Help, Toddler in Toddler Bed, Ack!

[BabbyO]

Well, my DS (2 in a couple weeks) decided that Father's day was the day to climb out of his crib. Even though he sat in it a played/talked to himself for about 45 min in the AM, yesterday afternoon he tried to climb out twice. (We thought the first time was a fluke because we had a pillow under one side of the mattress to help with some drainage he'd been experiencing).

Anyway, the second time, after the pillow was gone, we realized it wasn't a fluke and we got the board out to covert the crib to a toddler bed. (Here's where I was stressing, because I was really hoping the crib would last a bit longer so we'd have somewhere safe to put DS1 when DS2 is a newborn.)

Anyway, I have a few questions. Last night DS was both excited and scared to sleep in his bed without the front rails on. It took quite a bit of coaxing to get him to lie down. But eventually we did...although I jumped at EVERY.SINGLE.SOUND last night.

His bed does not have a bed rail. Would you get one? If so can you recommend something I can get on short order...since this was so unexpected. (Walmart and Target are really the only stores I can manage on my way home).

Second...what is the concensus on pillows for toddlers? It was the only way I could get DS to go to sleep last night. I put a spare pillow under his bed so that if he rolled out he'd land on that rather than the hard wood floor. He saw it and HAD to have it. I let him go to sleep on it figuring I'd just move it to the floor after he fell asleep. I did this...but he was wrapped around that pillow like I wrap myself around my body pillow. I got it out from under him and put it on the floor, but at some point in the middle of the night he got out of bed and laid on top of the pillow on the floor and went to sleep. Should I let him sleep with a pillow? Should I get a smaller/toddler sized pillow for him...is there such a thing?

I'm thinking we may want to get a gate for his door...the heating is too goofed up in our house to leave his door closed all night...he'll get too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter if we do that...but I don't want him wandering in the middle of the night.

So many things I thought I'd have a little more time to figure out. Any other suggestions from those of you who've BTDT?

The only ray of hope...for now, is that this morning I heard him in his room (we close the door when DH and I are getting ready so we don't wake him) and he was sitting in his bed nicely...he hadn't gotten out, but I don't think it will be long before the pull of the toys in his room will lure him out of bed in the morning.

(BTW, I don't think I've slept as poorly as I did last night since he was an infant!)

[Green_Tea]

Have you considered a crib tent? While some almost 2 year olds are very low key about being out of their crib, most have a hard time controlling their impulses and are hard to trust ;) Going back to the crib and using a tent would buy you some time and maturity (and you'd have to worry less about all the other stuff - keeping the door open, new baby, etc.)

[JBaxter]

My kids all had pillows after about a year old ( maybe 15-18 months ish) Gate the door child proof the room. I would find mine sleeping on the floor a lot for a while. You can also just put the crib mattress on the floor that way you dont have to worry about rolling out.

Oddly enough the ONLY thing Jack hasnt climbed out of yet is his crib. He climbs in but not out. Hes the only one of my 4 to last beyond 20 months in a crib.

[Roni]

Okay, I don't know what the current thinking is on toddler pillows, but we do have one. I'm guessing we bought it on One Step Ahead.

FWIW, at that age my two older girls were sleeping with a mattress & boxspring on the floor, with a bedrail. I did have a gate on their door and left the door open.

HTH. Good luck!

[Dr C]

A pillow is fine for a 2 y.o.
I'd either get a crib tent OR put up a gate and completely baby-proof his room--think of his room as a big crib. Don't forget to bolt the dresser to the wall.
I would not bother with a rail, but if you have wood floors I would probably put a soft throw rug on the floor so his landing is somewhat cushioned if (when) he does fall/climb out.

[BabbyO]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I'm not sure about the crib tent idea...I guess I've heard mixed things about it and just not sure where I stand. As for his current bed in toddler mode it is no more than 1 ft off the ground...I'm thinking it's more like 9 or 10 inches...so we're not talking about a huge fall if he were to fall out of bed. I may just put one of the extra blankets folded up on the floor by his bed. There is an area rug, but it doesn't provide any padding.

Thankfully he is about to move to a new room, so we can do the baby proofing (and plan to) like bolting the dresser to the wall, etc. The nursery (his current room) is a bit more tricky because of the changing table...there isn't really a good way to bolt it to the wall because of the shape. I'm hoping he'll stay low key for just a few more nights while his new room is pulled together.

I'm thinking we'll let him use the pillow...maybe get a new slightly smaller one (I think what we have now are queen sized pillows, and they're rather firm, so something smaller might be better for him).

I'm so not ready for this today!

[wellyes]

Get a white noise machine, that will help with the jumpiness.

[MSWR0319]

DS did the exact same thing at the exact same age! I, too, was hoping to use the crib a little longer. Our crib does have the toddler rail, so I can't answer that question. I can say that DS does move in his sleep so it has definitely kept him in the bed. We got DS a small toddler pillow at BRU. His room is gated so he stays in, but once he got used to the bed he didn't try to get out. In fact, he still calls for me when he wakes up. The only problem now is, I've caught him trying to climb it, and it's really tall!!

[BabbyO]

DS did the exact same thing at the exact same age! I, too, was hoping to use the crib a little longer. Our crib does have the toddler rail, so I can't answer that question. I can say that DS does move in his sleep so it has definitely kept him in the bed. We got DS a small toddler pillow at BRU. His room is gated so he stays in, but once he got used to the bed he didn't try to get out. In fact, he still calls for me when he wakes up. The only problem now is, I've caught him trying to climb it, and it's really tall!!

This is reassuring...he WAS sitting nicely in his bed this morning waiting for DH or I to come get him. I hope that remains the case for a little while, yet!

[crl]

If it makes you feel any better my ds never did start climbing out of his toddler bed on his own. In fact he was 6 before he started getting out of bed rather than yelling for me!

If you want a small pillow, travel size pillows work nicely.

Catherine