Help! Son Crawling Out of Crib

this is a little tough but it works... put him in the toddler bed and shut the door. He will crawl out and sleep on the floor for several day or a week. He will pound on the door and call for you. this is the really tough part. But Keep talking to him about sleeping in the bed is much better than the floor. Your a big kid now. When you stay in your bed, mommmy will open the door. It pays off in the long run. You do not want to start laying down with him, that's tough to break too.

It worked will with my 4 yr old and 2 yr old.
B.

They make those baby net things that go over the crib to prevent them from crawling out. Like a tent made of mesh. Babies r us has them I am sure.

You convert to a toddler bed for safety. Then you teach him to obey by discipline. In my household that usually means a spanking at that age to ensure that they mean momma means business. a couple swats with a wooden spoon consistently teaches them to obey and respect my requests. That is what I did. But the obey thing is for everything from not running off, biting etc. Teaching them to obey you will solve most problems, not teacing to the situation.
Whatever you do, DO NOT lay down in there while he is starting to fall asleep. He will expect you to do it ALL the time.
You are also asking if he will understand. Does he understand if you say "Do you want a cookie?" IF he does he is capable of understanding what you want, he just won't choose to do it. That is where the discipline comes in. I wouldn't be worried if he gets up early, but when you lay him down. Lay him down, if he gets up put him back once or twice and then swat him to get the point across. Give him some benadryl to make him extra sleepy until the new habit of staying in the bed, until you fall asleep takes effect. That should work and how I did it. YOu may think he is so small, but obviously is maturing more than you are giving him credit for, physically of course. Toddlers are impulsive and need direction. He will learn to stay in the bed if you handle it right. Just like he learned to drink from a sippy cup, etc. Alot is riding on discipline in the next few years and you have a great opportunity to start now, that your word is the law and will consistently discipline when he disobeys.
Good luck,
L.

If you lay with him to sleep - you will be doing that for years to come. Try laying the mattress on the floor for a few weeks. It's an adjustment, but will be easier on your mind than him falling out of the crib!

Putting him in a toddler bed to keep from falling out of the crib sounds like the thing to do, and your ideas about laying down beside him at first if he won't lay there is good, and you may want to put up shades to make his room darker at bedtime if this bothers him. I think he will understand this is his bed time bed the same as the crib was, just different. Good thinking on the gate, now how quick will he be able to crawl over it, ha.

Leave your crib up for now, but leave the railing down. When you put him to bed he probably won't notice that it's down, but when he wakes up it will be easier for him to climb out and not as far to fall if he should fall. You could also put something on the floor for a soft landing. When you do convert to the toddler bed, put up a gate at night. Then, if he gets out of his bed he won't be running loose in the house. He may fall asleep on the floor for awhile, but he will soon figure out that the bed is a lot more comfortable.

Put him in the toddler bed and make sure there is a bed rail. Also look into getting one of the really tall baby gates by DreamBaby. That's what we have for our two year old, and it's taller than her. There is also nothing for her to get a foothold on so that she could get over it. Good luck. Just be consistent and patient. :)

I second the advice of using the Crib Tent. They are a God-send. I've had one for years that I've used for climbers in my daycare. They are safe and secure. And they prevent a lot of headaches and sleepless nights. They are worth the investment.

http://www.missbrenda.com

Take him out of the crib NOW! He can get seriously injured if he falls. I put my oldest in a full size bed with bed rails when he was 20 months old and I am getting ready to put son #2 in a full size bed with bed rails at 17 months for the exact same reason. Put his mattress on the floor at least so he doesn't get hurt. This can be VERY dangerous!

Sounds like my youngest daughter. We reversed her door knob so she could not lock herself in and so at night we could lock her in for safety. Like you all the rooms are upstairs and the child gate helps bu ti know if she can crawl out of the crib... A gate is a mere pebble in her path. She is 27 months now but when she was younger we had a crib net. Check out 'one step ahead'. But the door knob gave me great piece of mind. Easiest to do as well. Good luck with your monkey. Ps her nickname is 'monkey bones'.

I don't advise laying with him and/or going back and laying with him if/when he gets up. It becomes a "game" and then HE is in control (I want mommy; I'll get up and she'll come back.)

I agree with the crib tent/canopy idea.

