About to Climb Out of Crib

Updated on July 06, 2008
B.W. asks from Denham Springs, LA
21 answers

My 15 month old began putting her leg over the railing of her crib the other day. I assume it won't be long before she figures out how to climb out. I'm not sure how to handle this kind of situation. Any suggestions?

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M.K.

answers from Monroe on

they do make crib tents that many of my friends have had good luck with...Mine got in trouble for it once at 19mos and never tried again...sorry I'm no help.j

M.

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T.K.

answers from Fayetteville on

B.

Both of my girls at about 14 to 15 months they started getting out of their beds so we put them in their big girl bed with rails on the upper half of the bed so that they could crawl down to the bottom and get off the bed. This worked great and they loved their big girl bed.

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N.M.

answers from Birmingham on

We just went through this with our 19 month old girl. Since she's too young to understand that she shouldn't climb out and that she must stay in her crib (with or without the rails) we bought a crib tent from Toys R Us. I installed it yesterday & she loves it. She needed the security and she thought the "tent" was fun. I hope this helps.

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D.R.

answers from Huntsville on

My son starting climbing out at about that age. I just kept the rail down so that he could climb in and out without hurting himself. I'm sure others won't agree with that but my son was a very cautious climber and i knew there was less likelihood of him getting hurt with the rail down. Of course, your house my have other dangers like stairs that you would have to consider. It was very rare that he got out of the bed during the night. He would just climb out, sometimes at bedtime of course because it was so exciting and then in the morning when he woke up.

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L.S.

answers from Baton Rouge on

I am a mother of 3 grown children, does the bottom of the bed go down any lower. 15 months is young for them to figure out how to climb out. If the bed is at the lowest point, you might consider a toddler bed. they sit low to the floor and if they fall out they won't get hurt. But then you have to worry about them getting into things while you are asleep. See if the baby bed goes down further, and if not see if someone has one they are not using and borrow theirs.

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B.L.

answers from Oklahoma City on

I just wanted to say your don't have to move her. I know my daughter (2 1/2) can climb out of her crib because she has done it a couple times. But she naps in it every day and sleeps in it every night without climbing out. She calls for us when she wakes up. It can be very hard to keep a toddler in their bed at night, so I've always used a crib as long as possible.

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V.L.

answers from Oklahoma City on

My daughter just turned 18 months old on the 30th of June. She would climb out of her bed so just last night we put her toddler bed together. That way she can't climb out of it and get hurt. She seemed to like it last night but that was only the first night.
I know this isn't much help but that is what I done in a similar situation.
Good Luck!

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D.T.

answers from Lawton on

My son went thru that right after he turned one. We took the mattress out of the crib and put it on the floor. We let him sleep on the mattress for a month or so till he got used to it and then moved him to a big boy bed. We placed it so that if he rolled off he wouldnt hit anything and placed a couple of blankets on the floor so the impact would be soft. We also put up a baby gate at night so that he couldnt just roam the house but that we could still hear him. It worked great !

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M.

answers from Birmingham on

I don't know how to prevent it, but I did want to say not to use a crib tent. I work with someone whose 18 month old was killed by getting tangled in one of those tents - I had no idea they were dangerous. Perhaps it's time to move your daughter to a toddler bed with rails?

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A.C.

answers from Oklahoma City on

move her to a twin bed. we moved both of ours around this age, if not a little sooner and it worked out fine.you don't want her to fall!

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G.F.

answers from Tulsa on

She will figure out how to get out of her crib any minute now. I had a daybed for my daughter with a portable rail that slid under the mattress to keep her from falling off into the floor, but also allowed her to get in and out of her bed herself.
G.

P.S. My daughter is now 7 and still sleeps in the same day bed.

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D.F.

answers from Jackson on

put her in a toddler bed

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A.J.

answers from Tuscaloosa on

I don't have any suggestions really because I am dealing with this from my 2 year old son. But I will say we had to end up spanking him and telling him no, don't get out (not that it worked every time) but it did help some. But he's older, I'm not sure about a 15 month old. I'm anxious to hear suggestions as well.

