Printable View
Any suggestions for dealing with my dd who seems to think that it's great fun to stand on the bed? I'm concerned about her diving off the bed. Guard rails help with sleeping roll outs but do nothing for divers. I'm hoping to avoid sleeping in her room for the couple of years in order to monitor her behavior.
Two things that worked with my daughter:
Use a full bed instead of a twin. If you put it in the corner of the room there's a much bigger space between the wall and the edge of the bed.
Spend a few weeks with the mattress on the floor (no bed frame). The drop is only a few inches and bouncing on a floor mattress isn't as much fun for the baby as one that is on a frame.
Lastly, try disciplining your child in the same way you would discipline them to not run through a parking lot or crawl through the garbage can. It takes forever, but eventually it does work!
I have 3 year old twins, and both of my two were MAJOR jumpers & divers, especially my daughter. Believe it or not, our best move was to buy toddler beds.
First of all, we purchased the molded plastic kind (Cosco, I think?) that look like stylish real beds in miniature. The "real bed" styling reinforced the whole "grown-up bed" mentality of "beds are for sleeping and not for jumping." They are low to the ground, so there is zero worry of roll-overs or roll-outs, and if they do jump off the bed it is less high than a standard step. They use crib mattresses over board slats which is SUPER IMPORTANT in relation to jumpers. Mattress over slats means NO BOX SPRINGS & no box springs means no intoxicating lofty bounce. It isn't as fun as jumping on say, Mom & Dad's bed! Finally, they are lightweight enough to pick up and move easily around the room for cleaning out toys, and vacuuming - something I probably wouldn't have even bothered with if we had twin beds.
Changing the sheets are a snap compared to twin beds. Best of all, though they are very lightweight, they are really sturdy little things. I am a generously sized woman, and I sit on the side of my childrens' beds every night without a worry. I haven't ever laid down on them with my children (I am a cautious plus sized gal) but I have lain across them, and have always felt well supported, and that they were VERY sturdy. Have I mentioned the extra space in the room when the bed (or beds, in my case) are "toddler sized" instead of twin sized? It's amazing, and I have found lovely all-cotton sheet sets on the internet for toddler bedding, so I could avoid all of the character themed 50/50 stuff most marketed for toddler beds.
I actually hope my kids can stay in them a LONG time!
Good luck! And whatever you do - don't make the mistake we did! Before we bought these toddler beds, our kids were in cribs converted to toddler beds. Because of their uncontrollable jumping urges, we padded around the open side of the crib, to avoid any nasty concrete-floor induced bruises. Much to our chagrin, this was carte blanche to my kids to jump higher, further and harder. Mom had given them landing strips!!!!! Know too, this will pass! Good Luck!!!
Theresa (hooahmama)