If you follow me on snapchat (@katiewkrysh) then you'd know that for the past week or so Camden has been giving us a RUN FOR OUR MONEY! He is totally over his crib. And by over...I mean he is over sleeping in it.
He has mastered climbing out of it and will do it 30+ times in a matter of 10 minutes. I've literally dreaded this day basically since he's been born...ha! Trust me when I say we've tried just about every trick out there - backwards sleep sack, removing the bottom part of the crib and just putting the mattress on the floor, trying to take away his favorite stuffed animals (which doesn't phase him at all) and he's STILL climbing out...he is a ninja and extremely strong, I tell you! Nothing stops him!
Pretty much he's saying, "get me a big boy bed already!" Right? I think so.
Anyway...getting to my point. I swear I actually have one. I also asked for recommendations about what to do when traveling (we are going back to Florida next month!) since we know he won't sleep in a pack and play anymore. I wanted to share what products were recommended because I know some of you mentioned you are in a similar situation and would like to know!
+These two products are what so many people recommended...
or the Regalo My Cot Portable Bed
+The TB espadrilles I posted about the other week I've decided to return (sad face) and I got these ones instead. I REALLY keep the TB's because I do love the look of them/color, but they just don't have enough support and the sizing is little off so they don't fit 100% (a little too wide for me.) If you have wide feet then they would probably be just fine for you, but my feet are pretty narrow so the sides are just kind of too big, even with inserts put in them! On the bright side....I'm in love with this pair and they are cheaper.
+Oh, and just to add to a real life moment that happened today. I was upstairs putting Grayson down for a nap and when I came back down Camden had climbed (COMMON THEME LATELY? I THINK SO) up into his highchair and managed to grab the box of Thin Mints sitting on our kitchen countertop, and was SCARFING down one of the sleeves of cookies. Needless to say there were only 3 left in the sleeve when I found him, and me and Billy are pretty sure there was more than half of it left prior. So yeah... #momoftheyear #shithappens?
(this was actually not from the behind my back scarf down session, but from the other night when he was escastic over us giving him 1 cookie...lol)
We're really in for it, aren't we?! Oy vey! Gotta love him...
We converted our toddler to a big girl bed around 3 and it was not as big of a transition as I had worried about. To keep her in her room every night we put a child proof door handle thing on the inside of her door so she can not open it. I have a video monitor in there so I can see her and she will get up and play some nights but always ends up back in her bed when she's ready to fall asleep. We learned from moms on call that in order to keep them in their rooms to do the child lock and also do your nightly routine and when you shut the door DO NOT open it until the morning when it is time to get up. Even if he is screaming at the door or kicking pounding if you open it you are showing him that if he continues you'll open it. It was not nearly as big of a hurdle as I thought it would be just be relax about it and it will go great :)
ReplyDeleteThis is SO good to hear, thank you!! We did turn his door lock around so that he can't escape! I am so glad you mentioned the moms on call thing and not going in...such a good point!
DeleteWe went right to a full size bed with the side rail things on it.. I was more worried about the transition I think because he was very excited to sleep in there and never had an issue. He was so excited to sleep in his big boy bed. We have lucked out and he doesnt climb out he thinks he cant get out most days but I have heard of people putting a baby gate on their doorway to keep them in their room. As far as travel we have that same cot you have pictured above and we love it..I recently bought him a cool sleeping bag to put on top or it as well and he sleeps great on it. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteWe think he will be so excited for his bed, too! He does know how to open doors so we already switched the door lock around so that he can't escape, ha :) Thank you for the review on the cot - debating which one to get!! thank you!
DeleteWe worried about this too, but my daughter did great with the transition. We stressed that she couldn't get out of bed except to use the bathroom and she actually wouldn't even get out in the morning. She would yell, "Mom it's morning!" and wait for me to get her. These days is another story - she's been getting out 3 times a night. So all that to say don't stress too much and just roll with it!
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thank you Lindsay!! I love hearing others experiences so this gives me hope that the transition won't be too bad! I hope your little girl goes back to staying in bed :)
DeleteYou will be so surprised how well he will do! I put both boys in big boy beds before they were 2 and they both did great! I recommend the gate on the door so they can get it out..I also recommend reading a book to him in the bed during the day and talking about how lucky he is to have a big boy bed. They are a lot smarter then we give them credit for! As the other girls said, be consistent and don't keep going in there..it mmight be a few rough nights or earlier mornings then u r used to but he will figure it out!!! You got this!!
ReplyDeleteWe did switch the door lock so he can't escape from his room :) I'm glad you guys mentioned not going in there! Great tips!! Thank you!
