Is your toddler climbing out of the crib? Are they losing sleep and up all nap/night with you bringing him/her back to bed? Are you thinking of transitioning to a bed instead?
Hold that thought!
The important question is, Is he/she still under 2.5 years old? There is a level of cognitive understanding needed to comprehend more complex concepts like…”Stay In Bed!” Most children under 2.5 aren’t quite there yet and so moving them to a toddler bed starts a whole new problem of your child getting out of bed and coming to you in the night or wandering the house in the middle of the night while you are sleeping.
Here are some tricks I have seem Mom’s get creative with in order to try to keep their toddler from climbing out of their crib. This is assuming you have already put the mattress on the lowest setting.
1. Dress them in a PJ night shirt that goes to their feet. That can help prevent them from getting that leg up.
2. Put them in a sleep sack. That also can help prevent them from getting a leg up. Some mom’s have sewn the bottom to be a little more narrow for added effect. Yes, they make sleep sacks in toddler sizes.
3. Sew the legs together of their sleeper. Very hard to get a leg up.
4. Drop the bottom out of your crib to make the rail higher.
Fill in the bottom with boards. Make it secure with screws. Be sure it is solid and Safe.
If you are determined to take them from the crib and use a bed instead, if they continue to get up in the night, you can try a gentle sleep plan. That still may not give you 100% success of keeping them in bed all night if they just aren’t ready. Putting a tall gate at the door and clearing the room of climbable furniture and distracting toys would be like turning the whole room into one big crib and there they would be safe all night.
If you have forgone the crib all together and are sleeping on a floor mattress with your child, that works too.
Everyone needs sleep to be healthy and productive.
Tracy Spackman is a gentle sleep coach living in Phoenix, Arizona and she is helping families get better sleep all over the world. To set up a consultation, go to www.GetQuietNights.com.
Tracy Spackman
www.GetQuietNights.com
602-524-7610
https://www.facebook.com/QuietNights