Baby Falling Out of Crib

I put the crib mattress on the floor and a baby gate up in the bedroom door for my oldest at 7 months old.

Try a crib tent. It is mesh so there are no issues with airflow. I had one put on my son's crib the day after he crawled out the first time. He actually likes it. He will press his face against the mesh and make faces at me and laugh. We are not ready for him to be in a toddler bed yet and I am not at all comfortable with the thought of him roaming the house freely if he happened to decide to get out of his crib in the middle of the night without me knowing it. The tent zips from the outside so he is safe inside the crib at night.

There is a tent like thing from Tots In Mind. You zip them in and unzip from the outside....the best piece of equipment ever invented! You attach it to the crib and baby never gets out again.

This is in response to April G: If you actually read the entire study that tried to imply that Co-Sleeping increases the risk of SIDS you will find it is a VERY poor worded article.
They state that Co-sleeping is more dangerous when the parents are intoxicated (DUH!) or are doing so on a couch (DUH!)...(If you really get technically these kids were suffocated, it was not "SIDS") ... If you actually take the percentages of children who died of SIDS while co-sleeping properly they are far less than those in cribs.....and many AP pediatricians actually recommend co-sleeping....Dr Sears is a well known one.

As a response to your solution, you could try side-caring the crib to your bed...google it.
You basically take the side bar off the crib and attach the crib to your bed so everyone has their own space, but all the benefits of co-sleeping.

Hi J.,
I believe that your son is too young for a toddler bed. Go to a website called www.onestepahead.com
They sell a net cover that goes over the crib, it is made for climbers like your son. A friend of mine bought it and loves it. You must make sure that it fits your crib though. Call customer service if you have any doubts.
If that fails, my other suggestion would be to get the toddler bed, child proof his room, and place a gate at the door of the room. When I transitioned my two children to big beds, I placed a gate at the door which prevented them from wandering throughout the house if they got up from bed. It kinda of creates a crib out of the room! You can get anytype of gate at a Target, Walmart, Kmart, Babies r us, etc. Hope this helps.

I had a friend that used a crib tent. It seems a little weird as you would think you are completely caging in your baby, but her son loved it as it was the best new play area- a secure castle, a peek-a-boo hideout, etc. Here's a link to a site that sells them: https://www.totsinmind.com/

My daughter did the same thing-one morning I woke up and she was standing next to the bed-wake up mommy!! Putting her in a toddler bed was the next step only because I felt she needed to develop her sleep habits on her own and have her own bed.--Hope it works out.

My advice - put the crib next to your bed. That way when he wakes up you will notice it before he climbs out. Preferably, put the crib along the wall, and push your bed against the other side of the crib. So, that would minimize him climbing out and falling on the floor. He's too young for a toddler bed. I know from experience. Also, if you let him sleep w/ you that will be the end of him sleeping by himself. I have 2 kids sleeping in my bed now because my husband gave in and let them sleep w/ us a few nights. Good luck!
R..

Most cribs allow you to lower the bed, thus making it difficult to climb out of. He's too young for a youth bed, as he will just crawl out of it.
Blessings, S.

My friend purchased a tent screen at Babie R Us. You attached it to the top of the crib and when you put your baby to bed you zipped it closed. I never used one but she used it and it was safe. It looked like four triangle sewn together of clear mesh screen. It comes to a point so the baby can not access the closures. I would research all your advice before you make any decisions.

K.

My 1st born hated his crib and we had another baby coming, so he was out of his crib at 13 months. We just put his crib matteress on the floor and surrounded it with pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals in case he rolled off. You have to "train" him to stay in his bed. He would still come to our bed sometimes in the middle of the night, but he always started off in his own bed. He LOVED the freedom of the open space instead of being confined to a cage.

My 3rd child, however, loves his crib. So when he was 2.5, we figured out we could actually remove the whole side of his crib and leave the other 3 sides as is. We placed lots of blankets on the floor and he has only fallen/rolled out once.

My son is 23 months old, and has been able to get out of his crib since he was 11 months old. We tried a toddler bed, but we found that he most often slept on the floor, and he didn't sleep more than 7 hours (not even close to enough). We have since put him back in his crib with a crib tent. No, this is not a cage, and if you think it is cruel, think about this... no protecting your child is cruel, allowing your child to fall out of his crib and break his neck is cruel. My son hated the crib tent for the first 3 days. He would scream and press his face up against it. It was extremely sad looking, but taking my son to the ER due to a broken neck would have been worse. Now he doesn't mind it, and he even tries to help zip it up. When he does figure out how to unzip it (unlikely since the zipper is on the outside) or when he is too long for his crib we will move to a toddler bed... I think he will be old enough at that point. Good Luck!

J.,
There is a netting thing that you can put on the crib to prevent your baby from getting out. I tried looking it up on the BRU website, but couldnt find it. I'm sure if you go into the store, they will help you.
Good luck!
H.