When you do get to the point of putting him in the toddler bed (we gave ours their "big-boy bed" for 2nd birthday), you can simply "lay down the law" that it is bedtime and he is to stay in the bed. After the first few nights of getting a "surprise on the bottom" each time he got out, my son got the idea. Sometimes just a firm "NO" and putting him back and leaving the room was all it took.

The best advice I can give is to establish a ROUTINE that makes his little body KNOW it is bedtime (example: bath, pj's, brush teeth, kiss daddy, read story, mommy leaves, sleep). Until you get it down or even to reinforce it to your son, a picture symbol chart is great. I have used these for my son with autism (mentally 2 to 4 yr. old); I adhere velcro to the back of each picture card and move it to a different column until each card is done.

Funny story: My older son was really good at staying in the bed. One night after I left the room, he fussed and fussed. It was not like him (he was about 2 1/2). I finally decided something was wrong and investigated. I asked him what he needed and he pointed to a stuffed animal that had fallen out of the bed. (I had a hard time stifling my snickers.) It was just out of reach, but he was NOT going to get out of bed to go get it. As soon as I left the room, I burst out laughing. :o)

It sounds like you are doing a GREAT job if your son is going right to sleep. :o)

P. <><

Time for a toddler bed for sure. When we transitioned both of our children, we used a baby gate on their doors..sometimes two baby gates stacked...to keep them in their rooms at night should they get up and play. We also used the term "nightie-nite" to let them know it was sleeping time. At first, we had to go into their rooms, gently put away the toys, and only said "nightie-nite" the entire time. Kind of a SuperNanny thing. We played soft music in the background and never turned on any lights but used a night light.

It is an adjustment and will take some time but the child will start to understand.

Praying for you,

J.

THey make a ten dome-like thing that is made of netting that can go over the top of the bed to keep climbers in! Try maybe on-line to find it! I think if I were in your shoes (which I may be in the near future with my 13 mos. old monkey), I would try that! I've also seen it in specialty baby magazines!

Best of luck!
T.

We've been using the crib tent since my sone started crawling out around the same age. He is almost two, and I plan to keep him in his crib for several more months. At least until I know he can handle sleeping in a toddler bed. We got ours at Babies R Us.

I second the crib tent. He seems a bit too young to be in a toddler bed.

If he goes to sleep willingly and only gets up when he wakes up---like we all do--I would put him in the toddler bed. That way you don't have to worry about him falling.

My great-grandson crawled out of his crib at 10 months old. He absolutely refused to go back to the crib. Talk about monkey! He screamed and climbed his mom or dad eveytime they tried. So they put a full sized mattress on the floor and baby proofed his room, fully expecting that he would never stay in bed again. Fooled them! When he woke up he would call them and wait for someone to come get him out of bed!!

This 'temporary' measure worked so well that he continued to sleep there and didn't venture out on his own until he was 2.

'splain that, Lucy!

I know what you are going through. My son was 12 months when he started climbing out of his crib. So many people suggested putting blankets and pillows on the floor just in case but I still worried that something could happen before he even hits the floor so I decided to convert his bed to the toddler one. Mine did not have a built in rail so I bought one from Wal-Mart that ran the length of the bed. It's mesh in the middle so he can still see out just like when the drop down rail was there. At first he loved it, no problem. Then in a manner of days he realized he can get out but really that's okay because I would rather him get out of bed now since it's a lot safer and closer to the ground. I did what every book said to do, if he gets out go back in - don't speak to him- and put him back into bed. I had to do this maybe 10 times the first night but from there the number of times I had to re-enter decreased pretty fast. Now if he tries all I have to do is point and he climbs back in himself. I do agree with the other woman who said don't start something or set expectations as it will be sooo hard to get them to understand why you are not doing it one night, or when someone else has to put your child to bed and may not know the routine. We also made sure the room was child proofed and have a gate on his door (which by the way he doesn't climb) as added protection. He will get the hang of it, now he just hangs out in his bed until I get up there to get him, unless I am in the shower and then I may find his dirty laundry hidden around the room!

My son was the same way. I used a Crib Tent until he was almost 2 1/2. It worked great. They are very secure and safe. You can get one at Bbaies R Us or Amazon.com Everyone I know who have used them have loved it. The kids even seem to like them.