One Year Old Will Not Play in Crib in the Morning

Take the toys out of the crib, that is not safe. Most babies want mom when they wake up and do not want to just lay there alone, wet, and hungry. They want their needs met NOW. :) Get him up, change him, feed him, spend time with him.
S.

I think it depends entirely on the child. My son will play some mornings in his crib for maybe 10 minutes and other mornings he wants out immediately. I tend to notice two things. 1- the earlier it is the more he wants out. 2- totally nuk dependent. Meaning, he is only allowed his nuk when in his crib so there are times where he "asks" to get into his crib because he needs/wants a few minutes with his nuk so some mornings he just waits until he is ready to give it up before "calling" us. When we come in he has the nuk ready to be left in the crib usually.

I have two boys. My oldest (will be 3 next month) cried and fussed it seemed the minute he woke up. My youngest (6 months) will hang out in there and play with his feet or roll around for a while before making noises to let us know that he is up and wanting some attention. I know he is up before he makes noises because I can hear him through the monitor. Sorry, I really didn't find anything that worked for me with my oldest; we just went and got him when he woke up in the morning. My oldest was always and still is hungry first thing in the morning. It doesn't matter when or how much he eats the night before. My youngest is content waiting a while before eating breakfast. Just wanted to let you know that based on my experience I think it just depends on the child's personality.

My daughter used to cry when waking and I used to go in right away and pick her up. She has the monkey and waterfall in her crib and a couple of stuffed animals that sit along the top of her crib and now she is 19 months and when she cries I give her 5-10 minutes to see if it is just because she woke up or if she really wants out. She usually calms down and either goes back to sleep or plays with her stuffed animals. I can usually leave her alone for 30 min - 1 hour before I actually need to go and get her up and she is either still sleeping or she is playing with her duck or frog. Good luck!

I am a single, out of work mom, of an adorable 19 month old!

Here's an alternative for you. I got this out of the Montessori from the Start book by Paula Polk Lillard. She recommends that a child's bed be a simple mattress on the floor with soft blankets around it in case the child happens to "fall off" the edge. After awhile, the child will learn to stay on the bed, or if getting off isn't a problem, they're free to roam their "baby safe" room. I could go into more detail, but if this is something that doesn't seem all that far out to you, then you could check if your library has the book. Hope this helps!

My son frequently wakes up crying in the morning, especially if he happens to not be in our bed when he wakes up. We are struggling to end co-sleeping at 2 1/2 yrs old, so i DO NOT recommend you start that now if being in the crib is otherwise working out for you.

Only thing I can suggest is to get one of those music alarms that you can set to your child's normal wake-up time, and set it to play something either soothing or something upbeat to keep him happy. And turn off the baby monitor and shut both your doors. Best luck :)

My youngest just started playing a little when he wakes up--and that's only very occasionally. Most of the time, both my boys want to be up and want to snuggle and crawl in bed with us and EAT! Oh, and my one year old only plays after nap, not ever in the morning.

I am confused as to why you would want your child to play in his crib?? A crib is for bedtime, not playtime. Older children play in their rooms, but not specifically in their beds. None of my kids ever played in their cribs, they did just as your child is doing. They wake up and they are ready to go for the day (or at least til naptime!).

I would also caution you on putting toys in his crib. That can be a very dangerous, especially at age one. J.

My son is 1 also. I also have a 4 year old. my 1 year old will play in the crib only if his brother is playing with him. If he is still asleep or left to go potty my 1 year old is ready to come out of the crib. When my older son was little he never played in his crib. One time I mentioned to my father-in-law about how tired I was. He said that when his kids were little he only get about 3-4 hours a sleep because with 3 kids someone always needed something or couldn't get to sleep or woke up early. I laugh now because my husband gets 4 and I get 5-6 hours. I have found that working outside the home is harder than it looks. I feel guilty and so I stay up late with my oldest and get up super early with my youngest so we can spend one on one time together. I wouldn't trade that time for anything. I know it's hard to not get enough sleep and run on fumes but your kids are only little once. enjoy then while you can. Next year my oldest will be heading off to kindergarten and we will no longer get out late night together. I will miss our late night moves and the snuggling and closeness that come out of it. My father-in-law tell me that once they start school it's just a blink before you are sending them off to college. I hope he is wrong!

My husband and I had the same problem with our son, also the fact that we needed the crib due to our daughter was due to arrive. What we did was we put him in a toddler bed, he had the ability to get in and out of the bed on his own and we closed his door so he couldn't get out of the room. He then would get up and play most often before going back into the bed to sleep. He then would get up and play in his room when he woke up and we knew he was completely safe. He is now 2 and still enjoys his alone time in his room with his books and toys.

It might help to put him in his crib during his normal playtimes. That way he knows that he CAN play in there. Otherwise he may think his crib is just for sleeping in. ???

we have never been that lucky either (with any of the kids)! josyah will wake up and he wants out now. once in a great while i will hear him awake and messing around but that doesn't last too long before his is wanting out. when i walk in he has throwen out his blankets and has his arms reaching out for me. he is awake around 5:30-6 every morning, i wish he would sleep or play longer since we don't have to be up until 7. but its nice to have that time just the two of us.

My 16 month old does play in her crib and she's always been one who does not cry right when she wakes up. I don't know why, but she just doesn't. I'll peek in at her in the morning when I can hear her in there talking and she'll be in there playing with her 3 stuffed animals and her blanky. I think she plays peek-a-boo with her animals because sometimes she puts her blanky on her head when I peek in. Like I said, not sure why, but she does play in her crib before she calls for me.