First try putting the mattress of the crib down to its lowest setting; wait outside the door, or let him settle down and check on him through a crack in the door. Watch to see how he is getting out of bed. If indeed he is climbing his way out, yes, it's time for the toddler bed. This will at least prevent accidental broken arms or legs or collar bones due to his acrobatics. It will not hurt him to start a bed-time routine, which I can say works best. It may take several nights of several trips back to bed but it will be worth it when he is sleeping in his own bed at 2 or 3. It doesn't hurt to sit for a few minutes with them but it is very necessary for them to go back to their own bed. If he continues to stay up and get out of bed, don't give up. Just be consistent.

Hi J....it sounds like you need a crib net. This is a tent sort of thing that goes over the crib to keep your baby inside and safe. I don't think I would put him in a bed yet esp. since he is so motivated to get out. I wouldn't be able to sleep soundly even if I put a baby gate in his doorway. Good luck! I hope that helps.

We used a wonderful net like product that goes around the crib. It is meant to keep cats out - but it safely keeps baby in! I dont remember the name but you can look it up on any of the baby store web sites for keeping cats out. Gave mine to my sister in law who LOVES it.
Good Luck!

They make mesh crib toppers that prevent babies from climbing out. Here's a link to Walmart it's called a cozy crib tent.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/search-ng.gsp?dest=9999999...

For now and just to avoid injuries, put his crib mattress on the floor.

I definitely would not start co sleeping. Kids get used to that quickly and it becomes extremely difficult to break the habit later on. I don't think yours is too yound for a toddler bed. They are crib-sized and super low to the ground. He might like the feeling of it. I put my son in a toddler bed around 12 months. He did just fine. I just had to make sure it was totally dark in his room at night, and we did our normal routine. Make sure he is sleepy and introduce the bed a night rather than at naptime. My son never tried to escape at night. The toddler beds are so low. My son fell out a handful of times at first, but was never hurt. I walked in a couple of times and he was even asleep on the floor where he fell out. I just put a pillow on the ground so that it would soften any falls. My son will be 18 months soon and has not fallen out in a lond time. It's been great! That's not every baby' story, but you can at least try it. I have a friend that put one of those Ocean Wonders crib toys in her son's toddler bed. Maybe you could try one of those or some soft music. You could try a security blanket of some sort. Don't be scared. It could be waaaay easier than you think. Good luck.

Ok I did some looking around and I am not *sure* there would be a problem with doing this, so I would double check warnings on your particular equipment. It seems to me that you need a sleep area with walls high enough tho discourage the little guy from taking matters into his own hands (I had a terrifying incident occur with my 6 month old, who is now 13 thank goodness, when she tried to do the same thing). SO, what about a playpen? I know it is unconventional but it seems like a better deal than lumps on his stubborn noggin. Wish I had more for you.

T.

Hi, J.. Does your crib have an adjustment to lower the mattress so that the rails are higher, which would prevent him from falling out? I think he may be too young for a youth bed, and under no circumstances (in my opinion) should you get him used to co-sleeping.

If your crib mattress is adjusted as far down as it can go, you might have to go to a youth bed, but get one that is very low to the ground. You will have to find a way to discipline him, let him know that "No means no," and that at bedtime, he has to stay in bed. You will have to be firm with him and patient at the same time because you will be teaching him a new habit in place of the old one.

Peace,
Syl

This is the only thing I am going to say. If you are considering co sleeping. Look at the statistics for children who die of sids in there crib, and children who die of sids in a bed next to there parent. Co sleeping greatly increases your chances of sids. My daughter who is now 12 years old, was a climb out on the crib kid. About the first week after she learned I stayed in her room at bed time and sat while she layed down and went to sleep. If she tried to climb out of her bed I would pat her on her diaper and tell her no and lay her back down. I was always awake before her so we never encountered this problem in the morning. Daddy had to go to work early. My problem was only at bed time. Trust your best judgement and do what is best for your family.

crib tent crib tent crib tent!!!
get one off of ebay or craigs list.
keep that baby in a CRIB.

I used crib tents for my twin girls. It was great, they felt like they had their own little tent to sleep in and I could sleep easy knowing they were safe. I highly recommend a crib tents they run $40-$70 new.

Put a mattress on the floor between pillows and let him sleep there until he is able to get into a toddler bed.

You ask if you should "break down and let him co-sleep". Do you see this option as a weak one? Have you tried it before? I found co-sleeping to be a good solution for us; I was breastfeeding exclusively and my son liked to nurse a lot at night. With co-sleeping, he could nurse and I could sleep. Many cultures around the world co-sleep; but that doesn't mean it is for everyone. I would suggest you consider the pros and cons for you and your family, and then decide. My son sleeps better when he's with me, and always has. Some kids transition well from co-sleeping to sleeping on their own, while others struggle with it. You know your child best.
The mesh crib tent mentioned in another post worked really well for a friend of mine whose child was large and active and a climber. Good luck!

co-sleep- then everyone sleeps!k