Terrified to Move Him Out of His Crib!

I wouldnt move him out of his crib yet. Id put him to bed as usual and then stand in the hall with the door cracked open just a bit and watch for any signs of climbing out, and open the door and tell him NO, and lay him back down and walk out. I bet it wont take more than a couple times and he will get the idea that he shouldnt get up and try to get out of his bed. You can lay a couple pillows on the floor just in case you think he might fall, but then if he comes walking out in the middle of the 11oclock news, you get up and walk him straight to bed and put him back. No smile, no "oh sweety what a big boy you are".. Just say NO and take him back. He might cry a bit, but he is still easily trained to just do what he is told and you will hold off the worry of a too young child wandering the house at night. Try it and see if it works.

We used a baby gate at the door. I think I may have laid down next to him for the first couple nights. And we transition him to the crib mattress on the floor first then to the twin mattress on the floor, then box spring and mattress on floor.
good luck

you know what, i had the same fear. i was so worried i would ruin my fantastic sleeper! :) he did great. you know what...for the first few weeks he didn't even "realize" (although he played on the bed during the day and got in and out just fine) that getting out was an option! keep the same exact routine. IF he does happen to start getting out of bed, just put him back in, with no talking, no kisses, or anything. just repeat "good night" and go ahead and leave the room. don't make a big deal of it. as often as he gets out of bed, keep putting him back with no positive reinforcement. we had to do this after my son got very sick and slept in our bed for over a week. getting him back in his was awful (he was 2 1/2 then). but transitioning to a "big boy" bed was no big deal at all. good luck!

**a couple of the ladies brought up a good point. i did not wait until he was escaping constantly from his crib. the trick is to know when he is close to being able to get out...not when he is in the habit of getting out and does it constantly. that is a behavior issue. and a whole other ball of wax... :)

Geesh...changing from one bed to another is not a big deal unless you make it one.

Do the exact same bedtime routine you're doing now, and then put him in his bed. If you're currently leaving the door closed, then leave the door closed.

If he gets out of bed and comes to you, then you need to SILENTLY and matter-of-factly pick him up and put him back to bed. Don't even make eye contact. If he gets out again, repeat. It won't last long. This doesn't mean you don't love him, you're being a parent. You've already went through the loving bedtime routine one time. If you do it twice, he'll keep getting out of bed for the attention.

In the morning give him lots of positive attention for staying in his new big-boy bed! (If he didn't stay in his big boy bed, then say "I know you tried. Maybe you'll do it tonight!")

My grandson was an early climber, and Mom and Dad had already decided the first time he climbed out of his crib they would convert the crib to a toddler bed for that night. (They wouldn't use a crib tent because their pediatrician had a patient who strangled to death in one while trying to climb out of their crib.) My grandson was 17 months when he got his leg over the railing and fell. Mom was devastated, she didn't use bumpers or extra blankets to give him leverage, and the mattress was as low as it could go. Dad got out his tools and converted the crib into a toddler bed within an hour.

What they did before that day was to make sure they had childproofed the whole house including his room, so he couldn't climb furniture or strangle himself in cords from the blinds, they covered light sockets, puts toys other than stuffed animals and some books high in his closet where he couldn't reach them, door knob covers on the doors, etc., and had an extra baby gate to put across his bedroom door for the expected walk outside his room if he got the door knob cover off. They wound up stacking a second one on top of it because he did eventually work the knob cover off and as I said, he was/is a climber.

They liked the toddler bed for him, because of his young age at the time he began using it and since it was smaller than a twin he felt more secure in a "little" bed, and they weren't worried about him falling out and getting hurt. But, since they had it already there wasn't an additional cost at the time he began to use it. Around the age of 3.5 he transitioned into a twin bed they'd set up for a houseguest. She left, he took a nap in it and it became his new bed.

Bottom line, do your childproofing now if you haven't already, so you aren't caught off-guard. Let him start taking naps in his new bed once you have it set up so he becomes accustomed to it. Your routine can and should stay the same, if you stay in the room with him he may get used to that and be unable to continue to put himself to sleep. If you handle it as matter-of-fact as possible so will he.

I kept my son in his crib until 3ish.

When he started climbing in and out, I lowered the side. He was allowed to go in and out if the side was down, and had to stay in if it was up.

Now... some kids will NEVER learn to listen to "No" (my nephew would go out the front door at 3am), but my own it took getting in trouble twice for starting to climb out of his crib, and a few sharp words when he started to put his foot up and over to learn NO! We do NOT climb out. Could he have? Yes. But just like being able to walk out the front door, he learned not to.

Switching him over at 3ish was soooo much easier. It was 2 or 3 days of getting out of bed. Finis. Huzzah for increased cognitive ability!

If you're really worred about him climbing out, or he's a kid who won't listen to 'No'.. you can also get a net to keep him in instead of training him to stay in.

I suggest you keep him in longer, not because of my experience, but because of your gut. Your gut is FREAKED about putting him in a twin/full bed (unless you have money to burn skip the marketing-ploy of a toddler bed), and you know your kid best. If you think it's going to be a nightmare having him out of his crib, it probably will be. I know it would have been with mine. So I kept him in it. Worked great.