J. - I noticed a few people are chastising you for wanting your child to ease into the morning a little. Please don't take that to heart. There is nothing wrong with wanting a little "alone" time yourself in the morning and asking your son to have that too. Thankfully, my son wakes up happy and wanting to play with his aquarium and "babies" in his crib and then Daddy and I can give ourselves some time to get up, brush our teeth, etc. There's nothing wrong with your child being alone and awake sometimes - you are not required to spend their every waking moment with them.

When my daughter was little I would bring her and some toys to my bed so i could ease into the morning a little better. She would be happy next to me and I could play with her while still in bed.

I think it's rare that kids want to play in bed after waking up. My kids always were on their feet asking to get out the minute they woke.
I have an opinion that bed is for sleeping, not playing. I used to read in bed and had a VERY hard time sleeping. I started reading in a chair in my livingroom and my sleeping habits completely turned around!
Good luck! Parenting is an adventure, isn't it?

I have spent a lot of time wondering why my daughter is perfectly happy to stay in her crib until we go get her, and some babies immediately want to come out. I think it may just be their personality. One of your other responses suggests putting him in a diaper one size bigger at nighttime, which is what we do too. My daughter wears a size 4 during the day and a size 6 at night because she pees so much! The only thing I can suggest is putting toys in his crib that strap securely to the crib bars. We have the fischer price aquarium, the V-tech lights and sounds projector that actually projects soothing images onto the ceiling with one touch of a button, and a soft padded piano that straps to the crib bar and lights up and plays music when she puches the keys. I also put a few stuffed animal at the foot of her crib so when she wakes up she can play with those, and I rotate the stuffed animals every couple of days.

I am very late on my response, sorry, but I wanted to let you know, it is a reality that some kids will play in their cribs at this age....like going to sleep on their own, it is something that needs to be trained, kind-of like Cry it out at bedtime. Just make sure the crib toys are safe ones, and maybe rotate them some so he doesn't get too bored (but always leave his very favorite lovey in there). My daughter started being happy/playing in her crib at around 1 year old, after we sleep trained her for naps and night. Now at 2 , I rarely get her out of bed right when she waskes up...I usually take a shower, or take the time to do some of the household chores I cannot do with her running free/clinging to me.

Just start with 10 minutes after he wakes - even if he is crying. Do 10 minutes, until he does that calmly without crying, then move it up to 15 or 20 minutes, do that until he gets it, thne extend, etc.. My daughter, at 2, can usually play up there for an hour now after waking, and it is wonderful! It is agreat way for your child to learn some self-entertainment and independance, and than being alone is not a horrible thing; as well as for you to get some sanity back into your own routine.

Jessie

I have a 14 month old who only recently started "playing" in her crib... she has a mobile with 3 simple buttons to start playing the music, and we recently have found her listening to music when we go in to get her. That said, she still does sometimes holler for us to go get her, but she is more often content to stay in there on her own lately. So, your son may "grow into" playing in his crib, or he may always insist on getting up right away.

One suggestion: what size diapers is he wearing? Try going up one size for night time. Perhaps he's feeling wet when he wakes up, but if he weren't feeling wet, maybe he'd be happier to stay in his crib longer.

No, not a farce, all of my kids are calm waker uppers (great sleepers also). I know that not all babies are. My mother in law about had a stroke the first time she kept one of the babies over night and had them wake up singing and chattering in bed. Her sons did not do this, they woke up crying. According to my mother, I would wake up singing and talking.

I am sorry that your baby does not, that must be stressful. But maybe once he gets used to his new schedule..(I see that you have started putting him to bed earlier), then maybe he will start waking up a little more calmly. Also, probably shouldn't leave toys in the bed, soon they will become projectiles.

It is no farce :) My baby girl (1) will get up in the morning and play in her crib for a little while before we have to get up and get her. We have the Fischer Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium in her crib and she just wakes up and starts playing with that. We also have a Spongebob stuffy in her crib that she likes to play with in the mornings. I really really like the Ocean Wonders aquarium that we have.

If you don't have one, I have an extra "older" model that works perfectly fine that you could have. Let me know.

J.

I think it depends on the temperament of the child. Some kids probably do play nicely in their cribs for a little while, but I didn't have kids like that. I have two boys who are both "spirited" and they would never play in their cribs. They wanted out immediately. This didn't work with my boys, but have you tried the aquarium that plays soft music or something similar that you attach to the side of the crib where he could push a button and listen to something? Otherwise he just might not have the temperament to play quietly in his crib.

I just think all kids are different. My son (2 now) always cried when he woke up, to get out of his crib. But my 5-mo-old daughter just "talks" for a while when she gets up. She's perfectly content for an hour or so even! I just think it depends on the kid. We just bring our son into bed with us on the weekends, and let him watch his "shows" on tv. It seems to work alright. Sometimes he even falls asleep again.

Hi J.! I have a 17m/o wonderful, sweet, intelligent little one who has NEVER played in her crib in the morning. The minute she wakes up she calls for one of us, and if we don't come right away she starts to cry. Once she's up, she's up and ready to go downstairs, have her breakfast and start playing with her toys. I'm sure some kids do wake up gradually and play for a bit but mine sure isn't one!! :)

J.; well, how grand you have a child who is interested in being with you , cherish the moment you have with him and enjoy those times with him, its ok for him not to play in his bed, when you are awake , do you stay in bed? not likely, when you are awake, you want up and you want to be with your family, enjoy this time, and get him out of his crib and get his morning on the way , if you need more time, then i suggest you get up early , before he awakens, us humans are social creatures, for your child to be social is a wonderful thing, take your child for who he it not for what you want him to be, either way enjoy life D. s