Allie asked:
Hi, my 18 month old has started crawling out of his crib. Im worried about converting to a toddler bed because I don’t like the idea of him being able to roam. He can open doors, walk downstairs, climb gates. So there’s a world of trouble he can get into. I found a site that has crib tents and I was wondering if anyone had used one and how it worked. Also if anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated!! Thank you!
Hi, my 18 month old has started crawling out of his crib. Im worried about converting to a toddler bed because I don’t like the idea of him being able to roam. He can open doors, walk downstairs, climb gates. So there’s a world of trouble he can get into. I found a site that has crib tents and I was wondering if anyone had used one and how it worked. Also if anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated!! Thank you!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
My daughter used to do this too. The safest thing to do is just convert to a toddler bed. This will prevent him from jumping out of the crib and hurting himself. If he won’t stay in the toddler bed at first, make sure there is nothing dangerous in his reach in his room and then buy child safety locks for his doors to keep him in there at night. I did this with my daughter and after a week or two she would finally stay in bed.
Go ahead and switch to a toddler bed. You will need to be thinking about potty training in a few months and it’s better to have him used to a toddler bed before the potty training starts.
Crib tents are for keeping pets and older siblings out of a crib for a little baby. I would think an 18-month-old would be easily able to defeat a crib tent.
As far as the roaming around, my advice would be to put a bell high on the outside of his door. When he leaves the room, you’ll hear it ringing and you can catch him at it. The bad news, honey, is that he’ll still be able to get in trouble roaming around at 3 years, 4 years, 5 years and you can’t keep him in the crib forever!
When my 18 month old started climbing out of his crib I moved him to a toddler bed. They make very inexpensive and easy for big hand operation door knob covers. I placed them on each outside door it was a 3 pack for about 2 dollars each pack. So if you wanted to put one on the bathroom doors to close at night it would be great. Place a baby gate across his door. If you close his door at night place on on the inside of his door.
I haven’t tried the crib tents. I figured that if he figured out how to escape from the crib he would figure that out too. I was afraid he would hurt himself or be injured from a fall.
When my kids started crawling out of their crib I put a baby gate at their door way and made sure that the room was child proof. That way if they got up they couldn’t get out of their bedroom and roam around the house.