DeleteHa! The climbing out of the crib.....ugh. We nipped it it the bud by staying in our lil guys room one night (he's 27 months now) and stopping him every time he tried to climb out. I rocked in the chair with the lights off and would just step over and stop him mid-climb and lay him down saying 'we don't climb out of cribs. Mama's and daddy's get you out'. The last time I went stop him, I think I scared him! I put my face right up to his and whispered 'we don't climb out of cribs'. He put him self straight to sleep after that! One month later and he hasn't climbed out once. Thank heavens!!
ReplyDeleteWhen we transition to a big bed, I'm going to put a full mattress directly on the floor until he stays in it consistently. Then we'll convert his crib to the full headboard setting.
Oh girl, we have done that every night for the past week (staying in his room and stopping him mid-climb) with no end in sight. He thinks it's a game now and it's just no fun for anyone at this point, lol! I'm glad it's working for your little guy for the time being!
DeleteWe went straight from the crib to the full size bed. His crib would convert to a toddler bed and a daybed as well but we just skipped right over those to the full sized conversion and had no issues. We didn't end up using bed rails either but instead used two large, heavy memory foam pillows on each side of him. We haven't had any issues with him falling out or anything and he's a major mover in his sleep.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the transition goes well and Camden loves his new big boy bed!!
thank you Brittany! Makes me feel like we are making the right decision! Crossing our fingers!
DeleteWe transitioned to a toddler bed and I don't regret doing that as our son wasn't excited at all about getting a 'big boy' bed. He seemed to not mind the toddler bed especially because he saw his Daddy build it. :) I would say though that if you have to buy two different kits for each transition I think I would just go with the full size bed. Our son has never gotten out of his bed!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He will whine and moan for us when he wakes up in the middle of the night or in the morning. It's kind of annoying, but I think I prefer that than him staring at me in the middle of the night. I follow Kate over at the Small Things blog and she snapped something called the Door Monkey and she said a friend recommended it because it worked so well!!!
ReplyDeleteYES! Someone also recommended the door monkey and we plan to order that for sure!!! So genius!
DeleteOh no we had to transition Cayson at 18 months because of the same thing. It was a rough few weeks but then he's done great. We did the toddler bed for 6 months and he just got a queen bed in anticipation of baby sister coming and he's done great with both! We have the extra long side rails on the queen mattress. He didn't know how to open his door at 18 months so that helped us as well if he can I highly recommend getting the toddler safe knobs for the inside so he can't escape! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteWe just switched the door lock around in his room so he can't escape :) thank you!!!
DeleteMy daughter had the absolute WORST time transitioning to her big girl bed (we probably did it too early, but I needed her crib for baby brother when she was around 26 months old), so I think we've tried every trick in the book. We gave her like 4 extra nightlights, put a picture of my husband and I next to her bed (sounds so ridiculous, but I swear it helped!), read that Elmo book 8000 times, put a baby gate up at her door (she FREAKED out when we closed her door, so this was the only way we could get her to stay in her room) and also had a sticker chart going on where she earned stickers if she stayed in her bed all night. The thing that worked the best for us was one of those Ok to Wake clocks that turns green when it's time to wake up. We use it for naps, too. It definitely took a few nights of my husband sleeping on her floor next to her, but all worked out within a week or so! Hopefully your move to the big bed will go MUCH better than ours did!! :) Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteWe used a sticker chart but our 3 year old was not much of a climber. I don't see a sticker chart working for an escape artist. One thing I would highly recommend is a monitor that swivels if you don't already have that kind of camera. That has been a godsend because I can see if he has gotten out of bed to go to his chair for books, etc. Its been a lifesaver. Also-locking him in is smart...my little boy has finally gotten to the "open the door and peek out stage." It took 4 months-but he was never much of an explorer-he would have stayed in his crib until he was 5 I think.
ReplyDeleteI bought Arianna an extendable bed that goes from a toddler size to a twin. Everyone says don't buy a toddler bed because they outgrow it but honestly, that's exactly what I would do. I think it's a nicer transition for them, is lower to the ground and has the built in rails. You can get cute ones for so cheap at Target or whatever and sell it after. And you already have his next bed because the crib converts! Also my friend told me that the only thing that worked for getting her daughter to stay in bed was everytime she got up, they would return her to bed without saying a word. She figured out pretty quickly that she might as well just go to bed lol!
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing the intex inflatable bed! our little guy & Camden are close to the same age {ours was born Oct 2014}. he has no interest in getting out of his crib but he's not sleeping comfortably in our pack & play when we've traveled or at grandparents. plus we need something for him to sleep in, in a camper during the summer. going to give this blow up bed a try!
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