8 Month Old Too Active in Crib

Have you considered dropping a nap? I know it's a horrible suggestion!!

Sometimes they become so active that they sleep longer during the day (even an extra 15 minutes) and it disrupts tiredness at night.

And I do think that the sleep sack is a perfectly fine idea. But I also agree that she may need to play a while before she nods off. My daughter never went right to sleep - she listened to music and sometimes, played very actively before sleep. At four, she is still the same! She's like mommy, not quick to fall asleep!

I like co-sleeping and nursing my 11 month old to sleep - so I don't have the concerns about the slats; however, I like to keep an eye on him for safety reasons as well. I use a video monitor when I am not in the room with him. An added bonus is that I get a heads-up when he is getting restless, so I can just slide in next to him and nurse him back to a sound sleep (which of course took a little practice to get down).

My DS would have a fit if we used a sleep sack to contain him. He was like yours, and he started walking at 9mos. We used Breathable Bumpers. You can get them at BBRUS. Just went around the bottom inside of the crib. It kept his little arms and legs from getting tangled in there, but he could still move around.
Make sure the crib is lowered enough that she can't try to climb out. And then I say, let her play! Some nights, DS would be awake from 45 minutes, talking to himself, watching his soother, etc... he'd eventually drift off. But he wans't talk enough to climb out, and the bumpers kept him from getting mangled in the slats.

You might also try adding books or an extra step to bedtime to chill her out.

Lower the mattress in the crib or use just one to prevent her coming out. I just let my active son cosleep with us and then moved him to a toddler bed. Your baby is active and sees the crib now as a confinement to her mobility. It signals sleep and that's the last thing on her mind :-))

Do you have a night-time routine to signal to your baby that bedtime is approaching? After dinner, we give our son a bath (no soap most nights), brush his teeth, turn down the lights and read some stories, say our prayers, turn off the lights and sing. By the end, our son is ALWAYS yawning. His body knows it's time for bed.

I also love sleep sacks. Do a google search for Baby-in-a-bag.

She won't get tangled in the slats as long as they're regulation distance apart and while sleeping if she should stick an arm or leg through I've found my daughter self corrects and figures it out in her sleep. The bumper will just help her get high enough to crawl out as you mentioned. Make sure the mattress is low enough, stick her in there and let her wind down herself.

Hello!
I have a crib net for ours which has so far mainly prevented her from getting her legs and arms stuck in the slats, but I will hang on to it for the time that she might want to exit on her own - then I can zip up the "roof" and she will be contained nicely.
Until then, there is nothing wrong with some play and talking. If you leave her alone and just listen on the monitor, she will probably calm herself down quickly.
All the best!

I second the sleep sack...I still use it on my 29 month old, he just figured out how to take it off so we are putting it on backwards...Aden-Anais makes a really thin, sheet like one for the summer...Good luck, My eight month doing the same, but luckily he's not crawling yet, just scooting. So I hope I can buy a few more months until I HAVE to keep him in a sleep sack :)