7 1/2 Old Trying to Get Out of Crib!!

You may watch her from time to time but my thoughts are that she is enjoying a little gymnastics. When a child is ready to get out of a crib, the leg goes up to try to reach the top rail. i think this is not her goal at present.

Quite the determined little one huh?? I can relate to that!! Although thankfully, mine hasn't quite tried to bounce out of the crib. I did LOL the other day when I was standing near enough that after she finished crawling as high as she could get herself (all the while crying and begging me to pick her up) she then grasped tight hold of my shirt to continue her ascend to get over! Phew, these babies are just too darn smart these days.

My only suggestion may or may not seem obvious but hopefully it helps. Try to have things in the crib that capture her interest. Not noisy toys or anything b/c it may winder her back up, but an animal she can "talk" to (and you can model for her how to talk to the animal and it "talking" back). Also, I'm surprised her mattress has that much bounce to it- it's best for the mattress to be very firm. I also give my daughter a pacifier at night. And lately I introduced a soothing low light calm music making type hang on the crib toy that's supposed to help them. We just started with that any my babe is interested but can't quite altogether say it is or isn't helpful. And you have removed the crib bumper yes?? Definitely do so if not.

Also, presuming you have a night-time routine? That helps a lot b/c they know what to expect and what is expected of them (not to say they don't test). I'm not the best at keeping to our routine but I do pay the price when I don't.

And if all else fails, have a Plan B which is to put a rug in front of the crib and try to distance any sharp dangerous things like dresser drawer edges. Of course, none of us want to think of our baby going over because it certainly can't be safe no matter what... but you want to take some precaution just in case. I will say that as a MH Therapist and understanding human behavior and development, what you DON'T want is to have to rush in there anxious/scared/angry that you almost didn't catch her or something. That will most certainly propel her to continue doing it. She WILL sense the shift in emotion from you and will enjoy the rush of it and feeling the power to alter your behavior. So whatever you do, try your best to get a hold of yourself emotionally before you go in and address it with her.

I LOVE my daughter to no end but as I said, I can relate! She looks just like her daddy on the outside but on the inside she has my personality- for better AND worse! Very strong willed determined little girl who is 10 months going on 2 years old already. Unbelievable!! Just keep loving your little one through it without letting her take over the household, eventually her personality traits will serve her well. Best wishes, N.

Does your baby like to bounce/jump at other times, too? My sons have always been tall and were holding on to the top of the crib rail as soon as they could reach it. And they LOVE to jump. They jump and bounce around in their cribs all the time. The thing you should be aware of is watching her feet-- once she starts to shimmy her feet up the rails you're in trouble. That's how my boys climb out of the playpen-- just walk their feet right up the side while holding on to the top. But they have yet to do that in their cribs. They just like to jump.

However, if you're really that concerned I would suggest putting some pillows or soft bedding on the floor around her crib when it's nap/bedtime, just in case. :-)

put her in a sleep sack or get a crib tent.

Buy a crib tent at bye bye baby. I use one and my son loves it. Safety first!

When my daughter was about 15 months old she climbed out of her crib. We purchased a crib tent at Babies R Us. It is a netting of sorts that secures to the top of the crib. There there is a zipper which opens and closes, allowing access to put the baby in and out of the crib. This worked well for us. Eventually, my daughter figured out how to open the zipper, but by that time she was old enough to go into a bed.

Good luck!

Crib tent, sleeping sack...great ideas, but we got an IKea crib mattress that's half the thikness of a regular and it keeps our 19 months old in the crib(who climbed out at 15 months )

Hi M.
I know what a challenge this is. Here's our story:
When our son was 5 months old we scolded our 4 year old for getting our new baby out of the crib. He said he had not. So we scolded him for lying. Since that had not really been an issue with him, and he still said he had not, we decided to watch and see. We sat in the hall outside their room. Well, about 10:30 PM just before we would normally be going to bed we saw our 5 month old shimmy up the slats of the crib, then shimmy down the other and crawl over to his brother's bed and climb in. We laughed out loud. Naturally in the morning we had to apologize to our son, and figure out what we were going to do. We decided to put him into the other twin bed and take the crib down. That was a tough decision, but it worked for us. He was always ahead of the curve walking at 7 months, and reading at 3. It was exciting to see the decisions he made through the years. He is a lawyer writing contracts for the US gov. today.
If I had it to do over again, I would turn the crib upside down, put the mattress on the floor and adjust everything as necessary.
Depending on your crib you may have to get a second mattress, etc.
By doing that at least with some cribs you extend the crib side to the entire side, which stops them from thinking they can jump over. Jumping out or trying to seems much more dangerous and it is so hard because you can't explain or reason with them. Crib tent net may help also and may be worth a try.
Since I am old enough to be your mom, I say Talk to your mom, she may have stories to tell about you or your siblings.
God bless you and give you wisdom.
K. SAHM married 38 years- guys 32 and 37, and twin girls 18.

There is a mesh crib cover at one step ahead. Here is the link:

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

This is something that you close and will keep her inside for a long time to come.

Get a crib tent. They attach to the crib, keep the child in, and then you unzip it to get your child out. My SIL gave me one - neither of her boys were climbers, but her daughter (the youngest by 3 years) started climbing at around 8 months. Fortunately, I haven't had to use it, but, as she said when she gave it to me - when you figure out you need it, it's too late! (I'm saving mine for my other SIL, who is trying to get pregnant...)

I would suggest a crib tent :)

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2404625

I had the same situation, and the crib tent has been SO great. They are a little flimsy and I have had to sew up some holes my son made, but it works great and you will know she is safe.

My son did the same thing and wound up falling out one night. He was determined to get out and climb over the rail and fell. That very weekend he was in a toddler bed. He did very well in the toddler bed. He didn't get up during the night. The only problem I had was with the blanket. If it fell off of him he would cry until someone came in to put it back on.

get a crib tent...they sell them at Babies R Us...it was a lifesaver for us.
Good Luck!
J.

I suggest lower the rails so she can safely get out of the crib, however put a baby gate on the nursery door so she can not leave the saftey of her room.