19 months old, Climb out of crib

Little bird

Registered User
Hi

My son is 19 mths (but he is 100 percentile in height and weight, therefore he is as talk as a 2.5 yrs). We have our crib/bed from mothercare. Recently he is able to climb out - luckily our maid was around and prevented him from falling.

Our original plan is to move him to a kids bed at 2. Anyone got any tips for this transitional period pls?
 
nope, it might be time to move up to the new bed. my son was similar and was actually in a proper bed by 14 months.
 
Mine climbed out of her cot WITH a sleeping bag on twice. We took the sides down first and lowered the mattress as a transition and then about a month later moved her to a full sized single bed. She was about the same age as yours at the time.

It was pretty easy, we talked a lot about her new bed (not "big bed") and how pretty it was and she helped pick a sheet set. She got out a lot the first few nights but was fine after that.
 
the toddler beds at IKEA are pretty low so it's just important you teach them how to climb up and down properly so they don't injure themselves. my daughter was fine with it and transitioned very easily - she didn't even realize she could come out of bed till 2 months after sleeping in the bed..then it became more challenging, cause she'd open her room door to pay us a surprise visit next door!
 
When my son started climbing out of his crib, we put the side down so if he did that he could get in and out more carefully. And about the same time he started to prefer sleeping on the floor so we bought him a sleeping mat to sleep on and he slept on that beside his crib until we finally just moved a "big bed" into his room for him.

We didn't even bother to get a "toddler bed" for him because we felt that he would outgrow it quickly. We had an extra "hideaway" bed from IKEA we weren't using so we used that and it's just perfect for him.

When he first moved into that new bed we kept the sleeping mat/cushion on the floor beside the bed in case he rolled out (which he did a few times, but it is only about 30 cm off the floor so not very far to fall). He never got hurt from rolling out of bed because the cushion was there--most of the time we didn't even know he had rolled out of bed because he didn't cry or wake up.

Nowadays, we have a bunch of his pillows laying there but he hasn't rolled out of bed in awhile. I think that 19 months is near enough to the 2-year mark that moving your son into a proper bed might be a wise idea--rather than risk him taking a dive out of the crib or always having to be panicky/watchful that he will. I know parents who were expecting a second child when their children were around 12 months-old who moved their older children into a proper bed at that time.
 
We have 21 months between our girls and moved the older one into a big bed when she was about 17-18 months old. She did fabulously and has never fallen out. We had to get a gate for her room to keep her in though!!
 
My 2 yr old is still in his crib and never climb out. He rolls around in bed a lot, putting his feet up on the sides etc. We waited because we are moving apt in a couple months and think we will get him a real bed then. I do worry about the transition ( especially we plan to give his crib to his baby brother whom he yet learn to like).
Do you keep toddler in sleeping bag or switch to blanket? What about pillow ?
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I gave a pillow to my girl at 18 months, she really likes it. I was worried about her staying the right way around but I think that the pillow helps her to keep her head in the right spot ;) I personally think that a sleeping bag could be dangerous in a regular bed, it's a trip hazard - so we went to blankets instead. At first she didn't like them, but it was summer anyway so she was warm enough without any cover. But now that it's winter and COLD, she really likes snuggling in her doona/duvet blanket.
 
My 2 yr old is still in his crib and never climb out. He rolls around in bed a lot, putting his feet up on the sides etc. We waited because we are moving apt in a couple months and think we will get him a real bed then. I do worry about the transition ( especially we plan to give his crib to his baby brother whom he yet learn to like).
Do you keep toddler in sleeping bag or switch to blanket? What about pillow ?
Posted via Mobile Device

For some children, giving up their crib can be traumatic--but usually that's because the parents don't go about it the right way. Take for example, my mom. When my younger brother was at the age where he was ready to switch to a bigger bed what she decided to do was to pack up the crib and then tell him "Say bye bye to your crib" and then put him in a bigger bed. The result of this was that he, an almost completely night-time potty trained child, started wetting the bed. He was so traumatized by having his bed being taken away.

But, I think if you start early and gradually transition your child into another bed it can actually go by really smoothly. I think the fact that my son slept on the floor for so many months beside his bed before we moved it out definitely helped. Actually one day, we tried to put him to bed to sleep there he literally told us, "Dadda, this is a baby bed. You go buy a big bed for me?"

Then, I asked him last week, "Where is the new baby going to sleep when she comes?" He told me to follow him to where we have his crib stored and said, "This is the new baby's bed."

So, I just say all that to say that transitioning an older child out of a crib need not be a tearful experience. Also, I never had my child sleep in a sleeping bag--he always just had blankets and enough layers of clothes to keep him warm. He has been using a pillow probably since he was maybe 6-months-old and now he has a regular pillow.
 
My son climbed out of his crib at 20 months. As soon as he did this we transitioned him to a bed as we didn't want him getting hurt. We first put a mattress topper on the floor for a week or so. Then we boght a regular twin size bed with the longest rail we could find (KidCo.) and it almost covers the entire side of the bed. On the other side we have a long bolster type pillow that I used while pregnant which works perfectly as he's still sleeping with it today at age 3. We felt it was a waste to buy a toddler bed. We put a small stool so he can get up into his bed and we have a gate at his door too.
 
A couple of American girlfriends have mentioned something called a "crib tent" which is designed to help keep them in the cot/crib for a little longer! I haven't seen one in HK but it may be worth investigating.
 
I think the crib tents from the US/Canada will probably only be of any use if you have a North American sized crib as they fasten to the sides and rise up like a tent, but most of us in Hong Kong won't have that size of crib as it's not commonly available here.
 
If anyone is interested, I have a "North American-sized crib" that's in good condition I would love to give away. :)
 
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