Older Brother Climbs in Little One's Crib... HELP!

I got a crib tent for my 3 year-old when she was still in her crib. After one fall down the stairs in the middle of the night, I when and bought one the next day. It worked great keeping her in...now I intend on using it to keep her out of her sister's crib when she moves to her room. Her sister is 9 months old, but she still can't defend herself.

Have you thopught about getting a crib tent? They are intended to keep pets out of the crib, but they work pretty well for siblings too...

First of all, there is ALWAYS another option. It sounds to me like that toddler bed needs to be put in a living room, dining room, or in the parents room. Baby could go back with parents. SOMETHING has to be done. I don't know that I feel comfortable with a net dome. I am afraid the toddler would manage to climb right in on top of that net and smother or strangle the baby or himself with it. Kids are resourceful and not terribly bright. That's why they need us to protect them. I am so surprised that baby has not been terribly hurt already. The babies room needs to be gated or locked off at night. This situation sounds desperate and serious and needs to be dealt with swiftly.

Suzi

Wow...this is definitely something that needs to be taken care of immediately. I am really surprised that the baby hasnt been seriously injured by his brother jumping around in his bed while he is sleeping!!! Are there other instances, during waking hours, of the older brother displaying aggressiveness towards his baby brother? My main fear is that big brother is very jealous of little brother and is "acting out". MY first response was the same as Cheryls' (I am a grandma too!!) tell the older brother that you are concerned that he is going to hurt himself or the baby and that he needs to stay in HIS bed at night and stay OUT of his brothers' bed and if he doesnt he is going to get a spanking...and then follow through on it. BUT...then I started worrying that it is going to make him even more negative about his little brother because he will connect the spankings to his brother in his mind. I wonder if you could hang some bells on the crib, so that you will hear him when he starts to climb into the bed...I am sure you are not sleeping soundly with all of this going on...so the bells would probably alert you before he could actually get into the bed and start his routine. I am worried that the net could be disconnected and fall onto the baby and suffocate him in the night.
I am sorry that I dont have any more concrete suggestions for you...I have been envisioning myself, dealing with this, and I think I would be at my wits end and trying first one thing and then the other. Good luck and let us know how you reach a solution.

A good swat on the bottom and a firm NO. After several times he might get the picture and quit climbing into the crip. He's two, he should be able to understand when you tell him not to do that. But sometimes a swat or two also gets the point across. Good luck and God Bless.

I seen in a magazine somewhere that there are net domes you can put over a crib to keep animals and bugs out and hopefully it could keep big brothers out to. here is a site I found some at so that you know what to look for. http://www.securebaby.com/crib_tents_all.html a little expensive but can be used for the playpen too. or as a little tent for outside time. other wise I would try getting a blow up trampoline for big brother to play with. since you say he likes to bounce. any kind of bouncy toy may help keep him out of brother's crib.

This is a little different take but you might consider making your older son's bed more inviting to him--such as getting a kid's tent-bed or even just a tent to put over his bed. Maybe it would make him want to stay in his own bed instead of climbing in with the little one. Best of luck!

This could be very dangerous and I would immediately take action. You've been given some good advice already but you need to get the 2 yr. old out of the room or the baby out of the room no matter what it takes. I would recommend getting the 2 yr. old under control first but for the baby's safety I would move his crib in the living room if that was the only place or in a hallway or anywhere safe. However, I assume the climber could go to another location and get in the crib. I would also be afraid that anything I put over the crib could be IN the crib and not safe either. So seems the 2 yr. old is the one to deal with here. This doesn't seem like just an 'all boy' thing to me and is not safe. I do understand the problem though as I had an 8 mo. old in the room with a 20 mo old brother who got under the crib and pushed up on the springs and let the mattress down and let the baby slide out every morning. The baby could crawl and hold his own and yet it was NOT safe and so I know how distressing this is. The 20 mo. old was not jumping on or in the bed but still it had to broken and stopped. We did have a gate up at their doorway at night so the baby didn't get down the steps. Please do something now.

