2 Year Old Climbing Out of Crib and Doesn't like Big Bed

I think the 2 gates stacked is a great idea. Baby proof the whole room, put the mattress on the floor and let her sleep wherever she likes. If you end up needing a bed rail, I just found a great rail on Amazon that is inflatable and portable for travel but works great in DDs permanent bed too. It is called "The Shrunks" if you are interested.

At this point, I would not put the crib back in. Too dangerous! If you need to remove the bed please do so but just put the mattress on the floor and the gates up. Good luck!

What is it she liked about the crib? The sides? You can place the bed in the corner and get a bed rail.. If it has a tall head board place the bed in the opposite direction. This way she will feel like she is contained with 4 sides.

Is it that the bed seems to big? You can roll up blankets and use them as bumpers for her to sleep inside of on the big Mattress to help her feel contained?

Does she feel like it is too high in the air? Just use the mattress on the floor.

I agree to get a gate and put it up in the door way. Let her sleep anywhere in her room she falls asleep.

Make sure she still has her baby blankets and lovies that were used in her crib.

Our daughter was able to climb out of her crib right before 1 year old. We tried crib tents, Our daughter could by pass them..

My husband was in denial until he walked in and she was hanging upside down from the side of the crib one morning. He caught her and that is the day we took the crib completely apart. She could not be contained.

Yes, she was intrigued by the ability to get up and off of her bed, But we worked to make sure she was safe in her room. We completely baby proofed. We had 1 gate in the door way to begin with and eventually had to have 2 stacked on top of each other (monkey child).

There was some crying, pleading etc.. But we would reassure her and get her back into her bed. We allowed her to pick which direction she wanted to sleep in.. She was allowed to have as many books in bed as she wanted.. As many animals.. etc..

It was hard and sometimes, we would pat her back. Or need to sit quietly near her. But she caught on. A nightlight helped. A CD player with music helped. We just tried to figure out what she needed to calm down and to stay in her room.

She's too big for a baby bed. Truly. Those mattresses are made to only go up to a certain weight and they're not supposed to be used for kids over 2 years old. That's why toddler beds are supposed to be for toddlers, they move out of them around 2-2 1/2 years old.

She has to adapt. She needs to be in a big bed and that's all there is to it. She's a pre-schooler and you're the parent. You can do it. Put a gate up so she can't wander, make sure every bathroom door is shut at all times during the night so she can't get in their and tip over into the toilet and drown.

She will start accepting this soon.

Yes, I have been there! For my oldest, we put a mattress on the floor. She did fine with it and it was a little less scary that way. For my son, not so easy. He wouldn't sleep in the bed, wouldn't sleep on the mattress. Our ped said to close the door and find a way to keep it closed so he couldn't get out, and let him sleep where he wanted. For 2 years he slept on the floor right in front of the door. Even when he stopped trying to get out, he would pull curl up on the floor and ask us to tuck him into the floor. Finally when he and my older daughter had a "sleep over" and she slept in a bed in the same room, he would sleep in the bed with a bed tent over the bed. At 7 he has no recollection of this time and sleeps happily in his bed. Now my youngest climbed out of her crib at 18 months. She is a gymnast too. We converted her crib to a toddler bed. Sometimes she sleeps in it. Sometimes she sleeps in the rocking chair, sometimes on the floor. I refuse to get her up before 7 AM, and after fussing, she occupies herself or falls back asleep. If you can ignore it and it is safe, she will stop. I try to not react in the night. 2 yr molars are coming in so that is making sleep harder, but if she is just up, let her get herself back to sleep, and don't fret where she chooses to sleep.

My son started climbing out of his crib when he was barely 2. At first we used a sleep sak (they make bigger ones) and that prevented him from being able to maneuver his legs (if she can do zippers, put it on backwards). Once he could get out of the crib even with the sleep sak, we put a twin size mattress on the floor (so it was low to the ground) and let him pick some new sheets. That being said, it is still a new found independence and we had to train him to stay in his bed for naps (he was okay at night). It is a big step, but you have to be consistent. They are not confined anymore and they will see what they can get away with, and it is also a little scary for them to not have that security. If I were you I would try to keep her in the crib a little longer! Good luck!

There are no weight limits on crib mattresses (US Consumer Product Safety Commission, cpsc.gov). All cribs have to be certain overall dimensions (length, depth, width) for safety reasons.

In your child's case you need to transition to the big bed since she is climbing out which is a falling hazard at the very least. My toddler loves his crib but is not a climber. If he were, I would take his crib out, install two stacked baby gates in the doorway, baby proof his room thoroughly (anchor any furniture, cover all electrical outlets, etc.) and put his new mattress without a frame on the floor. I would accept the drama until he adjusted. Good luck.

My middle son started climbing out of the crib at 20 mos, and it was the same as you've described. Since I had another baby due 2 mos later, I wasn't ready for him to be in a big boy bed. I bought a crib tent and that did the trick for a while, until I was ready to deal with his newly acquired sleeping problems.

For you, I wouldn't do that, since it'll just delay your battle and not actually remedy it. If the crib converts to a toddler bed (and especially if it has a rail), I'd suggest that route. It provides a feeling of familiarity and security that is lacking when you jump right from the crib to a big bed. It won't solve the problem, totally, but it should help.

If you want to keep her in a crib longer, get a crib tent. We used with our oldest when she started climbing out of her crib at 18 mos. It was a pain for sheet changing, but otherwise served it's purpose well.

My son, was in his crib even at 3 years old.
Why?
1) because he LOVED his crib
2) He slept WELL in it with NO problems.
3) HE still fit in it just fine.
4) he was still napping in it too, with no problem or battles.
5) and because I taught him, that if he climbs it, it can be dangerous. ie: he can fall out and get hurt.
And him being a boy, he was very mobile and active. One day, he DID fall out because he was climbing it. And he fell down onto the floor. He cried. It hurt. But he was not badly hurt. Just a bump. I consoled him... but also told him that that can happen, when he climbs it.
And... he NEVER ever, did that again.
He learned, his lesson.

6) Then one day...HE told us, that he wanted to sleep in a regular bed. So we did. And he slept there perfectly fine, with no battles. And he slept in it fine and napped in it fine, too.

Either stack two gates or close the door after turning the doorknob around so that the lock is on the outside. If she has a nightlight, then it doesn't matter if you have the door closed. It is a SAFETY issue with her leaving her room in the middle of the night or early in the morning, and you cannot allow it. Nip it in the bud NOW before she gets hurt.

The other thing you can do if you don't want the door to be closed is to buy a cheap interior door at Lowe's and have them cut it off up above the doorknob so that it's tall enough for her to not be able to climb, yet the top is open into the hallway. Sand it so that there aren't any splinters and put the lock on the outside. It's the same as double gates but is easier for you to handle.

This IS a behavioral issue. Nothing more. You need to treat it as such. If she wants to lay in the floor, let her. If you no longer have the toddler bed, pull her crib mattress out of the crib and put it in the floor. Let her choose where she wants to sleep, but DON'T let her out of her room. It might be hard, but you just need to let her cry so that she will figure out that she cannot have her way. If you are 100% consistent and don't cave in to her, she will finally start sleeping through the night again.

I do think that it's a hard transition from a crib to a full sized bed and she doesn't feel as secure in it as she does her crib. However, climbing out of the crib means that there's no going back into it. Instead, teach her the hard lesson that she cannot come out of her room and that you will not keep coming in to put her back to sleep. She has to self-soothe. If you don't, this is going to go on and on...