Waiting for the Penny to Drop

I dunno, my kids never really had that problem.
I mean, my son climbed out of his crib once, fell to the floor. Got scared. Then never did that again. Even if he could and was a monkey climber.
Same thing with their beds.

Whether a kid sleeps in a bed that is of height, or a bed that is a floor mattress, or they sleep on a sofa....they can "escape." Unless they are fenced in. LOL

So I dunno. I never had that problem with my kids.
Or even if they got out of their beds... they even wanted to just sleep on the floor, NEXT to their bed. So fine. They got sleep.
No worries.
Nothing permanent.
They slept.

All 3 of my kids were easy transitioning into their new big boy/girl beds...my oldest learned to climb out of his crib at 18months & I, like you, thought it was gonna be a whole huge ordeal...but nope! Easy!

Never a problem, even with my kids who went from crib to mattress on the floor at around 18 months. They just seemed to know bedtime meant laying down and (eventually) going to sleep. They never wandered during the night, other than maybe coming to see us in case of a bad dream or not feeling well. I think it's because the routine never really changed, you know? Bed time was still bed time (bath, stories, etc.) be it in the crib or in our bed or at Grandma's or at a hotel or whatever. I think kids adjust to changes better when routines remain the same. Just keep doing what you're doing and he'll probably be fine!

I moved all the grand kids by 18 months and I never had any problems with them wandering.

So fun. My daughter was good the first week or so out of the crib. After that, she figured out how to turn over the trash can and flip the light switch on. That was pretty funny but also turned into a couple tough nights. I think she was eventually asleep after we unplugged the lamp and took a couple things out.

We had the same fears when we transitioned my oldest out of the crib. I was convinced he would be up and down all night long. But he really never did. For nearly the first year, he would not even get out of his toddler bed by himself, he would stay in bed and call for me and wait for me to come! So funny when I think about it. Its like it never really occured to him that it was possible to leave the bed without an adult being there. And trust me, he is NOT one of those kids that is typically a rule follower!!! We were pleasantly surprised at how easy the transition ended up being. I hope the penny does not drop for you, and all continues to go well!

My son has always stayed in his bed. He only gets up to potty. Sometimes, he will wake up and have a hard time going back to sleep. (Not often, though.) We turn the lamp on and he flips through books until he falls back asleep.

Some kids are just more agreeable n this way.

It took my son about 3 days to learn to stay in bed. He was 15 months when we moved him. We put a gate at his door and the first night he fell asleep at the gate, so I put him in bed and tucked in him. The second night he fell asleep in a pile of stuffed toys, so once again I put him to bed. The 3rd night he fell asleep under his bed, lol, so once again I put him to bed so he woudl wake up in it. By the 4th night he figured it out. I found a book in his bed with him so he had gotten up at some point, but chose to sleep in his bed from that point on.

Just make sure everything in the room is baby proofed and dressers etc are attached to the wall. Not everyone may feel comfortable with this, but we put a door-knob cover over their door-knob on the inside of my kids' rooms. I was paranoid they would get up in the middle of the night and fall down the stairs or find other trouble while we slept.

I never had any issues with them staying in bed.
:)

We had to keep putting our oldest back in bed --still do-- but my son never got out of bed. He is always out within 2 minutes of climbing in bed.

My girls weren't climbers, so we didn't really have any "wandering" issues. We put the crib mattress on the floor when oldest was 2, put her in a "real" bed when she turned 3, and it's only recently that she "wanders" at all. Usually she just gets up to go to the bathroom or get a book/toy to have quietly in her bed.

But then again, we may have just lucked out. :) Our almost 4yr old actually ASKS to go to bed if she's getting tired....

Our son fell out of his crib once.
After that - he was an expert at climbing in and out.
He started sleeping in a twin bed when he was 3 1/2 (we put long bed rails on both sides) and he loved it, especially since I could get in with him for story time.
When ever he woke up and could not get back to sleep, he'd make a bee line to our bedroom (was right across the hall) and I'd take him back to his room.
He never ever went anywhere else.
Eventually he figured out if he woke us up he wouldn't get what he wants, so he started tucking himself into the foot of our bed without waking us up.
We'd find him there in the morning fast asleep and holding onto my foot.
We all started getting a lot more sleep that way.

My kiddo did great switching to the big boy bed, and is finally sleeping through the night now. BUT, it took him just a few short days to realize "hey, I can get out and run around!" or to figure out he can open, and shut his door about a 100 times and drive us nuts! He *Sleeps* great in it, it's just *Getting* him to sleep that is hard. He'd just rather play then go to bed. So we have to tell him many times to lay in his bed and go to sleep every night.

Not a one of my 3 ever took to wandering out of bed when it wasn't time to get up. I always hear all these stories of kids roaming the house and getting into everything and having to put gates at doors and such but none of mine ever did.
If they wake up they come into our room first to see if we're up. If we're not they go back to sleep, either in our bed or theirs depending. If they don't see us in bed because we're up before them then they head downstairs.
You may have a kid like my 3.
Here's hoping you get lucky! :)

I hate cribs only used one with my son, and he's been sleeping in a toddler for a month now he will be 1 at the end of this month.
In my experience my kids do fine in toddler beds, yes once they hit the 2yr mark they start to give a hard time at bed time, but you just have to keep your foot down. An they'll get the point. :-)

B.:

I haven't really had this problem. My kids - all three of them - transitioned...

Yes, kids get out of bed occasionally. My daughter more so - but it was for water or to go to the bathroom - not to play in her room.

My oldest son? Once he's asleep - he's asleep! he's been a GREAT sleeper since he was 6 weeks old (sleeping the night through). My youngest son? Night owl...lays in beds and reads...can go to sleep at midnight during the summer and not wake up until noon...

Sounds like your son has adjusted and will be like my oldest son - once asleep - stays asleep!! Just go with it!! Don't panic!!

My boys did so much better in toddler beds than cribs. Granted I took them out a lot sooner. Because they where climbers they would not stay in the crib.

My kids never figured it out. They transitioned to toddler beds easily and pretty much never got out until we came to wake them in the morning. Now that they're six they enjoy getting up and wandering around, but we had four good years in there! I hope you have the same -

I think every kid is different. You may just be that lucky. I've heard others having no problems with it.

Bed time in my house has always been kinda crazy. Its definitely better now that they are older. But we started our lives with a baby that did not like crib sleeping so it turned into co-sleeping. Her sister took to sleeping in a crib wonderfully but when moved to a bed turned out to be horrible. So after many sleepless nights they are finally in their own rooms in their own beds. (For awhile they were sleeping together only to have the youngest keep the oldest awake. And of course the oldest whom never liked the crib did not want to sleep alone)

However my youngest (5 1/2) some nights still comes in and asks me five million questions some nights.

I hope the penny doesn't drop. I have heard that some just take to it with no problems. So there is hope. :)

Put up a gate. I had wished when we replaced our doors I had kept the old BR door and I would have cut it down to be a half door to keep my DD in but still be able to see and hear her and have her not feel closed in. We were lucky she never tried to climb the gate and now at 5 is just starting to come out of her room without calling us when she first wakes.