18 month old climbing out of cot-hellllllp!!!!

[shreddednips]

My nearly 18-month-old DS can climb out of his cot. Our solution was to put him in a sleeping bag which solved the problem initially, but this morning he removed the bag and climbed out. There was a horrible bang and lots of tears- I've checked him over and he's playing normally now but I'm not convinced it's safe to carry on with the cot.

My husband says his colleagues say it's fine to leave a child who's climbed out a few times in the cot. I don't agree. It's on its lowest setting, there aren't any toys for him to stand on- he can just swing his leg over. I'm really worried he will injure himself but he seems sooooo young for a big bed.

I've tried calling the HV for advice but no answer. Would be so grateful for any advice!

Once they can climb out the only safe thing is to remove the sides (if a cot bed) or move to big bed.

(My DP tied the side of my brother’s cot on top to make a cage to keep me in, but I wouldn’t recommend that!)

Put cot mattress on floor My for Dc were in a toddler bed at this age. Of course the fun begins with settling too. You can purchase temporary safety sides for the bed if you wish.

Toddler bed and stairgate on the stairs or his bedroom door. Considering dropped down in the meantime. You can't have him falling 4 feet again

Just put him in a bed. I had one like that - she'd climb out, still in the sleeping bag, and we'd hear her shuffling along the landing to our room. We just moved her to a bed and put pillows on the floor next to it for a couple of weeks in case she fell out.

cot sides dropped = considering
Damn autocorrect

My DC did the same thing around the same age I woke up one morning he was stood next to my bed and had managed to scale the baby gate on his door too I put him straight into his toddler bed. Took a couple of nights to get it (3-4 if I remember right) but it was fine. I then put a toy with a bell in it on the baby gate so I could hear if he was climbing that if he got out of bed!

Oh yes - get prepared for a couple of weeks of him getting out 2 minutes after you've left the room (or less!) for a fortnight afterwards, if you do put him in a bed! Lordy, that was frustrating …

I also had a climber! Move him to a big bed.

Thanks, that's reassuring. I know really that it's the right thing to do, I'm just apprehensive (and now have to do a lot of toddler proofing today that I've been putting off 🤣)

I've seen someone on the internet suggesting putting the mattress on the floor inside the cot if that makes sense. I'll have a bash and see if there's a gap that he could get stuck in. I have a nasty feeling there will be as the space under the cot is quite big...

Time to get rid of the cot!

You could remove the sides of the cot or just go straight to a bed, or even better a mattress on the floor.

I think it was about that age that each of mine graduated to a normal bed.

I agree with everyone else, the sides need to be removed or he needs a bed.

It’s far safer for them to climb out of a bed (and like another poster said be prepared for the new settling routine ) than hurdling over the side of a cot.

None of mine were in a cot past 18 months due to climbing. We used the baby monitor sensor alarm to alert us when they were out of bed (bedtimes were tricky at first due to the new fun of being able to get out of bed).

Mine did this, levered himself up using the corner.

Went straight to IKEA for a low toddler bed. I never wanted to hear that sickening bump again... with possible broken arm or worse next time.

He immediately bashed his nose in the side rail of the bed, so that was removed and we out the bit mattress alongside the bed. He invariably fell out, for weeks.

Get a low toddler bed.

If they’re climbing out, the cot sides are pointless and unsafe.

Time for a toddler bed.

www.dreams.co.uk/dinosaurs-toddler-bed/p/202-00030

www.dreams.co.uk/jakarta-bed-frame/p/261-00381-configurable

Time to lose the cot. Put baby gate/s on the doorway.

Big boy bed with safety sides.

Great advice, I'm heading off to IKEA with him for his new bed 🤦🏼‍♀️ I've got a spare cot mattress that I can put next to it, I think a nice low bed should be ok. Hopefully DH will be on board- if he uses his common sense, surely he can see that it's dangerous??? Like PP said, I never want to hear the thud followed by screams again 😢

The days my two almost climbed out were the very day the sides came off. Stair gate at the bedroom door.

Def time for a bed. It's really not based on age/size, it's just when they get capable of climbing out.

My twins were in cot beds, separated by a space wide enough for an adult to walk into ….. I woke up one morning to find DT1 fast asleep in DT2s cot, and they were almost 12 months. We took the sides off that day.

If they can climb out of the cot then they are too big for the cot.
Time for a bed
A gate across their door should be enough.
Also we used a pop up travel cot as a discipline type thing. I.e if you get out of bed to play when you shouldn't you go back in a cot like a baby.
Didn't use it for more that a couple of nights.

Also, we had baby gates on their door rather than the stairs because if they tried to climb over that then at least they had a safe floor to land on. And by 18 months they will have had practise going up and down stairs (mine never did climb over the baby gate but you never know!)

How exciting! We made the transition when my son was about 22 months. I posted similar to you and was told by many posters I should be grateful he stayed in that long!

My son loves his big boy bed and like a previous poster said, it took 3 or 4 nights if him getting up and crying before he went to sleep but he loves it now.

Honestly, it’s scary but not as bad as you’ll think.

Good luck!

Have fun at IKEA, bring me back some mini Daim bars ... and a cheapy loo brush ... and some frozen meatballs. Thanks!

Did your toddler DS hit his head when he fell? Good idea to get Doctor to check him if so