My 20 month old is rapidly approaching the max height for her crib, but is in no way ready for a bed she can get in and out of. As is it’s taken an average of ~45 minutes of straining for toys and standing and walking around and sitting back down for her to fall asleep recently. I’m worried if she’s in a toddler bed it will just be an all night toy party. Has anyone else had success keeping a fidgety toddler in a big kid bed?
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Check your crib construction..... we undid some screws and removed the metal part that held the matress in place....dropping the mattress to the floor bought us several inches and at least 6 months longer in cribs!!!
Mattress was on the floor and the wooden part came down low enough to keep it in place
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@meadow: yes we did this too for my climber! Eventually he climbed out of that too and we had to bite the bullet but definitely got us a while.
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@meadow: +1, we did this too and my boys were in their cribs until almost 3.
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I don’t think cribs really have a max height? Our sleep coach said it’s fine to keep a kid in it for a long time (like past 4 years old) as long they are not climbing out (and even then can train them not to). I wouldn’t move her if I were you.
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@meadow: This is genius! We could pick up another 4 inches. I’m not sure how much time it’ll buy us because she keeps climbing the growth charts, but at least a little while. Thanks!
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@JJ2626: Ours has a max height printed on the platform with a couple other warnings. The reason I know is because we took it apart to see if we could flip the brackets or anything because last night I saw her get her foot up on the rail with enough leverage to get the other foot off the ground before I stopped her.
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@karenbme: I don’t know if you do sleepsacks but a sleepsack on backward (so they can’t learn to unzip) is another strategy that makes it harder to get that leg up and over
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@karenbme: wow, that seems crazy that the height limit would be so low that a 20 month old could pass it! Have you tried a sleep sack? Could buy you some more time.
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My 95th percentile 3.5 yo is still in his crib, and fits fine. He is not a climber and is a cautious kid in general (my younger is a climber and I doubt I would have her in a crib at that age.) I was expecting to move him out way before, but it works best for us still.
I'm also surprised to see a max height, and second the sleep sack backwards trick. Some people have luck transitioning their kids young and will recommend it, but I also feel like it just doesn't work well for a lot of kids depending on their personality, and would try to extend the crib until you feel like she has the maturity for a bed (or feel it just isn't safe anymore...) In all honesty, transitioning them young also makes me nervous. You can try to baby proof everything, but I don't trust that one of those door monkey things would hold 100% (our doors are also super old) and the thought of a young toddler having free reign of the house while I'm asleep terrifies me (much more so than it would for a 3 or 4 yo).
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@karenbme: we are in the same boat with my 2.5 year old... we put my son in a sleepsack to get more months out of him! Moving to a bed is supposedly one of the biggest transitions and one so many kids struggle with it.... Delay as much as possible!! Good luck
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My little was climbing out before 2 (her brothers never did this!) and we dropped the mattress to the floor (she climbed out at least 4 times, and once started walking down the stairs in her sleep sack!). There was just a bit of a gap that made me nervous, so we put some 2X4s down and laid the mattress on there and it was perfect! She's still in it for now, so it's bought us at least 2 months, and she's nowhere close to being able to climb out yet.
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Just wanted to chime in that we kept DD1 in her crib until right before she turned 4. I was super paranoid that she wouldn't stay in bed when we transitioned, but she actually did really well. Of course by that point, she understood that she needed to stay in bed. It's a different story now that she's five, she just ignores the rules if she wants to get out of bed, but, that's beside the point lol
It is interesting that there is a height max on your crib!
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@periwinklebee: I’m jealous of your peaceful crib baby. Our girl is definitely a daredevil and tall enough for her age that the print out from the ped just says >97% (she’s already outgrowing 2Ts in some brands
) Transitioning too soon also makes me super nervous, but dropping the mattress to the floor and a backwards sleep sack once she weather cools off will buy us some time.
@Jess1483: @pachamama: I wasn’t expecting the climbing out to be so scary! My daughter gets her leg up and then what I saw was pushing with her leg and leaning her head and shoulders straight forward over the edge to get more leverage. I was sure she was going to fall on her face. Hopefully we’ll all get enough time that they’ll be safe and stay in a big bed.
@JennyLayneAZ: Age and maturity will help so much! To be fair, I would not have realized there was a height limit except that it was printed on the wood. Also it’s a Stokke crib, so maybe it’s a scandi thing?
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My daughter sounds a lot like yours! Also a climber and huge for her age. My son is more tranquil when awake but needs like 2-3 hours less sleep per day (has always been low sleep needs), so I guess it all balances out, lol... Good luck!!!
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No advice but I hope you can buy yourself some more time. My DS2 will be 3 next month and is still in a crib. Luckily he hasn’t tried to climb out because I know staying in a bed will be a struggle.
My mom was recently telling me cribs used to be referred to as 5 year beds and that was generally the age kids went to beds🤷♀️
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@karenbme: @JennyLayneAZ: So I was so surprised by the height limit that I looked up our babyletto crib and it has one too, which my DD has exceeded! My hunch is most cribs have them and everyone ignores them. Ha. That may not help if your LO is climbing out and it’s dangerous but the height limit itself may not be a reason to switch. We have no plans to switch and my daughter is almost 3.5. If you can get past this stage, she may forget about climbing out. Good luck!
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Our oldest started climbing out of her crib at ~22 months, and we moved her directly to a twin bed. There were two nights of her getting out of bed, and then she didn’t have a problem. Every kid is different, but just wanted to offer up that it may not be a problem.
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@JJ2626: @karenbme: so interesting! A weight limit seems like it would make sense, just had never thought about a height limit lol Well, we're due to move the mattress down to the last notch for DD2, so, I'll see if I can find any info on a height limit for our crib lol
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She can’t stay in the crib? Can it be lowered? Has she tried to climb out? Sorry I didn’t read any posts above:/
My DS stayed in crib until 3.5. Started to jump out and transitioned to twin bed from PB. We redirected him for those years when he was thinking about it and it worked. So far so good i. bed as he is 4. I was told and read to keep in crib as long as you can- however each child is different and should really just make sure the room and area is child safe.
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@ALV91711: Yes kept DS in crib until 3.5 because he started to jump out. He’s in a twin bed now and it’s been great. Would of kept him longer if he didn’t jump out.
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