Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Bollocks - My Son Just Escaped His Cot

29 replies

MummyGoingItAlone · 15/06/2020 00:27

Exactly that. He’ll be 2 in 4 weeks. Going through a terrible sleep regression at the minute. He’s woken multiple times already tonight. He woke again, I spoke to him to say I’d be a minute and I nipped to the loo. There was a thud, a giggle then a thunder of footsteps before the bathroom door burst open. He’s now in my bed 😩

Looks like it may be time to toddler proof his room, get a gate for his door and turn his cot into a bed. I am so not ready for this 😳

OP posts:
SirSamuelVimesBlackboardMonito · 15/06/2020 00:31

Argh no helpful advice but lots of sympathy!

Khione · 15/06/2020 00:34

You're grumbling when he's nearly 2.

My daughter was throwing herself over the bars of her cot when she was 6 months old. She couldn't even walk. I had to put her in a bed with the cot mattress next to it for her to fall out onto. Also put a tiny window bolt on her door, to stop her escaping. Usually ended up putting her back into her bed after she had fallen asleep on the floor mattress.
(This was over 40 years ago)

Devlesko · 15/06/2020 00:35

Mine did the same but he wasn't even 2, it's a worry. Toddler bed time something like a car shape? you can always put sheets on to only come up so far. It worked wonders for our climber. Obviously childproof the room and a stair gate.
Good luck.
Oh, he's 28 now.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Babies & sleep Children's sleep Families
ineedaholidaynow · 15/06/2020 00:40

Mine managed to do that well before he was 2, and he was in a sleeping bag. Still can’t work out how he did it. Just remember hearing a horrible thud when I was downstairs, rushed into his room and he was sitting on the floor looking very confused!

Willowkins · 15/06/2020 03:54

My DS did this from 9 months. First he worked out how to undo the latch on the side of cot and climb out. I secured it with knots - he undid the knots. I used more complex knots - he climbed over the top. After 2 months of this, he was in his own bed with a stairgate across his door - it took him 5 minutes to work out how to take it apart. Some kids are just like that.

Limpshade · 15/06/2020 03:59

Oh OP!

I was very lucky with my first, I essentially forced her out of her cot at 2.5 so the new baby could have it.

The baby turned out to be a mini Houdini Grin

borntohula · 15/06/2020 04:00

Aww your description of him escaping made me laugh. Definitely toddler proof his room and just remember, the sleep regression is (usually) just a phase!

Poetryinaction · 15/06/2020 07:20

My first 2 could climb out at 18 months. So all three had beds by then.

Witchend · 15/06/2020 07:22

Ds was doing it, in a sleeping bag before he could walk. And he was an early walker.
Dd1 otoh took 6 months to realise she could climb out of bed when she moved into one at 2yo.

I wouldmove him to a bed (ds slept on a mattress on the floor as it was safest) and make sure room is childproof and a good stair gate on the door.
Apparently ss don't approve of using chains to keep them in. Wink

bluefoxmug · 15/06/2020 07:23

mine did that at just over a year old.
we went to ikea pretty sharp and got a toddler bed.

Divorcingdiva · 15/06/2020 07:32

My DS managed to get out of his cot from 18 months without making a sound, he would just appear, DD stayed within the constraints of her cot even when the bars were long off and she justly called for me when she woke up

Disfordarkchocolate · 15/06/2020 07:35

Nine months with one of mine, he was a little bugger though. Well, totally adorable too but no sense of fear. Time for a little bed.

Livingoffcoffee · 15/06/2020 07:38

Oh my goodness. Here I am thinking that because DS uses a sleeping bag I don't need to worry about climbing out of his cot...How do they manage that?!

Original poster
MummyGoingItAlone · 15/06/2020 07:44

Thanks all. It’s a cot bed so I’ll be digging out the instructions later to get it changed.

I’ve got everything to toddler proof and the furniture is already attached to the walls, I have latches for the draws and doors and I had a good declutter last month. I just need to get a gate, which I’ll do today.

