AimeeM Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Marco Monster is almost 11 months old. Around the house, he stands unassisted and cruises on furniture. I'm trying to integrate him BACK into his crib (since the skull fracture incident/fall off our bed incident, I've been sleeping on a floor in another, child-proof room with him). Right now his crib can be lowered one more notch. At the height it is now, he is chest level to the top of the crib. I'm not comfortable putting him back in the crib if there is any chance our little magician can fling himself over the bars and out of the crib (I sound paranoid don't I? He recently figured out how to get out of his carseat restraints.... lol). Lowering the crib to it's bottom would put it at about his forehead. The problem with lowering it is that I'm very, very short myself and can barely get him out at the height it is NOW - I'd have to use a step stool to get him out if it's lowered again (to reach over the railing) - I'm not confident in my ability to get him out in the middle of the night for feedings, while stumbling over a step stool. What age did you lower your little one's crib to its "bottom"? Is there any way (other than having him show me himself <----- trying to avoid that, obviously) to know whether or not he can launch himself out, and if we need to lower it now, or if it's safe to keep as it is for now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 I put my kid on the floor on a mattress when she was climbing out. She had the mattress and dresser(with locks on drawers). Nothing else. Door shut when she went to bed so she couldn't get out and fall down stairs. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 It seems to me that I lowered it as soon as they could sit up on their own. I sure understand about the step-stool issue, though. Is the side difficult to lower and raise on a regular basis to allow for an easier reach? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violamama Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 We used a pack N play once the kids were rolling over & sitting up. Worked great, portable, no concern about escaping or falling out. My pediatrician thought that was just fine. We didn't put much in the way of blankets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted May 13, 2013 Author Share Posted May 13, 2013 It seems to me that I lowered it as soon as they could sit up on their own. I sure understand about the step-stool issue, though. Is the side difficult to lower and raise on a regular basis to allow for an easier reach? The sides don't lower or raise :( It's a wooden crib. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted May 13, 2013 Author Share Posted May 13, 2013 I put my kid on the floor on a mattress when she was climbing out. She had the mattress and dresser(with locks on drawers). Nothing else. Door shut when she went to bed so she couldn't get out and fall down stairs. Lol Ideally that's what our goal is, but we do not have an extra bedroom. His crib is our room and eventually he'll share a room with our other son (ds4) - since there is much more in ds4's bedroom than a mattress and dresser, it isn't an option yet (besides, I don't trust that our 4 year old wouldn't crawl into bed with him or leave the bedroom door open). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 My son did fling himself out of the crib at 12 months (thankfully I was right there) so I would vote for taking the electric screwdriver and dismantling the crib. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 We went to a Montessori style room at about 11 mos, because our little one is a climber. Some people do a version of that in the master bedroom, if that's where you have him sleep. It would mean child proofing your room completely though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellydon Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 I was never raised. We used it on the lowest setting the entire time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJoy Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 We lowered my son's crib as soon as he was sitting up on his own. Since my husband is tall and I wanted storage underneath, we put risers like these ($10 at Wal-mart) under the feet from the beginning. This made getting him out on the lower setting easier. This might not help you though, because maybe then it would be too tall to be comfortable? You could try it. BUT, DS was able to climb out of both his crib and Pack 'N Play the day he turned 16 mo. and I wasn't comfortable using a crib tent, so we moved him to a mattress on the floor and then a toddler bed. I wouldn't be comfortable with chest height. I just found a picture of DS playing in his crib on the day he climbed out and the rails were still up to his armpits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolt. Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 We lowered it to the bottom as soon as they were sitting up. It only had two settings -- one suitable for immobile newborns, and the other safe for non-climbers. I'd definitely lower yours now... but I'm not sure I understand your issue with picking him up. Are you saying you regularly have to lean down far enough to get him from lying flat on the mattress? If he sits and even stands easily, why wouldn't you just tell him you've come to get him? Wouldn't he sit or stand so that you could easily retrieve him by the arm pits? (Or is it just that you lay him down flat when you are putting him down to sleep? If so, I think you can be confident to do that even if the reach is a bit long for you, since you would be releasing your grip at the bottom, not trying to get a grip on him.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted May 13, 2013 Author Share Posted May 13, 2013 We lowered it to the bottom as soon as they were sitting up. It only had two settings -- one suitable for immobile newborns, and the other safe for non-climbers. I'd definitely lower yours now... but I'm not sure I understand your issue with picking him up. Are you saying you regularly have to lean down far enough to get him from lying flat on the mattress? If he sits and even stands easily, why wouldn't you just tell him you've come to get him? Wouldn't he sit or stand so that you could easily retrieve him by the arm pits? (Or is it just that you lay him down flat when you are putting him down to sleep? If so, I think you can be confident to do that even if the reach is a bit long for you, since you would be releasing your grip at the bottom, not trying to get a grip on him.) What I mean by "too low for me" is that it would be too low for me to put him in, while he's sleeping, without... er... "dropping" him in, lol. I wouldn't be able to reach over the bars and to the crib mattress all the way, if we lower it again (ours has several settings, and we've lowered it before, but now it can only be lowered one more level). What about a play yard (gated play yard with a mattress inside it)? The play yard to keep him from wandering if he wakes up, since we do not have a bedroom we can dedicate completely to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 What I mean by "too low for me" is that it would be too low for me to put him in, while he's sleeping, without... er... "dropping" him in, lol. I wouldn't be able to reach over the bars and to the crib mattress all the way, if we lower it again (ours has several settings, and we've lowered it before, but now it can only be lowered one more level). What about a play yard (gated play yard with a mattress inside it)? The play yard to keep him from wandering if he wakes up, since we do not have a bedroom we can dedicate completely to him. I know what you mean about getting a sleeping baby into a crib - I had the same trouble! The play yard with a mattress on the floor sounds like a good option. Could he stand on the mattress and then climb out? That would be the one thing I'd check. Good solution! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted May 13, 2013 Author Share Posted May 13, 2013 I know what you mean about getting a sleeping baby into a crib - I had the same trouble! The play yard with a mattress on the floor sounds like a good option. Could he stand on the mattress and then climb out? That would be the one thing I'd check. Good solution! I'm looking at some free standing baby gates at Babies R Us that might do the trick. I wondered if I should just get one of the thin portable crib mattresses - that would solve the issue of being able to stand on the crib mattress and climb out (because now that you mention it, the crib mattress is pretty thick). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureMoms Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 I'm looking at some free standing baby gates at Babies R Us that might do the trick. I wondered if I should just get one of the thin portable crib mattresses - that would solve the issue of being able to stand on the crib mattress and climb out (because now that you mention it, the crib mattress is pretty thick). Even if he did fall out from the baby gate set up, the fall would be so much lower than from a full crib. To answer the question, though. We lowered our crib mattresses all the way when the boys were nine months. At about 1 1/2 they were still able to climb out. Since then, they've been in a mattress on the floor. I suspect they would have been able to climb out earlier than that, for some reason they never thought to. They are tall, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted May 13, 2013 Author Share Posted May 13, 2013 Okay. Let me ask this. Consensus of the hive - how safe would it be to put a thin mattress on the floor, surrounded by a freestanding baby gate, in my older son's room (older son is 4 next week). I don't think that my older son could open the gate (he's very small and medically fragile; not very strong at only 28 lbs) and the gate would prevent either boy-o from crawling in bed with the other. I'll post a picture of the room in a bit. Here's the deal - we have very limited space. When I look in our master bedroom (where the crib is currently), there isn't enough room for a freestanding gate around a thin mattress (just because of the odd shape of them compared to the rectangle of the crib). We live in an older, downtown cottage style home and, frankly, there isn't a place it could fit comfortably, BUT in my other son's room. Since the goal is to get him AWAY from sleeping with me (on the floor).... well, I'm not sure, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Honestly, I don't see why not. Put the mattress in a corner/against a wall with a baby gate around it. He gets his own space and hopefully other child won't want to be in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Another option is a crib tent. That keeps the kids from climbing out. It was a sanity saver for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 My kids' crib mattresses were always one notch up (it was too much trouble to change it), but I was able to lower the side rail, which I did as soon as they were physically able to climb over (15mos for my eldest, who was small for her age; youngest, I dunno, she never did climb out of the crib until I told her to). I also kept some spongy rugs on the floor under the crib railing, just in case. And I baby-proofed the entire room against the possibility of my kids sneaking out of their beds and getting into everything for an extended time period (mom's gotta sleep sometime!). ... I had a brother who was climbing out at 6 mos, and usually landing on his head. :) Amazingly (and thankfully), it is rare for a baby to get seriously injured while climbing out of a crib. But we think such a fall might be related to my sister's epilepsy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 I dunno about the mattress - it depends on the kid. My parents tried that with my baby brother, and he literally never slept on that mattress. He would have scaled a baby gate instantly and climbed into bed with someone. Is there a reason you don't want your boys sleeping together? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted May 14, 2013 Author Share Posted May 14, 2013 I dunno about the mattress - it depends on the kid. My parents tried that with my baby brother, and he literally never slept on that mattress. He would have scaled a baby gate instantly and climbed into bed with someone. Is there a reason you don't want your boys sleeping together? I just can't imagine it's safe for a 4 year old to sleep with an infant, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 I just can't imagine it's safe for a 4 year old to sleep with an infant, lol. It seems to me that if your "infant" is big&bad enough to crawl into bed with your 4yo, he'll be fine. Sounds like your 4yo is about the same size as many 1yos, if I read correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted May 14, 2013 Author Share Posted May 14, 2013 It seems to me that if your "infant" is big&bad enough to crawl into bed with your 4yo, he'll be fine. Sounds like your 4yo is about the same size as many 1yos, if I read correctly. Well, to be fair, the 4 year old also sleeps on a mattress on the floor, so it isn't difficult for the babe to climb up, lol - DS4 is very mobile in his sleep (hence the reason his mattress is on the floor) and usually ends up with one half of his body on the floor :p The bedroom right now has a very "montessori" feel to it. I was just under the assumption that I couldn't/shouldn't move the babe's mattress in there until he was a bit older - everything I've read about montessori style bedrooms generally center on ONE child in the room. Kwim? I'm also mildly concerned that the babe isn't sleeping through the night - nowhere NEAR sleeping through the night. He wakes up (and very often) either to nurse... or to find trouble/mischief/fun. Lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 I'm not sure what a Montessori-style bedroom looks like, but for an 11mo you want to make sure there's nothing that can hurt him should he wake up and explore. My rules for tot play areas were "nothing pokey, chokey, or smokey [open outlets/wires etc.]." I'm not saying the baby gate might not be helpful, just that if your babe is a climber, he will climb it sooner rather than later. I'd try it with the gate first. Some babies like the secure feeling they get from being walled in; others despise it. Another thought is to put the gate up around your 4yo's bed, explaining to him that it's for his privacy or whatever. :) Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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