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T.S.

answers from Little Rock on

The toddler bed is the way to go. I changed my oldest over at about that age because she learned to crawl out of bed. She did fine. Now I have two more that have done it. You just have to make use they are safe. If you don't want to use a baby gate you could just close the door. That is what we did because our oldest was in the room with us. We did not want a baby gate up and hope we remembered it when we had to get up in the night. All of our kids have stayed with us until they were 18 months old. Only the oldest so far was ready before 18 months to move up to a toddler bed before 18 months.

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J.H.

answers from Dothan on

Our daughter was about that age when we made her crib in to a toodler bed. We made sure her room was safe incase she got out during the night and we placed a baby gate are her door so she wouldn't wonder out if she woke up and got adventurous. Some mornings we would get up and find her playing in her floor her toys. It will take some getting used to to get her to stay in her bed but worth it in the end.

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J.C.

answers from Jackson on

My little girl, who was about the age of yours kept climbing out of her crib also. Our big problem was that we had a two story house. So we installed a wooded baby gate at the top of the stairs. However, Jenee' continued to climb out of her crib. I asked her peditrician would there be any psychlogical problems with putting a lock on her door. He said not, as long as she doesn't cry herself to sleep at the bedroom door. This worked fine for us and she doesn't even remember this. She is 35 now and her little girl is climbing out of her crib. Payback time I guess. Hope this helps.

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B.C.

answers from Alexandria on

My daughter did that when she was about that age. She tried climbing out once and got stuck on the edge and never did it again. So I was able to keep her in her crib until we moved and she was 28 months. I loved having her in the crib because I knew she was getting a good nap and not playing and getting into things in her room! I would say keep her in her crib as long as you can! If she climbs out a couple times in a row then it is probably time for a toddler bed or a twin. I also think with her being older it helped her to stay in her bed once we made the switch to her big girl bed.

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J.H.

answers from Oklahoma City on

Wow! You were able to keep yours in that long!? I started having probs with mine at 6mos. She was in a bed of her own at 12mos. Once they start, you cant seem to hold em back, sorry. Just make it as safe as possible for em. :}

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G.B.

answers from Tulsa on

My 18 month old just decided this week to venture out of the playpen and the baby bed. Here's what we are doing. His baby bed bumps up against our bed so he only climbs onto our bed, but that doesn't mean that today he won't try and go over the other side. So we are putting up the toddler bed in his room today and placing a gate across the door jam slightly off the floor so if he does get out of bed during the night he is still in a safe room. When he is in his own room all that can happen is that he will play with his toys or he will cry for us and we'll come.

All bathroom doors are shut all the time. When my oldest daughter was just born a lady I worked with came up to me and told me to always keep the bathroom doors closed and then she started crying. Eventually she was able to calm down and tell me that her 15 month old child had drowned in the toilet. I have always made sure the doors were closed all the time since then.

As long as the room she is in is a safe environment, plug-ins and cords out of reach and covered, no choke hazzards such as small toys, bookshelves screwed to the wall and the shelves secured in place, etc...she should be fine.

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W.P.

answers from Biloxi on

I have twin 2 1/2 year old boys who have been sleeping in cribs with tents since they started climbing out just before they turned two. My boys would climb out and play for hours instead of taking the nap they needed so I had to find a way to salvage the nap. In my experience, the tents are secure and safe. My boys objected for a day or two, but quickly became used to the tents. The tent makes the bed cozy like they are sleeping in a coccoon.

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C.S.

answers from Biloxi on

Hi B.~
If you are not wanting to change to a toddler bed just yet, make sure that your crib is as low as it will go. On the other hand you may want to consider a toddler bed. I am not sure if your crib converts to one, but if so I would use it. My daughter just turned 2 in June and she has had her toddler bed since she was about 14 months. I put one of the side guard rails on it so that she would not roll off! Good Luck!
C. Stork
www.forourkidz.fourpointmoms.com

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