Baby GATE for HERCULES

We got one from Amazon.com that was extra tall, screwed into the door frames and had its own door so we could walk in and out safely - and it latched in a way where my son could not open it.

We just cut a door in half!!! Seriously we took a used door and saw it off right above the second hinge and installed it with the lock/latch on the outside!!! Worked great for us for both kids during that phase!

Well... maybe you can try an extra-tall pet gate. I'm not sure how one of those would be rated for child safety, so you'll need to figure that out. You'll want one that fastens securely to the door frame. He may not be able to climb over or reach the latch until he's taller (how fast is he growing?). And you don't need to tell him it's really for a Labrador Retriever.

I had a toddler climbing out of his crib, too. In fact, when he had his sleep sack on and couldn't climb, he would just dive over the bars and do a flip (arriving at the bottom on his butt in a puddle of tears). No kidding. So we switched to the toddler bed and put a baby gate at the door.
For two nights he didn't climb over the gate. Then on the third, fourth, fifth, sixth night he climbed over the baby gate as well. When we got a higher one, he did the fall over thing that he'd done in his crib (basically, just falling over the top and landing on the other side). So we decided to get rid of the gate (for obvious safety reasons) and just keep putting him back in bed. After a month of putting him back in his crib 30+ times every night, I decided to get a door handle cover for the bedroom door. Best decision I ever made! And it would have been WAY cheaper to just go with this option from the get go. Basically, it's a specialized cover that keeps the toddler from being able to open the door. It was a move of desperate, sleep deprived parents but I'm so glad we did it. My oldest can open the door when he needs to, it's not "locked" so I can get in and out with ease, and if my toddler needs me he just cries and since I have a video monitor I can see what he needs and go help....A couple of nights of realizing he couldn't get out and now he doesn't even try (most nights).
So do yourself a favor and get one of these just in case your son is a climbing dare devil like mine! Here's the amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Clear-Knob-Lock-2-pc/dp/B00238MEQA/...

Anything called extra tall, will help. Our daughter was out of her crib before 12 months. she could hoist herself over that crib so fast.

She had been walking since 6 months. She was a monkey.. with the gate too. Back in the day we had to stack 2 gates one on top of the other.. She soon learned to just stay in her bed until we came to get her.. so we took it down once she learned this,

Do you know people you could borrow some gates from to test them out? That is how we found the gates we ended up with.

A suggestion might be to put a twin mattress on the floor skipping the
official toddler bed. Also, skipping the 2nd mattress underneath for
awhile.
Then put a toddler rail that slips under the mattress similar to what a
hospital bed has.
Then you can additionally get the gate for the door. I googled gates when
I was looking for one & I found a heavy duty child gate that stands taller
and you can attach it to one side of the wall. I don't remember the name
but again just google baby gates & you will find a plethora of choices.
Don't just stick w/gates for doors. Open up & look at all gates. Some
are more like "fencing". That worked like a charm! See what's out there
and "make" the one you want fit.

We absolutely fell in love with our Retract A Gate.
Google it. It should hold him, and you can control the height at which you mount it. And based on the fact that it's mesh, rather than a typical gate...he can't climb it.

Something "extra tall" with vertical slats. I looked for ours there and found several like it so you have great choices.

Try a knob cover on the inside of his room, too, I just bought the basic one and covered the seams with clear packing tape, he couldn't open the door.

Also, at 2.5 he can learn by being returned to his room consistently :)