I’m not ready for this!

OP posts:
Knockthreetimes · 15/06/2020 07:45

My son was the exact same age when he did the same thing and also a terrible sleeper. His sleep has improved loads though since moving into a toddler bed!

Was so sad that first night when the cot had gone and looked so little in the bed but now I find bed times much easier so dont miss the cot.

DisgraceToTheYChromosome · 15/06/2020 07:46

DD slept on a mattress on the floor from 8 months. If she woke up she'd climb out, if she didn't she'd put a leg through the bars, get trapped and scream the house down.

CigarsofthePharoahs · 15/06/2020 08:09

My eldest never climbed out and like a pp he didn't realise he was allowed out of his bed!
Ds2 hated his cot. Hated the large play pen. Hated his car seat. Hated being confined. He ended up in a bed much earlier than planned so we didn't have to listen to the screaming.
My niece worked out how to escape her cot under 1. My sister would go to check on her, find her gone and then asleep in a random place on the floor somewhere. One evening she toddler into their office, shut the door and fell asleep behind it. My sister couldn't open the door without squashing my niece so they had to leave her there!

SarahAndQuack · 15/06/2020 10:43

It could be a good thing. We put DD in a bed when she was 1 because the constant leaning into a cot to pick her up was really doing our backs it. I thought she'd be a nightmare about constantly getting out of bed, because in the cot she was always demanding to be out. She's actually been fine, and now she's bigger she'll sometimes get herself out of bed and come cuddle up with us without even waking us up.

So, so, so much less stress that hearing her wail from the cot and having to drag her out.

SeaToSki · 15/06/2020 10:56

I put a tent attachment on top of the cot for my Houdini. It kept him in there for a while longer and he got very attached to it “my ent”

Justaminute123 · 15/06/2020 11:31

Is he in a sleeping bag OP? My son is and he initially got out the cot after bouncing about to the point the shoulder poppers came undone and he was able to swing his leg over the top of the cot. I remember the frantic trip to the shops to pick up some travel sleeping bags without poppers on the shoulders - it kept him in the cot a while longer until he started to try and tip himself out of the cot head first Shock then we had to bite the bullet and put him in a bed. I remember thinking he might be ready for a bed, but I wasn’t!

Some stories/programmes with wee characters in big boy/girl beds can help prepare them for the idea of a move to a bed. We lost the parts to convert to a cot bed so had to go buy a new one - ended up with a car bed which DS loved, it definitely helped him accept it. Plenty time in the daytime to play about in the new bedroom set up with the new bed made it a bit easier at bedtime too.

Might be easier to make the move now if he’s up and down at night anyway, less of a scunner than making the move to a bed at a time he’s sleeping well and potentially disturbing that?

Good luck!

AlwaysCheddar · 15/06/2020 12:49

He’s 2! Mine were doh g this at 10 months! It’s a game changer! Had to get a bed, had to deal with getting out of bed (constantly) and more..... good luck!!!

Hoppinggreen · 15/06/2020 12:53

Dd first escaped at around 10 months and then we got no sleep for the next 2 years!
DS is now 11 and would probably still happily be in there (although he would be folded in half)
Best of luck OP!

Buckingham1988 · 15/06/2020 13:32

Mine did this age 12 months. I ended up putting a matreess on the floor with a bed guard for six months then he went into a bed when I was confident he could safely get in and out.
Gate at bedroom door, no electrical in the room, socket covers and remove any noisy toys or he'll be waking you up with them!

Original poster
MummyGoingItAlone · 15/06/2020 22:08

I’ve done it and changed from cot to bed. Took an hour of tantrums to get him to sleep but he’s asleep now. I’m expecting a rough night!

OP posts:
teenmumandsowhat · 15/06/2020 22:09

My eldest threw herself about so much in the cot that at 14months she made the end fall off! She was promptly put into a toddler bed and cot reassembled for my youngest. He also only lasted until 14 months. Only he made the base snap instead!