Our 25 month old (in other words 2 year old)is having trouble sleeping. We dropped the rail off her crib last month after she started climbing out. Since then, we often have found her, or hear her laying behind her door. We put one of the childproof doorknobs on the door to prevent her from leaving her room at night when she is awake because there is a steep set of stairs off of her room.
We would look at it like, well if she is sleeping fine. But often we can hear her at night behind her door, rolling around kicking the door (not trying to wake us up, just restless). And often, she will be crying at 3-4am where we go in and put her back in bed.
What we have tried:
1. putting a temporary railing up ( the kind that goes under the mattress) thinking she will feel more secure.
2. Putting a Cars themed sheet and pillow in her bed since she loves the movie Cars.
3. We read books before bed.
4. We stand outside the door, and repeatedly go in and put her back to bed. This will eventually get her to sleep but at some point she is back behind the door or waking up at night.
5. Nightlights, but these seemed to make it worse so now no light in her room.
Any help that can be offered is greatly appreciated.
C. we went a similar situation. We moved to a different state after our son turned 2. He was in a crib until then. By the time we moved in the new house he was 26 mos old and got a toddler bed. I swear we went through two months of him getting up after putting him down. Sometimes it would last 45 min. Finally, he got it. We stuck to our guns and it worked. Maybe try just one method for a few weeks?
Our 2 yr old learned to crawl out of his crib too, but we have worked very hard to teach him obedience when we tell him something is not okay. He now seems to understand that crawling out his crib is dangerous-or at least that we don't like it. Since learning this he has never attempted to crawl out of his crib. He seems to really crave the security of his cribs sides. He does not sleep well in a regular bed. Perhaps your daughter would prefer the crib side back on.
Just remember that boundaries are a source of security for toddlers. They are constantly testing you to see if their boundaries are secure and safe. I would think that even a crib rail could be one of those secure boundaries? Not sure... I just know that our toddler really likes the sides there.
Oh, and one more thought. Is she still napping during the day? Sometimes too many naps can make sleeping through the night rough. I would recommend trying to skip naps if possible until she is sleeping well at night. Then only allow short naps.
We went the crib tent route at 2 when our son started climbing out of his bed. He loved sleeping in his crib but we were afraid that he would injure himself when he tried to climb out. The crib tent kept him in. He stayed in there until he turned 4 when he wanted to start sleeping in the queen size bed in the guest bedroom. That worked out well so we just changed his room to the old guest bedroom.
Go to askdrsears.com or read Night Time Parenting by Dr. Sears, he has never failed us.
Good luck,
J.
