Napping Safety - Need Ideas and Help

[Cherry Alive]

Hey, All-

My daughter has recently become mobile, and with it came another thing—sneakiness. Today I had the baby monitor on, and as soon as I heard a peep I went in to check on her. She was already up and getting into things. I'm concerned she's going to take a dive off the side of the bed, and I won't even know until it's too late.

Are there safe things I can use to keep her up there? She's past the stage of the wall of pillows (she thinks pillows are fun to climb), and I'm a little leery of using guard rails as they are made for older children (worried she'll fall just right and get her neck or limbs caught).

Also, I remember there being bells for baby shoes. Are there anklets like that which can make noise? I'd love it, because I would know if she was moving.

Thanks!

[sarah1122]

I remember there was a period of a few months where I just had to stay really close to my son during nap time (and we just have a mattress on the floor with a box spring under it). The inevitable dive off of the bed happened anyway one day while I was in the bathroom.

Unless you want to have your mattress on the floor for a few months I'd suggest staying nearby during her nap and putting your pillows on the floor around the bed so that if she does dive off she at least falls into a cushion!

In the meantime you can start to show her how safely get down off of furniture feet first...they learn pretty fast!

[LianneM]

Yep, teach FEET FIRST!

Mine were both the same way. I would run in as soon as I heard a peep and many times find a baby on the edge of the bed waiting for me. Neither of them actually crawled off though... but they got too close for my comfort

[motherbirth]

I am in the same boat, except my LO already took a dive off the bed; thank God he was OK!! This is with a baby monitor and everything, he just woke up quietly and started going for the clock on the nightstand.

Now I am afraid to leave him when I wake up or to nap. I've been trying to get him to nap on my yoga mat with a blanket downstairs with me, but it doesn't seem to work that well. We are thinking of buying a new bed with a very low frame that can be easily crawled out of even though we don't have the money, because DH cannot sleep on a mattress on the floor due to back problems. Any more advice??

[Cherry Alive]

Thanks for the ideas so far. Her naps are the only time I can get *anything* done so staying next to her when she naps is really inconvenient. We also cannot lower our bed. We have a bookshelf behind it and the bed needs to be on a frame or the shelf isn't supported. We also sidecar her crib (totally need it at nights).

I'm going to look into buying a video monitor, and I also saw these: http://www.polkadotpatch.com/fun-twi...e-jewelry.html

[Sk8ermaiden]

Those of you who taught feet first - how old were your kids? I really don't think my 6 month old would understand that at all. She's already crawled off the bed twice.