Crawling out of crib at 12 months! What to do?

Question

My son has been crawling since just under 6 months, walking since 8 months, and now he's mastered the art of climbing (at just under a year)- on everything! He can get over baby gates, into chairs, and most recently out of his crib! What should I do? I watch him constantly, but I can't at night & he escapes almost soundlessly (we even have a video monitor with sound & lights in his room). He's only done it twice so far, during naps. I don't place ANYTHING in the crib with him & he's not unusually tall, the crib is at it's lowest level already. I have padded the floor with blankets in case he falls out, but I'm scared to death he will get out & get hurt on something else. Anybody have any suggestions? I think he may be too small yet for a bed because then he would always be out LOL I really am at a loss of what to do & as it is now, I am up wondering when he will break out next or if he'll do it at night at all. Please help with any advice. Thanks

Answer 1

He sounds like my son. You have a little rugrat there. Seriously, put his crib in your room and put it between a wall and your bed for now, this way you'll hear and feel him getting out of the crib. He's too little to risk going it alone through the house. Some people tie them into bed, but that's mean I think. Good luck.

Answer 2

They don't need to be tall. Its often the wiry ones who are the worst!! My son was a slightly built little guy, but his thing was to sit on top of the crib rail and say, "High-din" (apparently he thought that "hiding" had something to do with being up high!)

The good thing about them at that age, though, is if they get up in the night they tend to come find you.

You can shut doors or latch them high where you can and light only halls but not, say, the kitchen. If you light the hall and keep a nightlight in your room he'll probably come find you if he gets up in the night. Make sure the kitchen doesn't have anything that he can get. You may need a refrigerator latch anyway (he could climb in the refrigerator).

Make sure his room doesn't have anything he can get in trouble with. If there's a lamp get it out and use an overhead light for a while.

For the most part, though, I stayed up late and got up early, and my son would sleep through the night, so he wasn't in the habit of climbing out in the middle of the night. It did tend to be after naps. That was usually when I'd hear him calling, "High-din", and I'd know he was straddling the crib rail and about to come walking out soon.

I think, though, until he gets into a toddler bed or until he gets more "reasonable" (whichever comes first) your best bet is to keep him on a schedule that means he'll usually sleep while you sleep. Another option would be to set up a little crib or playpen in your room for a while and lock your door after you go to bed, so if he gets out you may hear him but even if you don't he can't go anywhere. I think if you put him in his regular crib during the day for naps he won't become unaccustomed to sleeping there. It shouldn't be a big deal to switch him back there nights when this stage he's in passes.

P.S: Too bad you can't teach him to announce his plans to leave by calling out, "High-din". :) That was a tremendous help for me.

Answer 3

It is highly recommended that you turn the crib into a toddler bed at once. Your son can suffer a broken limb or a head injury if he falls climbing out of his crib.

I know how you feel about being hesitant in shifting him over. I didn't want my daughter to get into things at night either. I was especially afraid that she would go outside because she loves to be outside-even in the bad weather. I waited as long as I safely could before I changed her crib into a toddler bed. Until I did, I would get on her every time she'd try to climb out before I converted her over. I'd rather her cry from not getting her way than to cry from a broken leg.

Once I put her in the bed, I put a gate up in her doorway (she didn't like that either). If your son is climbing those as well, you may consider putting up a door where you can close the bottom half, but leave the top half open. You may also consider putting in a screen door, one of the ones with the metal at the bottom, but do check for rough edges and file them or cover them to avoid injury.

They also sell netting for cribs. It is used to keep cats out of the crib, but it may help keep a kid in as well. I never had one though. I wasn't too worried with the cats curling up to sleep with her. I didn't want to spend the money on a net when I would have to convert her over to a bed sometime anyway (she was over 1 when I converted her to her bed).

I hope this helps and good luck with your son!!
I'm working on the plug problem with my daughter now-she even takes the child proof inserts out!! (She's almost 3.)

Answer 4

Wow! What a little bugger you have. I assume that you've lowered the crib to its lowest position? Not all is lost. My daughter is 2 years, 2 mos., and she has climbed out of her crib on about 4 occasions. Your son may kind of "forget" that he knows how and go back to normal. If not, you may want to consider converting the crib to a bed with a guard rail. It's not like you can reason with him and tell him to stop doing it. I guess you could always put pillows around the crib to cushion the inevitable falls, too. My goodness, you certainly have a live one! Good luck to you!

Answer 5

My daughter was in a bed at 10 months because she attempted to climb out of her crib. She had been walking for some time and like a "good mom" I lowered her mattress and kept the rail raised. She got to the top of the rail and fell over onto the floor and knocked the wind out of herself. After that she wouldn't sleep in her crib. She would go to sleep in the crib but only for about a half hour at a time. My mother ran a day care for toddlers and had to provide sleeping areas (in order to be licensed) and one of the "sleeping areas" was my old twin bed. So I purchased rails at Toy's R Us that attched just under the mattress so no more falling and the first time she napped in the bed she slept for two hours! As for your son getting out of bed and wandering I would find a way to keep him from climbing over a child gate. Or you can do what my uncle did...because my cousin destroyed child gates...put up a screen door in the doorway of his bedroom, this way he can't climb it and yet he won't be able to get out of his bedroom either. There are also mesh covers that go over cribs, they're sort of like mosquito netting for camping cots.

Answer 6

Time for a toddler bed. Its safe to change beds then have them fall out of the crib. My second child was walking by 6 months. Getting out of the crib by 8months. She is amazingly strong we had to put her in to a bed at a young age. Worked great. Just keep the room safe or try a play pen

Answer 7

My youngest was like this. for awhile one of those travel cribs worked,(it's deeper) but she eventually figured out how to get out of that.
I finally had to completly babyproof the room and got a toddler bed. I would put her tp bed and close the door. With the monitor I could hear if she got into any trouble. When she fell asleep I would go in and put her back in the bed.
It took awhile (read this as over a year) to get the picture, but she's 13 now and sleep in the bed so I guess it worked.

Answer 8

Turn Japanese and let him sleep on the floor on a firm matress, use foam rubber for the filling, board for the base, and cover with vinyl. this matress will be about 5 inches high. then you can put a sheet over it, the vinyl will heat to his body temp to keep him warm, and if he wants to take a mid night stroll, he can just get up and move it along to the nearest baby gate, assuming that his sleeping area is child proof. The fact that he is up and roaming is a sign of physical superiority and well being, what a blessing.

Answer 9

You need to get him into a bed. I'd suggest one of those car beds or just a mattress on the floor, you don't want him to fall out of the cot. He's not too young to be out of the cot especially when his safety is at risk. As for getting out all of the time, all I can say is persistance is the key after a couple of days of putting him back in he'll get the message. Goodluck with your little monkey!!!

Answer 10

You need to put the crib railing at the hightest level. Plus, put vaseline on the crib's railing/bars. So, when he tries to get out, he will slide! For the baby gates....you may have to double up on them. Place one on top of the other baby gate!