My daughter is almost 13 months and in the last few weeks has begun to climb. She can climb up the couch, she tries to climb the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. You name it, she is trying to climb up it. Yesterday I put her in her crib and left the room (we are working on being in the crib awake without crying, I know, I should have done this months ago) and she fussed for a couple minutes then got very quiet. I thought perhaps she fell asleep and creeped over to the door to peek in. She wasn't sleeping at all; she had pulled herself up the side of the crib. The upper half of her body was above the crib with her hands on the top of the side, her arms straightend like a gymnast on the un-even parallel bars. (Does that make sense??) Obviously I went right in and explained that it was dangerous to climb on her crib. (I talk to her as if she understands what I'm saying-not sure if that's crazy or not, but it seems to work.) Her crib mattress is as low as it can be. I put pillows on the ground in front of her crib just in case she decides to do this as night. We don't play in the crib, the only time I put her in it is when we are going to sleep. I don't encourage her to climb the furniture, I want to encourage her curiosity and desire to discover but not at the risk of her safety so we don't climb anything but the stairs. :) Is there anything else I can do? Has anyone else experienced this and what did you do? At her age I can't see putting her in a bed, even a toddler bed. But now I am completely worried she'll fall right out of her crib. My husband said his 4-year old never did this stuff. He didn't climb, didn't open cabinets - they never even had to use the toddler locks! :) So we are a little bit at a loss and I feel like there should be more I can do besides putting pillows on the floor. Any advice would be greatly appreciatted!
CRIB TENT!! I know a couple of Mom's with climbers and the crib tent has been a life-saver. I believe you can buy one at Babies R Us. They are around 70.00.
Good luck!
I remember going thru this with one of my kids (I have 4). I think about when the climbing started we went to big boy/girl beds... I can however remember wishing that cribs came with lids! Ha! Ha! I think you are doing the best thing talking to her and telling her not to climb out. Perhaps you can get a toddler bed soon... Or just keep the side rail dropped so she wont have to climb out.
I'd say a crib tent or a toddler bed. As a mother, you know safety is important!
You might just have to give in and either purchase a toddler bed or (if your crib is a convertible) convert your crib to the toddler bed. My son was the same way and even with the mattress as low as it could go he still would get out during nap time and at night. He never fell, thank goodness but it still worried me. We bought a toddler bed, put it against the wall lengthwise then bought a long pillow and put it on the outside so he wouldn't just roll out of bed. (It might be helpful to put an extra pillow on the floor just in case she rolls around a lot, because sometimes they can make it over the pillow anyways!)That way if she gets up she can just hop down over the side. That worked for us so that's my suggestion to you! Hope this helps!
You could try a crib tent if you do not want to transition to toddler bed yet. This worked well for friends of ours. This is what I am talkig about: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2404625
Good luck!
Deille
Two of my 3 kids were monkeys. My son was the worst. When he was 13 months I found him on top of the fridge! We tought him the safe way to climb off the couch and down the stairs (on your belly feet first, backing down). We had to say a lot of "no climbing, get down". He eventually out grew this stage now that he can talk more. He can ask for what he wants and not hunt it down. Enjoy that she is healthy and curious. You will just have to be patient and get through this phase. I had a dozen heart attacks daily during this phase.
Good luck.
Hello! From one mother of a monkey to another, I would recommend getting something for her to climb on, like one of the Little Tykes play things that you can keep inside and let her do it, let her know where it is ok and where it isnt. Or, even just take the cushions off the sofa and pile them up and let her go at it. We quickly realized with our monkeys (twins) that we needed to help them perfect it because they were getting hurt in the process. As far as the bed, we got crib tents. There was one listed on craigs list the other day :) They worked wonders for our twins and we got about another year out of their cribs using the tents. I agree that 12 months is too young to move to a toddler bed, this is a stage and once the novelty of her new found talent wears off, she will settle down but in the mean time you need to keep her safe.
