Climbing Out of Cribs

My kids never climbed out of their cribs i had them in beds by 1 and a half so they never got that far, but it is safest to always sleep with bedroom doors closed in case of a fire. sounds paranoid but it's true. keep in mind that not all kids are climbers either, may be soemthign you never have to worry about. good luck.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Most kids that I have known may try, but won't go through with it until they are confident enough to make it safely to the ground. It's actually easier to climb into the crib, if you think about it, climbing up onto a mattress vs. climbing down to the hard ground. My daughter did that for awhile before she ever tried climbing out. As far as their door, yes, keep it closed. I recommend a back-up since most kids smart enough to climb out of bed can manage a door knob. With both of our kids we turned the doorknobs inside out so that the lock is on the outside, this allows us to lock it if we need to and prevents them from locking themselves in. You can use a gate if she doesn't climb it, or a door knob cover. That last thing you want is a curious sneaky toddler roaming a house at night. Good luck!

Dear K.,
My thoughts on toddler beds and kids...they are great.
All three of my boys were in a toddler bed before 18 mos. As far as the door closed...absolutely! The door has been closed since they first slept in a room of their own. And like my sister (Heather M) we turned the knobs around and use door knob covers on the inside.
As far as preparing for the "in case she falls out", fold up a quilt or comforter on the floor out side the crib. You can kick it under in the morning and pull it out after she's in bed. Or just make the switch.
With my oldest, I needed the crib for baby #2 and wanted him out and settled before #2 arrived. So, we got a toddler bed, removed everything over three feet tall in his room and that was that. He fell asleep on the floor by the door every night for about two maybe three months but I just put him back in his bed when I went to sleep and he was fine. My second really liked his brother's bed and wanted to sleep in it. So, we sold the crib and bought another toddler bed and that was that. (We were in cramped quarters so 2 toddler beds were way easier than twin beds.) With #3, he never had a crib, he had a Graco travel-lite crib which is about half the size of a normal pack-n-play. He loved it and because we moved and traveled a lot it was perfect for him. He finally became too tall and I unpacked the toddler bed from storage and he's been happy as can be in that.
Don't rush it unless there is a reason though. Unless she is constantly climbing, or making a dangerous situation or refusing to sleep in her crib...don't rock the boat.
A.

K.,
Funny you should mention it. My 18 month old started climbing out of the playpen at the sitters house last week and yesterday when I went to get her up from nap when I got home from work, she was on the floor in her bedroom! I guess she fell back asleep on the floor at some point because there was nothing out of order in her room. She was fine. Not a mark on her. It did scare me though. Her door was closed and I intend to keep it that way when she is napping. WE lowered her bed as far as it will go. If she keeps doing it I guess we will have to take her rail down and convert it to a toddler bed just to keep her from getting hurt. She is a climber! My son didn't climb out of his bed until he was like 3 and then not that often. I would definitely keep the door closed and anything up that she could maybe get hurt on like a shelf that could possibly turn over.

Hi K.,
My little man, who will be 2 next month...started climbing out of his crib so we put him in a toddler bed. The first time he did it he fell to the floor and it scared him so bad that he didn't try again for quite awhile.Later he started to climb out again,the one time he did hurt himself...so we decided to put him in a toddler bed. If your child begins to climb out often and you feel there is a chance she could hurt herself,you might as well put her in a toddler bed. We didn't want there to be a chance of an injury and since he was getting out anyway we just took the plung! We keep his door open until he falls asleep,then we close it before we go to bed. That way if he should get up to play we will see him and tell him to get back into bed. Just "child proof" her room the best you can,start a bed time routine for her so she knows it's bedtime,and tuck her into bed. Good Luck!

We kept our baby monitor turned all the way up so I could hear it when my daughter was awake and starting to climb around. Also, I put pillows around her crib just in case. Not sure how much it actually would have helped but it made me feel a little better. You may want to go ahead and toddler-proof her room just in case she is planning an escape. :) She may not climb out for a while still but its best to try to stay ahead of them. Also, like someone else mentioned, a baby gate on the door might be a good idea too.
My friend put her daughter's crib on the lowest setting and kept the rail low when she was worried about her daughter getting out and falling, but if you do that, they are prettty certain to figure out how to get out - but at least you won't have to worry about them getting hurt when they do. For my daughter, once she was actually was able to climb out (around 18 months) we switched to a toddler bed. I think most babies who do it are pretty good about climbing down without getting hurt but my daughter always tried to go head first so we had to move her out of it.

My daughter hadn't figured out how to climb out of her crib, she just started refusing to sleep in it. I don't know why, so now at 17 mos. we have her in a toddler bed. She seems to really like it and it's not far of a fall out of this bed. That's actually the only reason I'm using a toddler bed. Since she is only 17 mos. she's still little to me. She has a twin bed but I'm afraid if I put up those railings they have she'll try to climb over them and fall. I feel much more comfortable at this age in the toddler bed. When she's 2ish I'll probly switch her to the "big" bed. We'll see.

S.

Hi, My daugther started to climbed out of the crib when she was 16 months old. She did got hurt at first time then she stubborn to climbed out of the crib , now she is almost 2 years old and she still climb out of the crib very easy no problem but next week I will buy her toddler bed sets . if you feel concern about your daughter to get hurt. I heard some people did suggest to put Net over the crib becuase she is only 16 months old ,my opinion I don't think she is ready to sleep toddler bed but it up to you .

oh about close the door, I think it bad idea but mabye you could put saftey gate by door or by the stair so she can walk to to you when she get up middle of the night.

M.

My oldest did not crawl out of his bed, but my youngest did. He never cried, just crawled under his bed on the floor and slept there. He didn't appear to be hurt when he was jumping out and he did it a few times so it couldn't have been that bad. We took the side off of his bed and lowered the mattress and he still got down and slept under his bed!

My 11 month old niece is so bad about it that they have removed all toys from her bed because she will climb on them to get out.

In both cases bedroom doors were/are shut to prevent little ones from wandering about and rolling down stairs. if your daughter is trying to put herself to bed, she may be old enough to switch to a toddler bed.