Seeking Advice Regarding Keeping Twin Boys from Constant Climbing Out of Crib

Time to take away the cribs!
Get mattresses on the floor, let them choose how to dress the "beds" with some new sheets etc. Make it fun.
Take all the potentially "dangerous" stuff out of the room so it's not so much fun to explore anymore!

I just dealt with the exact same issue w/ my 21 mo old and based on many recommendations, we moved my daughter to a toddler bed. It has worked out very nicely. We got an Elmo toddler bed that she loves. We also put 2 stacked baby gates up the first few nights because she kept trying to climb out of her room. Now we only use 1 gate and she doesn't try to leave her room. Once she's asleep, we can take the gate back down. Good luck!

Since they can climb out, it is time for toddler beds. Remove everything extra/dangerous from their room. If you have any extra space at all put their toys in another room. Hang their clothes up on a high rod so they can't reach them. You might even want to temporarily use plastic bins or drawers for socks & underwear. Since they climb the dressers, you might want to consider removing them too for a while. Arms/legs have been broken by kids playing super/spiderman and jumping off tops of tall dressers. My daughter climbed hers when my husband dozed on her floor and she cracked his ribs when she jumped off and landed on him (she was fine)!

RH,
Wow, does this bring back memories! My boys were exactly the same with their bedtimes/cribs, etc. I finally resorted to getting them the little toddler beds (I found the white plastic ones to be very sturdy and not expensive enough to break the bank and I didn't worry if they were rough with them) as the climbing out of their cribs was very unnerving. I also didn't have large pieces of furniture in their room. Just their beds, a small bookshelf and a toy chest.
I also tried to utilize the door knob "locks" to keep them safe at night - one way that they worked a bit better is to use some WD-40 on the doorknob.
It's definitely a phase and my boys were out of the "explore the house at night" after a couple of months. I did have to be super vigilant while they were in that exploratory period, though. They were also what I called "mini-destroyers" - and I really couldn't place things of value in their room when they were going through that stage.
For a word of encouragement though; my little guys are now almost six and have pictures on the wall (Van Gogh) - a large chest of drawers - a very expensive bunk bed set and all their "good" books in their room...Amazingly enough everything stays in place. The boys pick up their books/toys/dirty clothes every night before they get into bed...they brush their own teeth and go to bed at 8 p.m. after saying prayers. Twins can be a bit crazy (read my profile)but they are also such a blessing.
Hope this helps a little - take care,
A.

All three of my kids were long out of cribs by the time they could walk. (Course for the most part we co-slept) I would forgo the crib tents and start finding something along the lines of tot beds or regular twin beds for their room.

Bedtime... sounds like you need a new routine. It will take time (what doesn't?) but in the long run it will be worth your peace of mind. As far as the mornings, again with a new routine. You need to be up before them if possible, or simply have them come into your room and wake you with kisses. You could also tell them that they have to stay in their room and play with toys until you get up. Or put some plastic bowls and cereal boxes down where they can reach them in the kitchen so if they do get up early they can get to breakfest by themselves. Or dish out portions the night before and leave it on the table for them.

You might also want to employ the good old baby monitor again for awhile.

I have had a friend whose little one climbed out of the crib at 18 mos, fell and broke her arm. Its possible.
Best of luck.

I just sat down for a breather after installing crib
tents for their naps and then I read your question.
What timing. I also have twins and they are 27 months.
Just yesterday they showed me how they can climb out
of their crib. I always knew I was going to use the
crib tents because I heard so many wonderful things
about them. I read all your responses and am going to take
them all into consideration. I just cant see my little ones
in a toddler bed yet. I wish you the best with your decision.
I know its tough. Email me if you want to compare notes. Sometimes it helps when someone else is going through the same thing.

T.

I haven't come to this stage yet but when I do I'm going to follow the actions of others who have had the problem and use a crib tent. It supposedly works wonderfully. Good luck.

I don't have any advice but wanted to say that your twins sound adorable. It has to be a lot of fun for them to have a little partner with whom to share adventures in the wee hours! Good luck with keeping them in their cribs!

