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I took the springs out of the crib for that exact reason and it did buy us a few months. I say go for it because it hasn’t been easy since he climbed that too and we had to give up the crib.

ETA - I never felt this was unsafe because our crib mattress, when directly on the ground, came up higher than the bottom of the crib (which was close to the ground, so your situation may differ). So there was no way for any limbs to get stuck or anything. He still eventually climbed out of that too!

As long as his room is super-child-proofed, a baby gate isn't really different than a crib. I've never heard of dropping the bottom out, and I'd also wonder about the safety of that. The transition to a toddler bed is tough, but helping create a cozy, contained space is helpful. If you're into podcasts, Janet Landsbury does on called Unruffled, and there's an episode about this transition that was really helpful to me. Good luck!

Does he go daycare? Where does he nap there? I am wondering if there is less of an appeal to get out of a toddler bed since you can just get right out. Not as much fun as climbing out of a crib.

I think dropping the bottom of the crib will maybe buy you a week. If he can get his foot into the bottom of the rail, he will be able to climb out soon.

FWIW, DD would fight sleep hard when we put her in a crib but when we put her in a toddler bed she would just go to sleep. And she has only ever gotten up three times in like four months.

My thought is you have to get him out of the crib eventually so might as well get it over with. DS is 2.5 and slept in a converted crib from 20 months til he got his big big bed at Christmas. He can’t open his door yet and that ok with me. I have a camera and his room is close to ours. It took some work to get him to stay in bed, though, which was frustrating.

Personally I would try dropping the mattress down if you can- or I have a friend who was able to turn her crib upside down over the mattress to give her a few more inches/ months. But her kid climbed out at 18 months. I have hear end of the crib often means end of naps but I hope not for you!!

@MrsADS: it didn’t mean the end of naps for us, fwiw. They have gotten later, and sometimes we have to work for it a bit more, but he consistently naps at home still, even in a big bed.

@MrsADS: Leaving a message on your wall about this

We love the door monkey. I was personally a fan of it more than a baby gate bc in a bind if I told DD to pull as hard as she could she couldve ripped it open. We put her in her toddler bed, in her big girl room, at about 28 months, we have a bad staircase with no way to gate the top - so for us it was more safety.

She never tried to break out. Frankly at that age she never really even got off her bed - bc those are the rules at daycare so she transitions them to home also.

@MrsADS: just read your update. Overall the transition to us was pretty painless. Sounds similar to yours so far. He did wake earlier for a few weeks and didn’t put himself back to sleep. Enter stoplight “ok to wake” clock! Got us back to a normal 7am wakeup (vs 6am for a couple weeks).

@MrsADS: I'll be interested to hear if you try the OK to wake clock. We tried for a few days with our 27 mo old because of very very early wake ups (4:47am) but it made zero difference. I think she understands in theory, but at 4:47 when she is awake and full of adrenaline, she just comes right out of her room without even looking at the clock. We put it away and will try it again in 6 months or so.

@MrsADS: I do think it’s probably the novelty and will wear off. As long as you are consistent.
Also, rewards help! “If you stay in bed allll night long you’ll get 5 m&ms when you wake up”. Something like that. Eventually they stop asking and you stop offering the reward. It just becomes normal. We did that with the clock (if you stay in bed till light turns green) but I think it could have worked without too.

@MrsADS: I really think if you are firm/consistent and really talk to him about staying in bed until mom or dad comes to get him, the novelty will wear off. Don’t interact or react much when you go in. Sort of like going back to the newborn days when you’re not supposed to talk or make eye contact. You want to be super boring so that he doesn’t make it a game.

I think he'll settle and get used to it. DD has been in her toddler bed for about a month now. Getting her to go to sleep is still difficult, but she sleeps all night long now. Is he playing in the dark? If it's light in there, trying to make it darker might help - hard to play if you can't see anything

We also don't insist that she sleeps in her bed. She likes to fall asleep on the floor a lot (weirdo) and then sometime during the night she either climbs into bed or the glider and sleeps there the rest of the night. I figure as long as she's sleeping, I don't care where she does it.