If your crib converts to a toddler bed, I'd go that route for now. I wouldn't spend any extra money on one. If you have to buy something, I would recommend a double bed instead of a twin and if you are especially worried about him falling out of bed, just put the mattress on the floor instead of up on the frame, up against a wall. You could just purchase the mattress now and later get the boxspring and frame.

Stick with your same routine and try not to make an extra big deal about it. Good luck!

The earlier you transition him the better he will adjust. The later you leave it the more he understands that he can get up and go do stuff. If his room is childproof and gates are in place to keep him in it all night then put the baby monitor on the chest and turn it on so you can hear him.

I think that a lot of kids should go directly to the regular size bed. Because the parents waited way to long to change their children. Those toddler beds are the same size as a baby bed and the kids get too long and start really rolling around. The bed is just too small for a child after they turn 2-2 1/2. If you have a bed already then try what you think will work the best.

I always stay in the room while the kids are going to sleep. They get read to and then lights out. They drift off pretty easy if I am there. It usually takes about 15 minutes.

OMG the first week will most likely be HELL. We switched my daughter at about 15 months because she was throwing her leg up over the side of her crib and like you said I didnt want to wait until she fell and possibly broke her neck. So we switched her over and it was horrible the first week or so. Like you said, once they have a taste of that new found freedom it is too hard to keep them in their bed. What I found helped though was that our crib converted into a toddler bed so the switch still left her with very familiar surroundings, I also noticed that bedtime was much easier than naptime 1. because she was really tired and 2. because it was dark in her room and it was almost as if she couldnt see that she was free and/or didnt want to wander in the dark. We also close her door at night and they go and open it when we go to bed so we never used the baby gate idea but we did have to go into her room a few times while she was attempting to sleep - yeah right - and remove pretty much everything that she could get into. Like I said its rough for the first week or so (at least it was for us) and then things sort of just went back to a routine
It has to be done so why not now, right?
Good Luck and let us know how it all goes down =)

Our daughter could Get out of her crib at 12 months.. She was so fast, she was like a monkey. The first time we actually witnessed it, we knew there was not way to wait any longer.. and forget a crib tent, our daughter got out of that so fast..

So we purchased a mattress and placed it up against the wall in the corner of her room, so if she fell out of it, it was not very far. A few weeks later we had picked out the bed. Again up against a wall with a rail. She did not get out of her bed because we treated it like the crib and did not make a big deal out of it.

If she needed us she called for us, we could also hear her on the monitor.

We decided to purchase a Queen bed, because we only have 2 bedrooms and if guest came they could sleep in her bed. This worked out great because my husband and I could be in her bed with her while we read books at night..

uuuuuhhh, you lay hime down, tell him goodnight, and you leave the room....i really dont understand the confusion or the fear!!!! our oldest moved to his toddler bed when he was 14 months old. we layed him down, said goodnight, love you see you in the morning, put the baby gate up in front of his door and that was that. if he gets up, you put him back down....it's not hard nor is it rocket science.

and we made the switch because there is no reason in the world to keep them in a crib forever

Updated

uuuuuhhh, you lay hime down, tell him goodnight, and you leave the room....i really dont understand the confusion or the fear!!!! our oldest moved to his toddler bed when he was 14 months old. we layed him down, said goodnight, love you see you in the morning, put the baby gate up in front of his door and that was that. if he gets up, you put him back down....it's not hard nor is it rocket science.

and we made the switch because there is no reason in the world to keep them in a crib forever

Oh yes, be scared! ;) I'd wait to move him until he is consistently climbing out of the crib. It sounds like he's probably on his way, but I'd still wait it out to be sure. The more days in the crib, the better! We moved my daughter to a big bed at 22 months and it was really, really hard. I would recommend doing a twin sized bed or a full sized bed, which is even better, over doing a toddler bed. Unless you have a toddler bed or can get one for free, I'd go straight the regular bed. I know he's still little but it's so much easier to lay down with him, if necessary, with more space for you. Plus, it's easier to read stories and cuddle in general. If you need any more info or support please feel free to message me, but, and I hate to say it...moving my daughter was a nightmare and we are hoping that my son will stay happily in his crib until he's 3!!

Hard question to answer since your son is so young. But for sure yes, I think toddler bed is better than twin. For my son, the wall was one 'bumper' for him. The other side we put one of those pool noodles under the sheet as a little bumper for him to not roll out. We also put a pad on the floor in case he rolled out of bed (which he did a couple of times, once not even waking himself up).

If he can climb out of a crib, then he can likely scale a gate that you put at your door. The gate thing didn't work for my son. I left his door open a crack. The one time I did do the gate thing, he climbed over it and fell at like 3am.

If he's in his room playing, if it were me, I'd say one simple phrase "Not time to play. Time to sleep" and pick him up and put him in his bed. Then give a kiss and leave the room. If he gets up again, wait a couple of minutes and go back in "It's not time to play. It's time to sleep." and put him back in bed. He'll eventually get bored with it or tired. Maybe my kiddo was weird b/c he transitioned very well. He was 26 months at the time though.