They make a crib tent, my friend used one with her son who was climbing out also. It worked great. She told him it was a fun new thing so he wasn't freaked out by it. I think they sell them at Babies R Us.

Also, I'm sure there are different opinions out there on putting your child in a big bed...my son is 2 1/2 and still in a crib. I am so thankful because I know if he were in a bed he'd be coming out a hundred times at night when he's supposed to be sleeping. Luckily my son has never tried to climb out!

Completely babyproof their room so that there is NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING in there that can put them in danger or get them into trouble. The room becomes the new "crib". Put a "bing-bong" alarm on their bedroom door, so you know instantly if they try to leave the room, even if it is in the middle of the night. (meant to keep burglers out, but I used mine to keep my Autistic child in.) Put it on the setting with no ten second delay. If they can outsmart all the baby latches on the drawers, hang up all their clothes, and turn the dressers to the wall. Or remove them if you have to. Or you could put one inside a closet, and put a closet latch on, very high. Even if your closet has sliding doors, there are latches for them. The magnetic baby locks, that you can't see from the outside work well for inquisitive toddlers. You keep the key on your person, or in a high spot (that they don't know about.) Until they have established the habit of staying in bed, you could also put a hook on the outside of the bedroom door, and only leave it on until they are asleep. (after that I would unhook it for fire safety.) Or use a bedroom door lock, you probably have one on your master bedroom door, just turn it around so that the room is locked from the inside, not the outside. Again, unlock before you go to sleep for fire safety. Tell them they have to stay in bed until the morning light. (Don't worry about explaining exceptions to them, kids know this does not apply to when they are sick or hurt.)You also could put their nightlight on a timer, so that it goes off after an hour or so, they might be less likely to get out of bed to play if it is completely dark in there. If you convert the cribs to toddler beds, the climbing will be less likely to result in injury, and they may be less likely to hurt each other from climbing into each other's cribs. Good luck!

Hi R H is there any reason that you still have them in cribs? how do they use the potty at night? I would take them out of the crib and put them in twin beds and teach them they are to stay in their beds at night unless the need to go potty and then they need to go right back to bed, until mommy gets you up in the morning. I started my kids around 19 months on their crib mattress on the flour, with all their stuffed animals around them, then at 2 put them in twin beds, and they new the rules, we didn't mind them getting up early in the mornings, and playing in their rooms. J. L.

That's my daughter....simple soluation, take the nails out of the bottom of the crip (if it goes to the floor or close to it), and drop the mattress to the floor. It is hard to make/change the bed, but with nothing below the mattress the lip it too high to climb out of! If your crib does not go down deep and that cannot work, my friend bought a tent that went over the top of it...and her boy was locked in!

Hi there - 2 words:

Crib Tents!!

Some people will vehemently disagree...but at that age...especially with boys, they don't give up. We used them for both of our boys and our daughter...until they understood about having to stay in their beds until "appropriate times" to get out - i.e. morning, etc. As long as you zip them up completely, they are safe...and ours stopped climbing out without having to even zip them up. Just having the tent on was a deterrent.

Once we moved all of them to a "big kid" bed...we never had an isse at either nap or bedtime where they didn't go to bed and go right to sleep.

Good luck!

Hi,
I'm not there yet w/ my 10 month old but I saw a crib tent in the One Step Ahead catalog. I made a mental note figuring I'll need it someday!
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...
Good luck!

Some parents remove their bedroom door, and install one of those doors that are segmented into 2 portions- you know the kind they use in stables? Where the top portion of the door can swing open (and you can open it to see them), and the bottom half of the door is LATCHED with not a doorknob, but the kind of sliding latch that public bathroom doors have. BUT you put the latch on the OUTSIDE of the door (so you can operate it), not in the inside where they can operate it. Then, when they get older, you can just change out the latch and put one on both sides of the door, or just install a door knob. This way, the door would kind of be like a "gate" but a door at the same time.... and the height of the bottom-half of this door would be too high for them to climb out of.

And yes, remove ALL unsafe things from their room, put the mattresses on the floor and that's it. Even their drawers/dressers should be removed.

