When our son would get overly upset about something and start throwing things, we would take him into his room, place him in his crib and advise him that he can get out when he cools down.
On Saturday he had a normal tantrum and was put in his crib. Only this time there was a very loud thud.
Fortunately, as my wife tells the story, he didn’t scream any louder since he was already at full throttle. But when she checked out what happened, she found him on the floor.
Our 2-year-old had climbed out of his crib.
I knew the day was coming. I had caught him trying to put his foot across the top bar but come up short. And he’s sneaky observant about things -- like knowing how to navigate our smart phones to play Thomas the Tank Engine on Netflix.
Last month he turned on the TV and celebrated by running down the hall with both hands raised in the air exclaiming “I did it!”
We have arrived at the point in toddlerhood where it’s time for a big-boy bed.
According to a post at parents.com, many toddlers have the ability to climb out once they reach 35 inches in height and 18 and 24 months in age. The difficult part is the transition – going from a small mattress surrounded by bars to a larger mattress without bars.
Here are some tips the website offers to ease the transition:
-- Put the crib mattress on the floor or put buy a twin bed and put the mattress and box springs on the floor. Sleeping close to the floor at this point is a good thing.
-- If the bed is not on the floor, use a guardrail. My wife found one cheap at Just Between Friends that works well.
-- Pick out sheets, pillowcases and pillows that your child likes.
-- Be patient. Don’t be surprised if your child wants nothing to do with the new bed.
-- Stay with the routine you had before the transition (reading before bed, rocking, etc.)
Our first night was rough. Not only did he not want to sleep in his new bed, he didn’t want to stay in the room.
He even got down on the floor under the door and stuck his hand out into the hallway. It was as if he was getting escape advice from Thing in The Addams Family.
Our son is adjusting. Now he wakes up at odd hours, walks around his room and tries to open the door.
Much like the remote control and his parents’ smartphones, he’ll figure it out soon.
We hope, at least.
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