If Your Child Climbed Out of the Crib, Did You Use a Crib Tent?

Updated on March 06, 2007
D.K. asks from Frankfort, IL
16 answers

My son is a monster . . ha, ha!! Just kidding, but he is a lot more "work" then my older son ever was. I love him to death and because he's so mischevious, it's one of the reasons that makes him so loveable and hilarious at the same time. This AM he managed to gracefully climb out of his crib (no bumpers in the crib and mattress is all the way down), open his door and walk out laughing. My older son was 2.5 when this happened, so I'm definately not prepared for my 17 month old to be out of the crib yet. I'm hoping he forgets that he did it and stays put, but doubting that BIG TIME!!! Everyone keeps telling me I'm going to have to buy a crib tent, but I'm thinking he will freak out if I put a tent over his head to sleep. So, I'm just wondering if you used a crib tent, how did your child(ren) react to it? THANKS!!

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B.

answers from Chicago on

My Second daughter started jumping out of her crib at 17 months also. We lowered the side of the crib and taught her to climb out safely. We also put up a baby gate (she climbed that too so we switched the lock on her bedroom door (locked her in, it sounds horrible but we had a 1st floor master and had to keep my acrobat safe) and put a monitor in her room so we could hear what she was up to.
Good Luck
B.

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M.P.

answers from Chicago on

My son climed out of his cib when he was a little over 1 yr old what i did was just put the mattress on the floor & got a baby gate in his room so when he woke he couldnt get out

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M.S.

answers from Chicago on

My daughter did the same thing at that age. We actually bought her a bed and gated her in her room. And obviously removed anything hazardous from her room so she couldn't hurt herself if she got out of bed.

Best of luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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S.S.

answers from Chicago on

My oldest daughter did the same thing. After I researched the whole tent thing and read that a lot of people claimed their child could unzip them quickly I decided that our little monkey would to do that.I just lowered the rail and used it as a day bed. it took a few nights for her to realize that she had to sleep in her new bed. But then it was fine.

S.

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K.S.

answers from Chicago on

We did buy a crib tent for our son when he started climbing out of the crib. I did not trust him not to wander around the house in the middle of the night. We found him one night at 3:00 a.m. about to try to pour himself a glass of juice!! He did unzip the tent, but we just tied it shut. He actually seemed to like the tent, and reminded us to zip him in. I thought he would freak, but really did not mind it. My youngest also climbed out of her crib early too. We chose to put her right into a toddler bed, since I knew the first thing she would do if she got out of bed is to climb into my bed. I think you really have to ask yourself, what would my child do if he woke up in the middle of the night. Would he wander around the house or come and get you. Good luck.

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M.W.

answers from Chicago on

I bought the crib tent for my son to protect him from our cats. I found it to be a big problem to put it in the crib, to change the sheets, and to get him in and out. I would recommend finding a different solution as mentioned from the others. Good Luck.

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L.R.

answers from Chicago on

My daughter did the same thing at the same age and we put up a crib tent immediately after the first time she climbed out. She loved it and we had no problems at all. She turned 2 in December and about a month ago she figured out how to unzip it. She hasn't tried to climb out, but a couple of days ago the zipper broke and we took it down. She is doing fine in staying in her crib, but the first night she was looking for the tent. We are not going to buy another crib tent, but we plan on moving her to a big girl bed soon. All of my friends have used crib tents and their kids never had a problem with them. In fact, they all said (and I can agree) that their kids actually like the tent. There were days that my daughter would want to sit in her crib and have me zip up the tent while she played. Overall, I think it's an excellent idea.

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H.M.

answers from Chicago on

My boys sound a lot like yours, My oldest actually did not want to get out of his crib. We had to get him out 3 months before my second was born. So he was over 2 1/2. My second son however we had to get him a Toddler bed at 18 months, He wanted nothing to do with the crib and figured out how to escape early. Instead of worrying about him getting hurt we bought a toddler bed. It took a little while to get used to but after a couple weeks he no longer got out of bed.

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H.J.

answers from Chicago on

Hi D.,

My daughter did the exact same thing, about the same age, so scary. I just took the front part off her crib and turned it into a day bed. She has a bed rail to keep her from falling out, but she loves it. She's 26 months now and it is working just fine.

Good luck to you ;-) H.

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K.

answers from Chicago on

Clearly your son is done with the crib. You should be too. Put a mattress on the floor for him and get him excited about his BIG BOY BED. Chances are he'll love it. My parents put us all into big beds at 18 months and we turned out fine.

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L.

answers from Chicago on

I'm sure you've already figured out what to do. At least your son is graceful aobut it. My daughter climbed over the top rail of her crib, at 20 months, and broke two bones in her arm. We never witnessed her even trying to lift her leg to try to climb out. I wish I'd had the chance to try a crib tent. We ended up putting her in a todler bed and gating her room. Best of luck!

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C.P.

answers from Chicago on

our son climbed over/fell out of the crib at 16 months (he walked at 9.5 months old--no kidding--and was always a super active little guy). I talked to a number of mothers and also our doctor and bought a bed almost immediately. he got used to it very quickly. we put a gate on his door (nice one that opens and closes) effectively making the whole room a crib. after a month or so, he was sleeping in his new big boy bed beautifully.
several mothers that I talked to at the time said they tried the tents and the kids were able to get out anyway so it turned into a big waste of time and money and they had to switch to a bed anyway.
and even our doctor was like, yeah, once they climb out once that's pretty much it. time for a bed. b/c they'll just continue to try to climb out. and our crib was kind of high off the ground (the kind with a gate) so it was a major fall. we were so lucky that he wasn't hurt at all. I was terrified that he had a concussion and wasn't about to go through it again.
less adventurous kids seem content in their cribs well into age 3 (little girl upstairs from us) but that just wasn't going to work for us.
good luck!
oh, also I read in multiple places and confirmed with the doctor that the average age to move to a bed starts at 18 months, so you're right there anyway...

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S.S.

answers from Chicago on

This just happened to my girlfriend-kids are the same ages. She didn't want to get the crib tent, but since her son kept getting out of bed and he wasn't old enough to switch to a "big boy bed" she ended up getting it. No more problems since....I say go for it!

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K.K.

answers from Chicago on

A friend of mine used the tent and it cured the escapee. Also, I recommend the sleep sacks from halo. Makes it a little harder for the monkeys to get their legs over the crib. Halo even makes a summer sleep sack that is less heavy. You could zip them on backwards if they figure out how to take them off too.

Good luck!
K.

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P.R.

answers from Chicago on

My son climbed out of his crib when he was about 18-19 months. He fell but wasn't seriously hurt, but I guess he learned his lesson because he's never done it again. Once in a while, though, when I wait a few minutes to come to his room in the morning, I catch him trying to put his leg over the rail. My mother said I did it too when I was little. She just put a bunch of pillows under my crib to soften the blow. I think a tent is kind of scary for a toddler. And it probably decreases visibility of the toys around the room, so it makes it more boring to stay put.

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C.L.

answers from Chicago on

AH! The second child does things so much sooner than the first. My younger son did the same thing and we just lowered the crib side, and got him into the big-boy bed sooner. Gate off the room if you'll feel more comfortable.
And get ready for the younger one doing things sooner than the 1st. My younger son turns 13 today and he still nips at the heals of his older brother's (he's 16)accomplishments. Both are currently working on Eagle projects for Boy Scouts and and younger may get it done 1st. Kids are sponges, so the 2nd will generally catch on to things quicker just because they observe the older. Oh and there's always that competition thing too - who's bigger, faster, smarter, stronger - both loved equally.
Good luck!

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