Your child's natural curiosity and openness to experience new things will develop as they get older. As a result, they may try to, and be successful at, climbing out of the crib. This could be upsetting and frightening for you. You're worried for their well-being and hope they'll sleep through the night in their own bed. To prevent injury and preserve your night's sleep, you should intervene as soon as you notice your child attempting to exit the crib. Here are some suggestions that will make your task easier:
Stay calm if they try to escape.
Keep calm if you see your toddler reaching for the crib rails. Actually, when you yell, you’re training your toddler to know what pushes your buttons. And push your buttons, they shall.
A gentle "no" is the best approach to prevent an effort to escape the crib. If that in itself doesn’t work, you can couple the “no” with an immediate consequence. For instance, taking away their favorite stuffed toy. By repeatedly doing this, they will come to be deterred from crib jumping.
Lower the crib mattress.
Once your child can pull themselves up to a sitting or standing position on their own, the crib mattress should be as close to the floor as possible. That makes it difficult for your child to dismount the crib without your help. Some cribs will even allow you to drop the crib mattress all the way to the floor like so:
Use sleep sacks.
Most children try to climb out of a crib by hoisting their legs above the crib rails. But if they’re in a sleep sack they have less range of motion. And most of them aren’t strong enough to arm muscle their way out of the crib.
In the event that your child discovers how to undo the zippers, you may simply get them to wear the sleep sack back to front or inside out.
Get things out of the crib.
A typical rule of thumb for crib safety is to remove any soft objects, such as pillows or toys, before placing the infant in the crib. To make a quick exit, your kid can use all the cushions and toys he or she can find.
To avoid an escape, keep all bedding and toys out of the crib and only bring them in when the baby is out of the crib.
Turn the crib around.
This tip only applies if one side of the crib is higher than the other. To prevent your child from climbing out of the crib from the lower side, you can reposition the crib such that the higher side is now facing outward.
If you know how to prevent your baby from escaping their crib, you can be more prepared for any possible escapes. As your child grows, and if you decide to have more children in the future, keep these crib-adjusting ideas in mind.
The bottom line:
Don't freak out if your child escapes the confines of their crib for the first time; it may not happen again, and even if it does, it isn't necessary to transition to a regular bed right away.
If you want to prolong the time your baby spends in the crib, try out a few of the tips above. In the interim, you should make sure that the room is completely toddler-proof in case of any future jailbreaks.
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