Then when they outgrow this phase, you can re-do their bedroom and refurnish it.

All the best,
Susan

You could try transitioning them to a bed and making your expectations very clear. Each time you hear them get out of their bed- go in and put them back in- as many times as it takes- it may take doing this for a couple days but it may work. Don't talk to them, don't laugh, don't make eye contact- just walk in and put them in their beds and then walk out.

C., mother of 3, sleep consultant, sleep blog writer www.lullabyluna.com

Hi R.H. I also have twin boys and this was a problem for me starting at 13 months. Go to amazon.com and type in crib tent. Both my boys have one and they can not get out!! It is true babies r us used to sell them, but when I had to get a replacement for one they informed me they no longer carry them in the store and I could not find one anywhere else. If you really dont like the idea of them....baby proof the room, put them in toddle beds and help them learn that the bed is where they sleep. Turn their door knob around and lock them in the room so they cant get out.

Bummer. take down the cribs and rearrange so that there are the least number of interesting things in their room. In our house, my kids share a bedroom so that we can use the spare room for all of their toys. Bedrooms are for sleeping, the other room is for playing. I think you may need to do some rearranging. Then get a lock for the door. This is a pretty extreme situation here with twins and very adept ones at that. With my kids, when they would get out of bed, we would just keep putting them back. Eventually, they got it that they needed to stay there. As for the morning, well, if they are getting out of bed because it is time to get up for them, wwll, I guess it is time to get up for you as well. If they are getting up because they want to crawl into bed with you, send them back to their own bed. Good luck!!!

I read through your post, the whole time thinking of recommending the crib tents, but then got to the end where I see that you are opposed to them.
I can tell you from my own personal experience with my now soon to be 5 year old twins, that when they were experimenting with crib escapes, that the tents were a savior! We presented it to them in a fun, upbeat way, that they got to sleep in their very one "circus tent", and they responded with the same enthusiasm. I too had some concern about the prospect of them initially, but when I saw how much they enjoyed them and the resulting piece of mind (and sleep!) that it provided for our family, I would do it over again in a heartbeat.
Best of luck.
K

Hello RH. It's ironic that you posted this question tonight, because I am actually taking a break from assembling my infant's crib. While reading the instructions, I glanced at the warnings, etc. and one of the things that caught my eye was the warning that stated when the child can climb out of the crib, do not use it anymore. I agree with this. I had both of my older children in toddler beds as soon as they learned how to walk with ease. It made things a lot simpler. Getting them to stay in the bed was challenging at first, but it made for a restful sleep for me knowing that they weren't going to break their necks falling out of the crib while trying to escape. As far as them exploring things, I can't really help you in that department because as you said, they are curious and are naturally going to want to explore. I'm not sure what you did with the older one at this phase (sometimes it's hard to remember, too! lol), but in my opinion, it is just safer to have them sleep in toddler beds. I'm sorry I can't offer any other advice regarding keeping them from wandering around in the middle of the night and early in the morning. :( Is there any way you can cue a TV (I don't know if they have one in their room or not) to come on at a certain time in the morning, and play their favorite cartoon or something like that? Maybe that would solve one problem with the early morning explorations. I hope this helps, and good luck to you!!!!

Hi! It sounds like it is time for big boy beds. I recently switched my 26 month old and was having similar problems with him getting up and playing and opening the door. We have odd shaped door knobs so the covers did not work. We didn't mind that he played in his room for a while before falling asleep, but we didn't want him to come out of his room. After trying all kinds of things we finally switched the door knobs with the bathroom and now there is a lock on the outside and we can lock him in. He can't open the door and he can play until he falls asleep. Once he is asleep, we quietly unlock the door so he can come out when he wakes up. He did cry for about a week when he wasn't able to open the door, but know he tries it once, if at all, and moves on. Sometimes he plays for an hour before falling asleep and sometimes he goes right down. But, he knows that when it is nap/quiet time, he has to stay in his room. By the way, at bed time he usually goes straight down, there is no playing. Good luck.