My twins are now almost 4 and they are still monkeys but are pretty talented now so we don't worry as much about the bumps and bruises. So, rest assured, this too shall pass :)
Oh, and I think you are totally right to talk to her as if she understands you, because she does! She may not have the ability to talk back but she does understand!
Meghan
Hi Amy -
I had 2 climbers, my oldest (daughter) and my middle (son). When they started climbing out of their cribs, I took that as a sign that they were ready for a regular or toddler bed. If they were going to climb (and possibly fall) I would rather it be from a height of 24"-30" than a height up to 48" (over the top of the crib). I bought one of those railings that fit between the mattress & box springs and that solved the possible accidental fall over night. As far as the other stuff, climbing on furniture and over baby gates, just keep an ice pack handy. Since children learn by experience, sometimes a fall is the only way they will understand what a safe activity is and what isn't.
Mary M. Ernsberger
I would suggest taking her crib apart & putting the mattress on the floor.you can put either pillows on the outer edge or you may want to look into a safety 1st bed rail. I think talking to you kids like they understand is good, because I think they understand far more than we think. Patting her on the bottom & telling her No that if she continues to climb like that on the other furniture.Also incorrages her not to climb. However some kids are just born climbers. I have a 2 1/2 yr old grand son that thinks climbing & being on top of dressers or filing cabinets is where he should be. Good luck
PB
You can buy a crib tent that goes over the top of the crib. It's mesh, so you can see through it, and when she's ready to get out, you open it just like a regular tent. I agree that one year old is way too young to be in a toddler bed, but you don't want her to get hurt. I believe that you can buy the tents at Babies-R-Us. Good luck! :)
My son began climbing out of his crib - and because we were worried about the safety issue - we removed the crib and put the matress on the ground. It took a few times, but he quickly learned that he needs to lay on the bed for naps. However, he started opening the doors (testing his limits), so we had to lock the doors - until he figured that out. We finally went to IKEA to buy him a bed that was low to the ground. It sounds as if you are also ready for the transition from crib to bed!! They also sell barriers for the side of beds to keep your child from rolling out. I needed one for our 4 year old, but not for my son.
What i had to do with my daughter at that age was get ther a full size bed (our guest bed) and put on rails on two sides (with walls on the other 2 sides). Then we surrounded the rails with pillows. This helped her out and the bed was pretty low that if she did sneak throughh all that, she didn't have far to go down so she wouldn't hurt herself. I'd keep the monitor on high at night so you can hear her trying to climb out.
I have 3 climbers of my own, 4, 3, & almost 2! We have done several things with them.
First (and most important) teach them a safe way to get down - "feet first, on your tummy" is our catch phrase. If they manage to get up onto something & can't get down (or are too afraid to try), teach them to call for you..."Mommy, Daddy, help me down please!"
Second, go on a "field trip" around your house & show her what she's allowed to climb on & what she shouldn't climb on. You need to be willing to let her climb on some things that are safe. Perhaps the couch & chairs that don't have wheels or swivels on them.
It's important to be consistent in your parenting. If you find her climbing on things you told her not to, have a predetermined consequence that you use each time. If she's climbing on something you haven't talked about, it's important not to punish her, but explain to her that it is dangerous & from now on she may not climb there.
Children are curious by nature - that's how they learn things! She is finding out what her body can do, finding out what's on the counter that she can't see, trying to look out the window, seeing how much she can get away with before you intervene, trying to get attention...
As far as the crib goes, as a neonatal nurse, I feel crib tents are not safe - it gives the child (and yourself) a false sense of security, and if she figures out how to get part of it off, it could be a safety hazard. When my 3 yo daughter started climbing out of her crib - around 14 months - we simply lowered her crib rail & taught her how & when to climb out by herself. By leaving her in the crib, we were confident she wouldn't roll out during naps or at night. Then, we allowed her specific circumstances where she could climb out. She was not allowed to climb out without asking first & waiting for our response. (If your little one isn't verbal yet, teach her to knock on the wall & wait for you to come into the room). Then, with you in sight, she's allowed to climb out.
