Oh no....16 month old ds can climb out of his cot!!!

[helips]

I put my ds down for his morning nap and left the room as normal. He normally cries for a few mins then falls asleep so I left him to it and started getting ready in my bedroom. Next thing I know my husband is talking to ds on the stairs, he's only blimmin climbed out of his cot and is playing on the landing!! luckily I shut the stair gate!

So, what do I do now? Do I put ds in a bed even though it will make bed and nap times a complete nightmare as he can then easily get up or do I leave him in the cot, knowing he could potentially hurt himself getting out, but at least if he is tired it will be less likely for him to escape? When did anyone elses baby's go into a proper bed and how do you deal with them escaping?

Bloody boys and there endless need to climb things!!

We took DS out of his cot the second he started being able to climb out - IMO it's too risky to do otherwise.

For the inbetween stage of cot and bed, we used a Nomad Travel Tent style travel cot (an excellent piece of travel kit in its own right). Your DS is on the floor then so no danger if he wants to get out. We used to shut the side door and put the zip loop over a button, which foxed him for a while. There's also an opening in the top which we used to unzip so he could get his head out if he woke up and felt trapped. But he couldn't climb it and it wouldn't have mattered if he tried.

We moved to a bed at our leisure just before 2.

could you put him in a sleeping bag?? it prevents my ds (who is very tall and had an insatiable apitite for climbing!) getting out as he can't raise his leg high enough to get the bunk up he needs to launch himself out. i'm thinking it could buy you a few more months til you are ready for the bed.

ds 1 climbed out and that was the end of the cot. (20 months?) We coverted it into a bed the same day and put a stair gate up on his door. He gave up both his daytime naps and for a week it was hell but then the novelty wore off. He then started to escape out of his room first dragging his bedside cabinet over to the gate and climbing over then working out how to open the gate by pushing up with his shoulders. He did eventually grow out of this but just wanted to warn you as your ds sounds a little like mine!

I'd move him into a bed, rather than be stressing about him having an accident climbing out.

My DS went into his cot bed at 16 mo. He never took to a cot and only spent one night in it as a cot. He's very active but he has been fine in the bed so far and he seems to like the independence it gives him. We are really careful about putting the stair gate across, but normally when he wakes he just sits on the bed and wails and doesn't get out! I try to be quite firm about him staying in the bed when its sleep time and he doesn't play up that much (to my surprise!).

You'll be moving him into a bed at some point, so may as well bite the bullet now hey?!

dd went into a bed at 15 months due to needing cot for ds and was fine after the first day.
ds went into a bed at 16 months due to climbing and slept much better than in a cot from day one.

it is not always the nightmare you expect it to be

dd went into a bed at 15 months due to needing cot for ds and was fine after the first day.
ds went into a bed at 16 months due to climbing and slept much better than in a cot from day one.

it is not always the nightmare you expect it to be

ooops

Thanks for all the replies! I've only just started using a quilt for ds and he loves it so don't really want to go back to using a growbag. I've put him in his cot tonight as he fell straight to sleep so don't think he will try to climb out tonight. I'm just a bit worried about putting him in a bed as a) he can get out whenever he wants b) he could fall out of bed and c) it feels too soon!!! Oh god, my baby is growing up!

we found putting ds 1 into a full size bed helped a lot. He did fall out of the coverted cot bed despite a saftey bar. He loved the gown-up-ness of the big bed and didn't fall out again without the saftey bar!

My DS has only fallen out once, and was onto a pile of pillows I leave by the side of the cot bed. He just rolled onto them and stayed asleep.

My DD1 started cot climbing and the last time she did it she landed badly - on the back of her neck. We realised then that it was goodbye to the cot!

Now, she sleeps really well in a single bed - and a pile of cushions as a crash mat - that she's never needed. We just went for a bog-standard single bed - no safety bar and she's fine. Sometimes she gets out - but usually only to get another toy to take back into bed with her!

when DS2 started climbing out at around 12 months we just took the side of the cot off so he could climb in and out safely.

Just a warning - when they can climb out of cots they can also climb over stairgates, which has potentially more serious implications! And a sleeping bag doesn't necessarily help - ds1 could polevault out of his cot even in a sleeping bag - and run in it sack-race style too!

Ds2 climbed out by 17 months. We put him in a toddler bed with a gate on the door. He hasn't been able to get over any gates yet thankfully.

Lunar - I don't think that's always the case - DS2 could climb out of his cot with his grobag still on (why waste time taking it off ) at 12 months or so, but still can't climb over stairgates - and he's 5 now

My dd climbed out of the cotbed at about 18 months. We converted it to a bed the same day. She fell out a couple of time or slpt awkwardly with her leg or head hanging off. We put her onto a low blow-up double bed for about 3 monthsa and then a single bed. She is now nearly 5 and seems we will be repeating this whole routine as Ds is now trying to climd out of the cotbed. Luckily, or not, the only thing that seems to be stopping him is that his knees get stuck between the cotbars.

Id say use a bed. It can be stressful worrying if they have fallen out or trying to climb over.

DD climbed out of cot twice at 16 months - the first night we thought it was a fall but when she strolled into the living room the next night we realised otherwise!

We converted the cotbed to a bed the next day and she has slept well in it ever since.
She fell out once on the first night, but the bed is so low she didn't seem to really mind and we have a bed guard now. We also have a stairgate at her bedroom door. I agree with what others say - if they can climb out of the bed, they could fall and really hurt themselves, better to move!

Thanks for all your replies. Ds didn't climb out of his cot in the night but he woke in the night and my first thought on waking was 'Is he climbing out of his cot?' I think the time has come to change his cot to a bed and like the idea of putting cushions on the floor if he does fall out of bed. I would never forgive myself if I left him in the cot and he fell and really hurt himself. That will be the end of daytime naps in his cot me thinks.