Climbing out of crib

[2lilsweetfoxes]

Not sure if this belongs here, family safety, or night time parenting. Move if you need to.

My 18 month old is climbing out of her crib (well, actually a pack n play, which she's used since birth). We've put her into sleep sacks, which bought us about 2 weeks until she has learned to use her upper body strength to pull herself up and out of the crib. I looked into the "tents" you can put over them. Apparently, there are issues with the babies pushing them off the crib if they are strong enough. Another choice is to swaddle her, pinning her arms to her side or chest. That'll make her MAD. Next is clean her room well, ensure it is child-proofed and take down the crib, allow her to run about until she collapses from exhaustion. If she misses her nap, so be it. Problem is, she shares a room with her brother and he has to be in bed by 8 because he has school. They already sleep with the door closed to keep out the cat, so closing the door won't be a big change (if she can vault over the crib, then she can get over a baby gate.) My biggest worry is the stairs, though. Third would be to bring her into my room and have her sleep with me and DH, either in our bed or in a toddler bed. But when we try to lay down with her, she thinks it is playtime. She's slept in her own bed from birth. What do you recommend?

[SpuglyRoo]

ugh, sounds like a tricky situation. How about turning the pack and play upside down over her? lol, just kidding. What about double gating the room (one gate over the other) after child proofing it? If her being awake is going to disturb her brother could you put his mattress on the floor in your room temporarily? Or will that disturb his habits too much?

[2lilsweetfoxes]

Originally Posted by SpuglyRoo

ugh, sounds like a tricky situation. How about turning the pack and play upside down over her? lol, just kidding.

Believe it or not, I actually briefly considered that. lol.

Originally Posted by SpuglyRoo

What about double gating the room (one gate over the other) after child proofing it? If her being awake is going to disturb her brother could you put his mattress on the floor in your room temporarily? Or will that disturb his habits too much?

Although her brother almost never leaves his room after he's gone to bed, I want him able to get out if he has to go to the bathroom or something. Also, he's autistic and it took us almost a year to get him out of our bed/bedroom and sleeping in his own room/bed.

[kayabrink]

Could you put dd in your room to fall asleep without you being there? If you wanted to you could then transfer her into the other room once she's asleep, using a matress on the floor in both rooms? You would have to childproof both rooms, though, and then still be worried about the stairs if she woke and the bedroom door had been left open by accident (I'm thinking, if ds did get up at night maybe?)
Other thought and yes this seems creepy, but my ds thought this up on his own after visiting an open house with a walk in closet (which he thought was a "baby room")- my ds used to want to sleep in the closet. Once again, it was his idea (the floor was just the right size for a crib matress). Now, he left the door open, but maybe you could double gate the closet door and put dd in there? Kind of like those bed cupboards... wait a sec, here's a picture that makes this seem more cute and less creepy:
http://annporter.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/bed3.jpg

[slgt]

Why not just transition her to a real bed or toddler bed, or mattress on the floor? DD could first climb out of her crib at 9 months. We bought 5 more months by moving her mattress down to the floor but still inside the crib. At 14 months, she could get out of that, so we changed her to a bed. There was definitely a learning curve for her for getting to sleep that entailed one of us lying down on a mattress on the floor next to her until she fell asleep, but it has to happen sometime! Gate at the top of the stairs, and only about 6 months ago could she operate the doorknob consistently.

I would vote, maybe get her to fall asleep in your room, and then move her to a bed in the room she shares with your DS. Or can you start her bedtime at 7 and try to have her asleep by 8? DD woudl regularly fall asleep lying in front of her door (in her room), or on the vent (where she could see/call downstairs). As long as she wasn't crying and didn't turn the light on, we would let her do what she needed to do until she fell asleep.