My son was in his crib even at 3 years old.
He LOVED his crib and slept SO well in it.
Sure my son would climb around in his crib too.
I would tell him it is dangerous.... he can get hurt.

One day, he actually fell out of the crib. (we have carpet in the bedroom).
He didn't get majorly hurt... but it scared him enough... to the point that he NEVER did that again.

Then one day, while he was 3 years old, HE told us, that he wanted to be in a regular bed.
Fine.
So then we did.
He sleeps there perfectly well, too.
Because he was ready.

Don't over think this.

Now, when a child goes to bed, your son like mine, will talk/sing to himself..and eventually falls asleep. Nothing wrong with that.
But... to expect/insist a kid STAY in bed like a darn statue... is not going to work. Nor happen.
So don't expect that.
Every person, settles down differently, when they go to bed.
And the bedroom is not a zoo.

We moved our son to his big boy bed before he EVER tried to get out of his crib, that way he really didn't know that getting out was an option. He was probably 4 years old before he stopped waiting for us to come and tell him it was okay to get out of bed in the morning! :)

Since I don't have an hour to keep putting my son back into bed when he gets out everynight - I got a crib tent. I can't see how any kid can get through it. My DS is wild and he cannot get out of the crib tent. Got mine on Craigslist for cheap. Otherwise, they are about 50 bucks - but so worth it.

I can't tell you wether or not to put him in a toddler bed, my oldest (now 4) didn't move to a toddler bed till he was 3 and that was his choice. He never really tried to climb out of the crib. We did have problems with him initially staying in, so I went and bought a baby gate for his doorway. I close the door a crack (which we've always done) and the gate his just high enough off the floor that he can't climb over, but he can't get under. He's fallen asleep on the floor by the gate a few times because he didn't want to go to bed (naps really). I still think your son is too young to move to a bed, but that's your decision. Oh, and when he'd yell to get up, we told him to go bback to bed or just totally ignored him knowing that he was tired and fighting it and just let him yell till he conked out. And if you move him, also make sure that nothing in his room could hurt him (like a bookshelf or tall dresser that he could pull down if not secured-not trying to scare you, but I've seen that happen). Good luck!

I bought a crib tent from Walmart.com. They ship to the store of your choice for free. It was an easy solution to that problem!

I highly suggest buying and using a crib tent. We bought one when my daughter jumped out of the crib at 16 months. This is the best thing I have ever bought. I would pay a thousand dollars for it. I wish I would've known about it for my first child vs. my third.

We switched our son at 18 months, I was also a bit worried about what would happen, but it's been nothing but successful (son is now 25 months). I credit it to making the switch early, as uncertain as I was at the time. We put him in a twin with siderail right away. Our bedtime ritual is similar to yours, he puts himself to sleep. We kept that all the same when we made the switch and said "night-night" and turned out the lights and partially closed the door. He seldom got out of bed and followed us. The couple times he did, we just picked up without saying anything and put him right back into bed and left again. He'll get the point pretty quickly. Also, I made sure to take all toys out of his room except stuffed animals and books. That way we've never had too much trouble with him playing in the middle of the night. We've gotten in the habit recently of letting him have one small toy (usually his train) as long as it doesn't make noise. I personally think it will get any easier the longer you wait, so there's no time like the present. good luck!

We did 't switch my son until he was 3 years old. Our ped told us to "keep the monkey in the cage as long as possible." Although our son was capable of climbing out he never did. Wait until it needs to be done. 16 mo is too young in my opinion

When you do move him, close the door. We told our son that big boys stay in their bed until mommy comes to get them. He tried to sneek out once about 2 weeks into the process. We enforced our discipline procedures and he has not tried it again. BIG BOYS STAY IN BED.

Our son loves his bed. now that he is older. I have moved books over by his bed. When he wakes up in the morning he can read until mom comes to get him. The same rule still applies.

I would keep doing what you are doing. You said you close the door now, so continue to close the door. You CAN transition him now if you feel it is safer. My oldest transitioned to a twin bed at 15 mos. We transitioned her then because she could climb out of her bed, and also because I had a second on the way and we didn't want her to feel like the baby stole her bed. My second transitioned at 16 mos. We moved to a new house and just put up the daybed part of the bed instead of the enite crib. Those two were easy. They fell asleep on the floor alot, but were not up playing. My 3rd on the other hand has been vert hard to transition. It is a fight every night. We put him back to bed literally 10 times a night and he doesn't give up. Very headstrong. But we will get through it. Some nights I let him play and then fall asleep, but since they all share a room and his older sister is in school I've been trying to get him to stay in bed so he doesn't bother her. I am a vote for transitioning straight to a big bed. Toddler beds are a waste of money and it's another transition down the road. That is unless your crib is a convertable crib. If it transitions to a toddler bed go for it. If not, just get a regular size bed. Good Luck Mama! It may be simpler than you think, but maybe not. It can be done and worked through though.