My son is 2 1/2 and climbed out of his crib this weekend. We put up his toddler bed right away. We are having a little trouble getting him to sleep but he is doing pretty good.
My question is what to do with him in the morning. My husband is gone before we get up and many times my son is awake before me. I used to give him some books in his crib and then go take a shower. He is unable to open doors right now but I am afraid to leave him in his room by himself. What do other mom's do in this situation?
my husband is also gone very early in the morning, so I've always had to shower the night before.
C.
We just moved our son to a regular bed too. We have always closed the bedroom door when he goes to bed and just relied on the monitor. It has worked fine so far. Just take the monitor in with you while you are showering and turn it up loud. Give him some books to read and close the door, or put up a gate like others have suggested.
HI,
of course I had the same problem with my daughter. Luckily I have a shower that has a see-through door. I began early just letting her sit in the bathroom with a toy while I showered because gates did not work for her. This way I can see her while I shoer and she is also entertained.
I babyproofed my bedroom and bathroom and locked her in MY bedroom with access to the bathroom while I shower.
His bedroom should be a safe place for him to be regardless of whether you're in the shower or he just wants to hang out in there and play. After all, he's in there by himself all night, right? If there is anything that would be dangerous to him at any time of day, this is the time to put it away.
When my boys were at that stage, I either let them come into the bathroom with me while I showered, or I put a video on in my room and left the bathroom door open. My younger son is pretty independent, so if he wanted to stay in his room and play or go downstairs to watch TV with his older brother, I let him do it.
Hi C.. There is a kind of circle gate-type set up called a playden that might be of help for you. I used a childproofing service out of Villa Park that offers products for retail purchase with the option of installation. There are many child safety products available. Check out their website protectiveparentschildproofing.com
Hope you find a resolution!
Hi C.,
My husband and I switched our son to a toddler bed right after his 1st birthday and he did fine, but started doing the samething as your son..... So we went and bought a plastic saftey 1st gate for his room and what we did was put in the door hindges so that the door would stay open and we can hear him and still see him....... You can try this if you like...... Good Luck
V. K.
When we switched our son over from the crib to the toddler bed about a month ago, I completely baby proofed his room. I moved most of the furniture out except for the dresser (which is tethered to the wall), the glider rocker, and the bed. I covered all the outlets and left only board books and toys in there. He would look at books for a few minutes in the mornings if he was tired, but then would begin pounding on the door!
2 weeks later and he had learned to open doors! So now, we put gates up that basically corral him to our room.
Do you have a monitor? If you do, I would put a gate up at his door and take the monitor in the bathroom with you.
My son is Two and very active...He doesn't like toys he likes all the things he shouldn't be getting into, so I have to take him in the bathroom with me while I shower. You could also try that, have him sit in there with books while you shower.
As long as you know that the room is completely safe for him to be in unattended, I would put up a gate in the door way. Keep his books and/or a few toys in a container close to his bed or on his night stand that he can reach. This way he is safe in his room while you take a shower.
I have 3 1/2 yr. old twins and I have always brought them into the bathroom with me with a gate in the door way & some toys. This way I can keep an eye on them while I take a shower and they can't get out of the room.
Good Luck! M., SAHM of 3 1/2 yr. old twins, East St. Charles
In our home, the rule is she can get out of bed, but she can't leave the room. Initially, we had to reinforce it by putting a gate in her doorway. We also have a monitor, just in case she does get into a little trouble. This works well for us; good luck.
-K.
i do not believe in "locking" him in his room with the door or baby gate. i have never done either with my kids. i watched a mom i know do that and it was just cruel. i understand that he is young but i think what needs to happen is you need to adjust your schedule to be up before him to take your shower. leave his door open a little whaen you go and he will find you in the bathroom. both of my kids did well with this method also try turning on cartoons for him while you are doing your thing and when he gets up chances are he wil sit done until you are done. good luck.
Bring him in the shower with you or shower before he wakes up.
When my 18 month old was climbing out of the crib, we converted it to a toddler bed, child-proofed his room and put up a gate at his doorway so he wouldn't wander around the house.
Hi C.. I had the same problem with my son Erik, who is now 3. He would get out of his crib and feel a couple times so it was time for his toddler bed to come out. Well, he would not stay in it at all and it took forever to get him to stay in there and go to sleep. He woke up one night and went into the bathroom that we have the door shut on, but he could get into it even with the childproof thing on it. He got in the shower fully clothed and took a shower, then went upstairs and woke his sisters up at 3am and hit one of them in the face. Lexie who is my oldest and is 10 brought him down to me and told me what he had done. By the way, this was 3am this happened. Then, the next night, I could not sleep and went out to the couch where I did fall asleep. Well, anyhow, I woke up to him on the top of the couch opening and closing the windows. He has a fasination with opening and closing things and does it all the time. That was it. We had to do something for his safety and our sanity. We tried putting gates up so he could not get out of his room, but he could push them down. No matter how hard we put them in. We did not want to get one that you nail into the wood. Anyhow, I got our good friend who is a locksmith to come over and put locks on the outside of all the doors upstairs since he could get into the rooms even with the childproof door things. It sounds mean, but you know, it was for safety and we still have to lock the door when he goes to bed, because every night I go in there after he is sleeping, he is on the floor and I have to move him to the bed. This is still almost every single night. And usually he is right at the door asleep. I hope this helps. Email me back if you would like to talk more about this. It will get better, but you might have to do something like this for his safety and your sanity.
S. Bailey CLD
Aurora
www.tendermomentsdoula.com
