My 16 Month Old Fell Out of His Crib Last Night...

Updated on October 23, 2008
S.D. asks from South Rockwood, MI
12 answers

I have no idea how he did it, but last night my 16 month old fell out of his crib. My husband and I heard a big thud and we found our baby on the floor trying to catch his breathe with the wind knocked out of him. In my opinion it was a pretty big fall. We checked him over real good and he seems to be fine with the exception of a rug burn on his nose and possibly a slight bruise on his nose. I'm still in shock that he was able to get the leverage to fall out because he doesn't seem tall enough to me. He still seems too little for a toddler bed, but I guess I need to consider this to keep him safe. Does anyone have any other suggestions???

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A.H.

answers from Detroit on

Mine is a climber too. Arnica gel is the best stuff for bumps and bruises (as long as the skin isn't broken). I so wish I'd known about this stuff when mine was younger.
I think I'd vote for the crib tent myself.
Good luck, A. H

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K.G.

answers from Detroit on

First of all is the crib lowered as far as it can be? If it is it is time for a toddler bed. I know that it is a hard transition but he will be safe.

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L.O.

answers from Detroit on

the fall may have scared him and he may not try to climb out again.

But you might need a crib tent to keep him safe.

You cant have a 16 month old wandering around the house.

I want my kids in cribs until they are reasonable. My daughter is almost 3 and still in a crib. she has never tried to climb out.

But she is not a climber..

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M.O.

answers from Detroit on

I caught my daughter when she was 16 months old trying to raise her leg to climb out- I was gonna go with the crib tent but when i saw the price I decided to try something else- I know it was for her safety and believe me if I hadnt figured something else out I wouldve paid whatever it was to keep ehr safe. I did buy her a sleep sack at babies r us- just a lightweight one/tank style and she couldnt lift her leg since it was in the sack. I found out from another baby board that these come in sizes up to 4T or something like that. She did figure out how to unzip it so we began putting it on her backwards and she still wears the sack at 2yrs old. We are planning on moving her shortly into a bed so the sack will be gone but it did help tremendously. Good luck!!

S.S.

answers from Detroit on

DON'T SWITCH YET! That is the biggest mistake parents of toddlers make in my opinion. He is tooooooo little to handle that freedom. Sleep time will forever be a struggle after that.
My boy did the same thing at 15 months.
We did a few things:
We bought a baby monitor with a video cam on it so we could see him in action. If we saw him lifting his leg... we would immediately go in and firmly say "NO CLIMBING." This happened repeatedly until he got it. It didn't take too long.
We also lowered his crib matteress - it was already as low as it would go so ingeanious hubby took the drawer out of the bottom of the crib and dropped the matteress to the floor. The rail is so high now it almost goes above his head while standing.
This is very common for kids around 15-17 months to try climbing out of thier beds. I hear it over and over. Please don't take him out of the crib... yet. Other people's agrument is that the crib is no longer a safe place... but having full reign of the house at night while you sleep is a recipe for disaster! Plus how will you keep him in the bed when it comes time for bed?
Before he gets changed to a bed you need to work on him willfully obeying you. It is possible. You have to mean what you say and follow through.

If you say, no climbing and he climbs you need to give him a consequence. It may only need to happen once or twice but it needs to be enough for him to not want to do it again. It is a tough step in parenting but these are the times that they test you to see who really is the boss.

Be wise, be foreward thinking in your parenting, and have a stronger will than your child.

By the way, my son is now almost three and is in the 97th percentile (tall) and he is still in the crib. We will switch soon but at this point he likes the security and we like knowing where he is when he is told when to go to sleep. I have friends that did the switch at 16mos and they never know exactly how long the child slept because he gets up in the night to play and falls asleep in the floor. And he stopped napping too cause there is nothing keeping him in the bed.

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M.M.

answers from Detroit on

I have a climber too.... he can almost climb INTO his crib and he is 13 months. I would put a mattress next to his crib to see if he does it again at least he has a soft landing. ANd of course close his door and use a monitor or gate it in case he pulls a Tom Cruise on Mission Impossible!

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A.W.

answers from Detroit on

Two words for you....crib tent! 16 months is really young for a bed. I would keep him in that crib for as long as possible! Good luck and God Bless!

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A.I.

answers from Lansing on

hey S. it sounds to me like it time for a toddler bed and a baby gate at the door to keep him in his room that is if crib is down as far as it can go all my little one were in big girl bed at one but that was me well good luck one what ever you pick hope he is ok and dose not try any more head dive

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L.N.

answers from Benton Harbor on

My 18 month old fell out and broke his arm! I didn't know it was broken for about 36 hours!

The fall scared him b/c he hasn't done it since. I have friends who use the crib topper and zip their kids in at night.

Whatever works....
~L.

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E.W.

answers from Detroit on

Once he starts, he will probably keep trying. I prefer to take cues from my kids and just go with it. By a year and a half, all my kids were in toddler beds and did very well. Just my opinion, but I don't like the idea of cageing my children. My 2 step-children are a real challenge because by the time I took over their care (6 years ago), they were way behind in intelligence and were not able to do anything for themselves. My 3, however, are very advanced for their ages and doing more than most children do at the same ages. I just let them lead and I am there to teach and protect them along the way. Everything I have ever done has always had explainations with it. Example: Shopping at 1 year of age. They were in the shopping cart and every item I picked out an item, I showed it to them and read the label to them and told them the price and what we could have it with. The more you talk to you child and find ways to make everything a teaching experience, the smarter your child will be. Take the cue from your child...get a toddler bed and teach him the responsiblity of a big boy bed. It is never to early to start teaching. Have fun with it.

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M.T.

answers from Detroit on

You can always start with the mattress on the floor then move to the toddler bed. You will also need to put a gate in the doorway. It was 16 months when I had to move my triplets from their cribs. Logan had already mastered getting out and Bella had fallen out once.

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