Hi there...I was going throught his EXACT same thing about 2 weeks ago. I have twin boys who are 2 1/2 and they were still in cribs. They were EXCELLENT sleepers and nappers until they figured out they could get out!! Then my life was a nightmare for about a week! It's time to take the front rails off of the cribs!! I know it seems like that will make them climb out even more (not really even "climbing" out at that point) but they are ready if they can get out of their cribs. PLEASE don't use the tents...I think those things are terrible!! It's part of their development to learn to sleep in a big boy bed!

What we did was take a small washcloth and fold it in half and kind of wedge it in the door so they couldn't open the door...I would hear them running around and talking for a few minutes and then they would just crawl into their beds and go to sleep. Now (after only a week or so) I tell them..."ok, it's time for night-night, Mommy's putting the towel in, so stay in your beds!" and the actually stay in the beds!!! It's amazing! Your boys will get used to it and before you know it, they will be back in a routine! I also don't know what time you put them to bed, but we pushed their bedtime back about a 1/2 hour when they turned 2 (they go to bed at 7:30pm and wake up about 6-6:30am)

Good luck! Let me know if you need any twin advise for year olds!! (I may need some from you too!)

You can take off the side crib rail and install a toddler rail to the crib. This will give them some protection from falling out when they sleep, but gives them a small space to climb out. This will definitely help avoid any injuries that can occur from them having to climb out of their cribs.

I am sure their new found freedom will be hard to handle. When we transitioned my son and he started getting out of bed we just stuck with the Supernanny method of returning him to his bed consistently without engaging him. It only took 3 days before he was back to staying in his crib.

They may need a platform bed. Very low to the ground, if they fall out, it won't hurt them. You may want to try Ikea.

Be well.

N.

I would take their crib mattress and put it on the floor. It sounds like they are ready for some toddler beds.

Your story has me cracking up, just imagining the two at work! Personally, I think you're lucky to have made it this long in cribs. My son started the escape artist routine at 17 months.
I know that many have suggested the tent, which sounds like it worked for them. I'd suggest moving them to toddler beds. I'm more of a believer in moving on to the next stages when kids are ready, and allowing them to learn and grow. This is not an easy transition, so lots of light to you in whatever you choose!
Thanks for the entertaining story!

Dear RH:

I agree that your little boys sound like fun! My goodness!

Well, I'm different than most mamas in that I think 18 months is time for a real bed. Your first responder mentioned a toddler bed and I totally agree. I treated my kids like "big kids" and they seemed to respond well to that. (Although my son also figured out all the childproofing without any problem whatsoever! Eeek!)

I, too, can see too many dangers with crib tents. Besides, we're teaching them to obey, not restraining them.

One thing I'd recommend is that you place a latch on OUTER doors. I wouldn't make a big deal about it or call attention to it. Just get them on there and use them. That would just FREAK ME OUT if I thought my kids could just walk ouside without me knowing it.

As far as the naptime silliness, can you use your own room for their naps? Do they have a playroom where you can keep all the toys and turn their room into a sleep place only? (I had to do that for my son for a couple of years. Click...click...click...LEGOS! Constantly LEGOS!) It would help your sons sleep if their room wasn't so stimulating.

For nightime, I'd suggest a reward system. If they're lying in bed when you come to wake them up in the morning, you can reward them with something terrific: a walk to the park, whatever they like, but NOT if they're up and being goofy.

Oh, and by the way, my son STILL doesn't have any bureau with drawers because of what you said (he's old enough now but we've gotten used to our system and we like what we have). I have built-in shelves in his closet and his stuff is all folded in bins: undies, sleepwear, hats, socks; or stacked on shelves: pants and shorts. Half of his closet has his shirts hanging on two rods. That means the entire room is for sleeping (when they're little) or sleeping/playing (when they're bigger). It's easy for him to organize and one less climbing hazard when they're little. Just something to think about.

Best wishes,

M.

I think kids should be out of cribs around age two, give or take a few months, so since they are almost two, get them twin beds. They may not sleep as much, but eventually the newness of getting up may wear off and they'll stay in bed. Put one of those things on the door knob so they can't get out of their room. Child proof the room and do something about the dressers so they can't get hurt. (Even as far as taking the dresser out of the room.)