This may not work for every family, but it definitely gave my husband & I peace of mind. Good luck!
I can relate! Our son was 18 months when he began climbing out of his crib every time I put him in it (unless he was already asleep). What a catch 22. I read a LOT of literature about the situation at that time and the general consensus was that children this young (under 2) cannot grasp the idea of imaginary boundaries (like the boundary on a bed - the idea of having to stay in your bed even though there is nothing keeping you in). They see an open side of the bed and get out. We ended up converting our crib to a toddler bed to avoid him hurting himself climbing out. I would not recommend what happened after that as it took until he was 2 1/2 to get him into his own bed all through the night...but...what we did was put him to sleep in his bed (yes, he did finally get the idea of going to sleep in the bed) and then would allow him to come in our bed when he woke at night (which he did every night). At 2 1/2 I simply decided (and had the energy) to take him back to his bed and tell him he cannot share our bed anymore. Took about 5 nights. 1st night we went back to his bed about 7 times....5 times the next night and only 1 or 2 times each of the next few nights. He is a great sleeper through the night in his own bed now (34 mos)! Of course you could try to do this sooner than I did! :) The only other option I had found was to buy one of those crib "tents" to keep the child in. We didn't like that idea, but perhaps we all would have had some better nights of sleep had we tried it. Good luck to you and your family!!!
As to the climbing out of the crib, you have two options. First purchase one of those tents for the top of the crib. This will prevent her from climbing out. The other option is a mattress on the floor. The second requires you to baby proof the entire room and put a baby gate at her door for nap and night time to prevent wandering. My son was a climber too so we purchased some climbing toys for the back yard and let him play out there as much as possible. This helped reduce the climbing in the house but still required constant vigilance so he didn't try to climb the bigger pieces of furniture. Good Luck!
Monica B.
They make crib netting for this very purpose - go to Babies R Us/ Toy R Us, and you'll find crib canopies that will keep her safe.
As far as the baby gate - you can double them up (higher) or get solid plastic ones that she can't climb. Stairs (we have them too) should be encouraged - so she learns and won't seriously hurt herself.
Good luck with your little MONKEY!
My son was the same way. It was exhausting! We just got done putting on the childsafe stuff through the house and before we put the drill away he had cabinets and doors open. He started climbing out of his crib and over the gate too. I found the best thing for me to do was move him early to a toddler bed with a rail. We had to get him to stay in his bed but he was getting out of the crib too so it was safer for him to get out of the toddler bed than the crib. We also put hook locks at the tops of the doors we didn't want him to get into. Including the doors leading outside. We moved all the dangerous stuff up out of bottom cabinets. Do your best to teach her how to use the stairs safely, I know it's early. I found that my son was better at getting the hang of these physical tasks. I mean he was climbing out of his crib right? Then all there was left was praying and waiting for this stage to pass with all our sanity intact. Good Luck and God Bless.
-Kate
My 14 month old has started climbing, too--out of her bouncy seat, out of her seat belt, everything. My best hint is...try putting her to sleep in a playpen with the soft, relatively "un-climbable" sides. I had to do that with my now 5 year old who was also a climber. Besides, it's closer to the floor, in case she makes it out! Good Luck!
My daughter was a climber too. She would figure out how to push chairs (or whatever else she needed) to where she was trying to climb to. It was a little scary at times, but she survived. I told her "no" and redirected her as well as explaing that it was dangerous. Like mine, your daughter is a problem solver, which is a good thing. Think about how smart she is to be able do what she is doing at such a young age. My daughter is almost six and is great in school. She is good at reading and math. Make sure that her crib mattress is at the lowest setting, and keep a close eye on her (It sound like you already do). If you have a pool, make sure that there is nothing around the fence that she can use to climb on. Children like ours are the ones who get through pool fences. Also, watch when she gets tall enough to reach door handels. We had to put a latch up high on the doors to the outside to keep her from opening the door.
As far as the four year old not doing it.....he is not the same as her. I have two children, from the same parents and they are as different as you and I. Don't waste your time comparing them.