Active Almost 2 Yrold

My son was a wanderer when he was younger so we installed flip locks at the very top of all outside doors & doors that had unsafe products (cleaning, medicine). Any other lock or "safety" product (like the doorknob covers) he could figure out. Having a lock that he could not reach, even with a chair has helped me with my peace of mind knowing he was not going to be able to wander off or get into something dangerous.

Here is a link, but you can find them lots of places (home depot) & they usually are much cheaper than this. http://www.safebeginnings.com/WebComponents/Catalog/Publi...

Hello there,
While I have not had this problem personally, my brother and his wife did. They ended up double gating their son's room (one on top of the other - they used the tension gates) because he could scale a single gate like it was nothing and they would find him all over the house in the middle of the night and they were concerned about his safety (they found him moving a chair to unlock a door to get outside one night). They only did this for 6 months or so and then their son was able to understand that he was not allowed out of his room until either mom or dad got him....at the same time, they moved him into a big bed with side rails as they did not want him to get hurt climbing out of the crib. Good luck!

Hi,
My son was exactly the same. I purchased a "tent" that went over the crib. It really helped and I felt safer.I know you can get these online. I also installed a security system around the same time that had a feature where by if any door in the house opened the alarm would beep so that I knew someone had opened a door. I know they sell gadgets that will give you the same results as the alarm. Another precaution that I took was putting chain locks on the the doors to prevent him from opening a door and wandering out. It is stressful but he will eventually grow out of it. Good Luck!

Hi Kelly,
We experienced the same thing with our son. We installed locks (just a chain or hook lock) at the top of all the doors that lead outside. My son has never tried to actually leave the house but we didn't want to take any chances! It's a very inexpensive option and only takes a few minutes to install.

Good luck!
A. B.

Time for a big boy bed and double gates(top and bottom) on his door to the hall.

We dealt with the same thing- our bedrooms are upstairs so this was a real safety issue. First off- you need to get him out of the crib! As soon as a child climbs out- it's dangerous to let him sleep in there. He can hurt himself climbing out. Put him in a toddler bed.
We actually installed a cheap screen door on my daughter's bedroom door. We put a latch on the outside so she couldn't open it and get out to the stairs. At first I felt bad about locking her in- but being a screen door- she has full view of the hallway and I can hear her if she calls. It just was a safety issue for me. I knew I'd feel worse if she got hurt because I had neglected to keep her safe!
Good luck,
S.

Hi Kelly,

I've known little escape artists like your son, and it can be such a challenge to keep them safe ! Something that has worked for other families with little ones who scale gates, is to put hook and eye latches high up on the outside of the child's bedroom door. This way you can close and latch his door at night before you go to bed, so you can sleep in peace and know he is safe. You might want to tell your son that you will be doing this to help keep him safe,so he's not surprised or fightened. Also sounds like it's time for him to move into a bed or onto a mattress on the floor ! Good luck ! L. S.

Hi Kelly-
My son-- who was a horrible sleeper-- started climbing (jumping) out of his crib at 17 months. Most of the time we heard him, but one time, we woke up to funny noises and found that he had crawled into the bath tub and turned it on-- it was enough to scare me to do something. We were seeing a sleep specialist at the time for him, and he insisted that there be a safe place that he couldn't "escape" from overnight. We considered a crib tent, but it didn't fit on our crib, so we got a gate for the door. I asked the doctor what we should do if he climbed the gate, and he said to put a second pressure gate on top of it. We never had to do it, but it was our back-up plan. FYI-- the doctor did not recommend door handle covers or locks, as he said it could be really scary to the kids. At least with a gate, they can open the door and see out into the hall. It felt funny for us to "gate" a child into a room, but we had to look at it form a safety standpoint, and really that his room became his "crib" (a place he couldn't get out of). You may need to child-proof his room (bolt down dresser, etc..), because if he's in there, he may climb the furniture. Also at this time, we moved to a toddler bed. My son could jump out of his crib, but not get back in, so this allowed him a way to get back into bed.
Good luck!!!

One option that worked for us--if his room is childproofed, and you have a monitor so you can hear him, one option is moving him into a bed or mattress on the floor, and putting a childproof doorknob on his door. Adults can easily open it but a kid can't do it. You can get these usually with baby safety stuff at a toy store or maybe hardware store. The one we used was just a little plastic device slightly larger than a door knob that snaps on to it. It's inexpensive (couple bucks) and requires no skills to install! You just need one for the inside of the door knob. And, the adult just has to squeeze it and turn the knob.

When our son started climbing out of his crib, we were so worried he would hurt himself (he was almost flipping himself out), so we put him in a toddler bed. He took to it very well. Door knob covers never worked for us, he figured that on out real quick. As far as the gate goes, we had to get one he could climb, its smooth so he has nothing to stick his little feet in to hoist up. Or you could go with one of the much taller vertical rail gate (they are a bit expensive though)

For starters, put doorknob covers on all the outside doors as well as the door to the basement and even your other child's room. Your 12 year old will be able to manipulate them and get in/out just fine. If you haven't already, put covers on the stove knobs if necessary. If the little one is a climber, be extra cautious. You can also put on one the inside of his bedroom door so he cannot get out - if he wakes up early, he can play quietly or he can go back to sleep. You can consider putting his bedroom light on one of those timers people use when they go on vacation - if he wakes up and the light is off, it's not time to get up yet (or at least not time to wake others up). Of course, the down side is, the light going on might wake him up when he otherwise would have slept, but you can take your chances.

If he can get over the crib rail, it's time to lower it to the lowest point - he won't roll out of bed while asleep. If he can get over the gates, it may be time to take them down. Teach him how to go up and down stairs - I used the 'on your belly' technique but some people use the 'on your bottom' technique. At this point, he's in greater danger falling over the top and falling a greater distance than he would if the barriers were lowered or removed. Depending on the design, you can also put a gate at the mid-point of the stairs - at least if he falls, he only falls for half a flight.

All you can do now is teach him safe techniques for navigating these hazards, since he can't be contained. Maybe your 12 year old can teach him - both boys might think it is fun - make a game out of it.

Good luck

Have you tried the doorknob covers that make it very difficult to turn the knob, I have never had this issue with my kids but a good friend had to do this to keep her middle one in her room and not disturb the rest of the house or worse get outside, it worked well for her. If you are really worried about him getting outside you could put alarms on the doors that lead outside, I would guess the first time he sets the alarm off it will deter him from doing it again(or not, could work in the other direction,lol)either way you will know when the door is opened. Good luck.

I have two boys as well and my second one is quite a monkey. I used a crib tent to keep him in the crib. He was 10 months old when he started climbing out. It was about $100, but well worth it. He is now 2 1/2 and in a toddler bed so I use one of those doorknob covers on the inside of his door so he can't leave his room. My husband also installed double keyed bolts on all of our outside doors so he can't get outside. Hang in there

My son climbed out of his crib at 15 months. I was so scared he would hurt himself, that we converted it to a toddler bed. However, we then had the same issue you had with him escaping. We closed the door and put a child safety nob on the inside of his door. Since he would occasionally pull those off when really motivated, we also left a gate in the door jam outside of his room. We figured if he managed to get out of bed, remove the safety lock, open the door, AND hurdle the gate, we would hear him.

We also kept a few toys and a nightlight on in his room so if he did get up, he might just play on his own rather than escaping and waking everyone else.

Good luck.
L.

Oh yes! 1...get rid of the crib, it's time when they climb out.
2...put bolts on your doors to outside or a chain lock where he can't reach it.