decide.

I also have a little guy who we actually call Teeny (tiny) Houdini. He is very tiny and very very able-bodied. He is 2.5 years old. He can get out of just about anything. He also has more energy than we can channel. Anyway, I just bought a crib tent and it is a lifesaver. I was lucky and bought one at a garage sale for $15. They retail for about $95. He is actually sleeping better with the tent on, I am guessing it might make him feel more cozy and safe. Mom of four, ages 7,6,2.5,1 M.

I have a almost 20 month old and he started getting out of his crib so we got a side railing and put his crib mattress on the floor. He loves it! I expected to have some really difficult nights for a while but it went really well. We put up a baby gate in his doorway and the first night stayed in his room with him and slowly backed out of the room and now we just go through his bedtime routine and say goodnight and leave the room. Some times he comes to the gate but if we leave all the lights off (except his night light) and stay out of sight he goes back to his bed within 10-15min. Some time we have to go to the door and say its nightnight time go back to bed, but not very often.
Good luck

M.,

If you really want to keep him in a crib, Babies R Us sells a "netting tent" to put over the crib. It was created to keep cats from jumping into the crib, but it will keep him in there, too.

The other option is to move him to a toddler bed. We did this with our first at 18 months because she was climbing out. If this is your choice, I would highly recommend emptying the room before you do. Our daughter would also try to climb bookshelves and the dresser. We put the bookshelves and locked them in the closet. I took the handles off the dresser drawers so she couldn't pull them out and climb. I also shut the door, put away toys and turned out the lights so her room was quite boring at night. She still fell asleep on the floor in front of the door for several nights, but eventually she learned to stay in bed.

Don't worry about a dark room. Kids that age aren't usually afraid of the dark yet. And if you don't like having his door shut, you can put two baby gates in the doorway, one on top of the other, so he can't climb over the lower one and escape.

Good luck,
S.

M.-
Both my boys were in toddler beds at 22 months. Some people said it was to young but it worked for our family. If your son is getting out of the crib then maybe it is time. I would rather have my sons get out of a toddler bed then a crib. There is less distance to the floor. :) For a short time both my boys would get out of bed every night but my husband and I did not give in. They were sent back to bed everytime. Good luck and just do what feels right.
C.

A crib tent worked for me! It's just a mesh fabric dome that fits over the top of the crib to keep the toddler inside. They're kind of expensive, but I found it to be worth the price!

Good luck!
J.

The only thing I can think of is, proof his room so he can only get to the things you want him to be able to get to without adult supervision, put him in a toddler bed (so he doesn't get hurt crawling out of a crib), make it so he can't do the door knob and let him be. Put the monitor up high so you can still hear him, but give him a bit of independence, and he may surprise you! He may be more ready than you are ready to give. Tell him he needs to stay in his room, but he can play quietly. When he tires, he may find his way back to bed, he may not. Or if you're concerned about him falling out of a bed, just put the mattress with blankeys on the floor.

Good luck!

Hi - we put our little guy in a bed at 20 months or so - we had another baby and we going to need the crib. Our daycare teacher advised us to just do it and make a big fuss about the big boy bed (toddler bed) and he slept in it no problem and has never fallen out. He does get up and down out of it and night and cries at the door sometimes but we tough love it and 5 minutes later he climbs back in and goes to sleep. Hope this helps.

If he's regularly getting out of his crib, you night as well go to the toddler bed (or put a mattress on the floor) since it'd be less far for him to fall.

or if you have or can find a deep playpen, he might not be able to get out of that.

Beyond that, baby-proofing his room completely and either putting up baby gates (might have to double stack them) or shutting the bedroom door is going to give him a safe area to being once he gets out of bed.

Make sure you've got your routine down pat and if you go to shutting the door or using gates just don't go "rescue" him when he gets upset that he can't get out of his room. Shut the curtains to make it dark. He'll get it pretty quick that it's nap time/bedtime. What I've done with my own son at nap time is to put on a soft music CD and tell him he has to stay in his bed or in his room until all the songs are done playing. If he gets out of his room, he gets one chance to come up with a solution to help him remember staying in his room and then if he forgets again, the door gets shut and locked. He does not complain or cry or scream about any of that. We do it all without any yelling etc. You might be able to start doing something like that with your son. My son is 3 now but I've been doing that for about a year. At the earlier ages it is less about reasoning than about being consistent and loving about it. Best luck to you :)
Jen

My son is 16 months and has the ability to climb out even though the mattress is as low as it goes...he is tall for his age, and he clamps his feet on the bars and pulls himself up until his chest is over the edge. But as of now he is too afraid to go further because he knows he will fall. I know one of these nights I am going to hear a big "thump". I think a crib tent would be a good idea but I haven't gotten one yet. What I have done is lay a big blanket over the front of the crib, and I tucked it under the mattress and the other side is just hanging down. That prevents him from using his feet on the bars and so far he is not strong enough to get up there with just his arms. They actually sell something like this- here is a link to one: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&...
That doesn't look big enough, and seems like it might actually help a child climb out, which is why I've stuck with the blanket.
Obviously a crib tent would be superior. I just wanted to give you another idea

My daughter figured out how to climb into and out of her crib at 16 months. I figured it was horribly dangerous, so I put her in a toddler bed with a bed rail to help make her feel enclosed and so she wouldn't roll out the bottom. I figured if she wanted to get out she could and at least she wasn't going to break her neck since in a toddler bed she is only a foot off the ground.

My sister used a crib tent to keep her daughter from jumping out of her crib and that worked for her. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4726...

The hardest part about switching to a toddler bed for me was adjusting her sleep routine. I had to put her back in bed a few times each night for about a week, but it sounds like you are going through that anyways. I would recommend a toddler bed, he might love his big boy bed and it would be horrible if he fell wrong and injured himself.

I think he is ready for a toddler bed. He will probably get out of his bed for awhile, too, but at least you don't have to worry about him getting hurt climbing out of the crib! When I moved my son to a big bed, he would get out of bed, too, until I put the gate I had on the stairs to good use and put it up in his doorway. That did the trick! Good luck!

We got rid of the crib when my youngest was 18 months for this same reason. We heard a loud thump and ran into his room--where he landed was just inches from a rocking chair so we thought it was too dangerous to keep him in the crib. We started with a toddler bed mattress on the floor. The hardest part is keeping them on the mattress at bedtime. That might be another posted question! Once he got to sleep he slept fine on the mattress on the floor and then ultimately the toddler bed. Good luck.

get a mesh crib tent. My daughter used to climb out too and the tent stopped her. She was mad about it at first, a few nights of screaming and crying, but eventually she loved her cozy little hut so much she'd want to go in there during the day just to play. That was 8 years ago, but I'm assuming they still have them at babies r us.

M.,

I didn't move my oldest into a crib unil she was 25 months old, I didn't have a problem. I don't remember what age my on was, but it was after he was 2yrs old. My youngest (19 months) currently have a crib tent on her crib. She has had this one once she started throwing everything out of her crib at like 8 months old. When the crib tent on I never have to worry about her getting out of the crib and everything stays in the crib.... I got my used on Craigslist....