I hear the tent idea, BUT he weighs more then a cat who might try to get in, and he's also not trying to get out. What if he climbs in and the tent collapses since it's more then likely NOT built to support that much weight? That's wouldn't be good. Also, if he can unzip zippers like my youngest could at that age, a tent won't help as he could unzip it and climb on it. The oil could work, just worried he might slip and hurt himself falling? Are you using a regular baby monitor now to try and hear him? You could put bells on the crib, so that would alert you sooner when he climbs in. If anything, move the baby crib to your own bedroom until you can get a hand, (or supplies) for the situation. Better safe and cramped in one room then sorry. I like the idea of maybe a tent for the older one himself, to make his bed more fun? It's a cruddy situation I know, but you just need to lay the law down, and try to figure out a situation that will work for you all, permanently, or temporary and be safe.

Get a crib tent! It will help keep your oldest out & your baby in.

God bless!

Put a stop to this immediately! Maybe you could get an affordable video monitor on ebay or craig's list. Watch them closely and bring down the discipline hammer every time he gets in the crib. Take away privileges, and remind him constantly that this is happening because he climbed in his brother's crib.

I'm sure the crib tent idea is worth trying - as long as the toddler didn't continue to climb on top of it, creating an even worse safety hazard. Whatever you do, consistent discipline should be part of the solution.

I second the crib net/dome thing.

Hi K.,

Good luck getting this one under control - your little guy could be doing this for any number of reasons.

I agree with trying the net over the crib and I even agree with a swat on the bottom. Back when us old Grandmas were raising children swatting the bottom was acceptable.

However - when my daughter was young we actually did something much more simple to keep her from climbing out of the crib and the older one from climbing in - we used cooking oil and made the crib bars slick so they COULDN'T climb them. It didn't hurt the crib and after a few attempts they both quit climbing! You don't have to "drench" the crib bars, just use a paper towel and rub the oil onto the bars - you will have to repeat the application, but the oil won't hurt the furniture or the children! To remove the oil later - just wipe it of with a kitchen towel and then clean with what ever cleaner you would use on your type of crib.

Again, good luck!

N.

Hi K.,

Wow, I feel for you...that totally sounds like something my son would do as well. And, if your son is anything like mine, he is strong, sneaky and will find a way to do it no matter how many times you tell him no. Add on that this is a very dangerous situation, rough stuff. I had two thoughts.

First, I have to agree with another poster that there probably is another option for splitting the boys up, just maybe not an attractive one. At this point, one of those beds would likely be in my room by now.

But, if you can afford it, there are also monitors that go under the mattress that alert you to when they are out of bed (sometimes used for the elderly). I have never researched them on my own, but I bet if you check out google you could find something. I ran a google search on kid out of bed alarm and came up with a few results, including http://www.dynamic-living.com/product/fall-guard-alert-sy.... With this solution, he would never know why you know that he is out of bed but you could catch him in the act. That is always the best way to stop any behavior!!!

I wish you good luck, this is a tough one!
D.

You could buy risers for the crib to make it taller, I did that for a while for the added space under the crib ( found them at walmart) also they have a tent that you can put over the crib it is kind of pricey, it can be found at Babies R Us. His two year old brother is a little young to understand the fact that he might hurt his brother, but I do think you need to stay firm on this, I know a lot of people are anti-spanking, but a few firm swats on the bottom might be all you need to curb the desire to climb in.
Lots of luck. Maybe worse case scenario you might want to place the crib in your bedroom for a while? I would be scared to death that the two year old would inadvertantly hurt the baby.
B.

The Cozy Crib Tent by Tots in Mind was effective in keeping our cat out of the crib and our 2 year old in it. I got mine off Ebay for $35 plush shipping. Crib tents are widely available, safe and effective.

Good luck.

You need to get baby out of the room ASAP! Big brother could jump on his head and seriously injure his fragile brain... or jump on his body and break some bones. Take care of this now!

They sell the Cozy Crib Tent at Babies R Us. It kept my daughter from climbing out of the crib when she was in it, so it should work the other way around. It is around $70.00, but anything that keeps your baby safe is worth it. It is totally see through and breathable. I have used it, and really liked it. I don't think that it would be possible for your older son to smother the baby with the netting like Suzi was worried about, those tent poles are pretty stiff.

We put a cozy tent on for different reasons, but I did get mine at half the cost off of e-bay...