Oh you poor thing. My 1st son stopped naps all together at age 3. Oh I hate it. Nap time is sooooooooooo wonderful. Guess it's close to time to put her in a toddler bed.

Susan-how old is Olivia?

I too have three kids. The oldest (DD-7) was in a toddler bed at 15 months. DS climbed out at 16 months, more like fell, several times and went right to a bed. The youngest, DD-14 months has not tried to climb out yet! But I am inclined to take her out of the crib and set her up in a bed very soon. I am lucky to get in an hour nap these days. Two hours is wonderful but not very often! It is hard to get things accomplished (those things that you don't want a toddler at your feet) when they are awake and keeping you running after them!

Olivia just turned 20 months. My boys were in a bed well before now but she gave me no warning whatsoever! She walked at 10 months and has been climbing on the counters and everywhere since. She just seemed to like her crib and had no desire to get out. Well today she learned and it was a LONG afternoon! lol She was SO crabby and overtired with no nap. I was afraid she'd do it at betime but after talking awhile she fell asleep. I think the dark room helped. Wish me luck tomorrow! I think naptime is done! With three kids and a DH that works long hours 6 days a week I treasured that naptime.

My ds had to be moved to a toddler bed at 17 months because he would climb and fall out of his crib. Not only did it mean no nap time or very little of it, but also meant a couple of weeks of crazy bedtimes (if you can't keep them in a crib, it's even harder to keep them in a toddler bed, lol).

My ds had to be moved to a toddler bed at 17 months because he would climb and fall out of his crib. Not only did it mean no nap time or very little of it, but also meant a couple of weeks of crazy bedtimes (if you can't keep them in a crib, it's even harder to keep them in a toddler bed, lol).

My 1st.DS started climbing out of his crib at 10mos. He was walking at 9mos. We would wake up in the middle of the night and find him on the couch crying. You are right about nap time being disrupted. DD turned 20 mos. and she is still doing the nap thing, she is not in a crib so either sleeps in her bed or she naps on couch. It works for us because she a very sound sleeper. We can do anything around her and she will not wake up. The only thing that wakes her is if it gets to quiet.

Hi there. My DD recently climbed (or should I say flew) out of her crib at 16 mos. I immediately took it down and put the crib mattress on the floor for her (she is a little dare devil). To no avail, she wouldn't stay in her "bed". She just wandered around the room with her 2 yr old brother. I then decided to try and put her in the pack n play portable crib. She hasn't climbed out of that yet, there is nothing for her toes to hook on to to hoist her up. She's been napping and sleeping in that for over a month now. When she's a little bigger and older, I will put her in the "big girl bed" when she understands she has to stay in there. My DD weighs 19lbs (she was a preemie--6 wks early, so she is still very tiny). I don't want her to get hurt. How much or how big is Olivia? Good luck and keep us posted.

Hi, I just found you guys. I'm so happy! ha ha

My DD is 21 months old. She climbed out of her crib 3 or 4 times about a month ago. (Maybe longer) The first couple of times she was quite graceful about it. We didn't hear a thing until she walked into the room and surprised us. The 3rd time, she fell, I guess, and started screaming. Scared me to death, but she wasn't hurt. Since then, she hasn't tried it again, so she's still in her crib for naps and bedtime. We have a "big girl bed" but I knew that if she wouldn't stay in her crib, she surely wouldn't stay in a bed, so we haven't even put it in her room yet. I'm holding out until the last possible second. ha ha My DD is a BIG girl: 40 pounds and 35" tall, so I KNOW she could get out easily if she put her mind to it, but so far, she doesn't seem to mind the crib. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it lasts a couple more months.

We went thru this with DD when she was 22 months. (And wow I made some desperate posts). Some of the suggestions I got were helpful, especially:

1) Convert the crib into the toddler bed, but rearrange the room, buy new sheets and make it a special occassion. I picked a snugly pink organic flannel and she loves it.

2) Put a (tall) gate across the door. DD launched herself over the short presure gates so we mounted a locking gate on the outside of the doorframe.

3) At naptime, close the curtains so it's dim and relaxing (a lullaby tape is a nice touch). Put anything you don't want her to play with out of reach. Explain: it's quiet time... she may sleep or read her books or whatever she wants... mommy is going to rest. Go thru your usual sleep rituals and then leave.

4) If she hollers at the gate... that's your call. Some parents let them yell, stopping by every five minutes or so to re-explain the concept of quiet time. Since youre using the gate instead of the closed door, you can see that she's okay.

5) The length of quiet time is up to you. If she hates it, start out with maybe 30 minutes. (One friend uses a timer.) As she adjusts you can lengthen it.

And here's my testimonial:

DD is the type of first-born extrovert that expects my undivided attention every waking minute. And yet, after a tearful two-day introduction, this has worked beautifully. Some days she plays quietly with her books or a puzzle I leave out. (Without fail she plants herself on her lambskin rug, another idea for you.) Other days she stays in bed and sleeps. Other days she plays until sleepy and crawls into bed. Still other days she sleeps and then wakes up to play quietly. That last one, especially, is a miracle.

A note on the transition: Before putting up the gate I realized that her worst nightmare was my closing the door. I explained to her that when she stayed in bed, the door could stay open. If she got out, the door would have to close. (Sorry, my love, it's simply the law of the universe.) I closed the door on her a few times, and explained that the door would open when she got back into bed. It never took more than 15 seconds. She would read, play with her doll and almost inevitably fall asleep.

I later started using the gate and "quiet time" (which she does not mind like a closed door, perhaps because she is used to the concept) because I wanted to take a nap myself. One day she woke up before me and, rather than coming to my room like I expected, she went downstairs and made mud pies in the flowerpots.

Cheers and LOL!

I have been dreading this day, but it came this morning. Didn't hear any thud or commotion, but after hearing her making noises, I fell out of bed and went to her room. Seeing a shadow between the slightly opened bifold door, there stood my 17mo dd. This is going to be a rough transition; after her bedtime bottle, she usually cruises, dances and jumps around her crib, before finally settling down. Now, being in a bed, it's going to be brutal. Any more tips and suggestions for keeping her put? I dread straightening up her room so she doesn't destroy it (lots and lots of books that she'll undoubtly toss around).

Well, Tracey, you will certainly be fixing the bedroom up more often now but that will be going on for years to come now, so you'll get used to it~ LOL (My worst was going in to tell DS to get back in bed and finding toys everywhere and that he decided to try to change his own diaper and got poop on the floor and himself, which he proceeded in trying to clean up with wipes and ended up smearing.) Anyway, you just have to be consistent about nap time and bed time. They may get out of bed what seems like 200 times in an hour,but you just keep putting them back in and telling them sternly that it's nap time. Eventually they tire and go to sleep.

DS was in a single bed by 18 months because he started to climb out a few months before. What we did was lower the crib rails so he could get out easier and wasn't perched on top of the high rail and falling out. He used his rails like a sort of ladder. Once he got the bed we had some problems keeping him in but it wasn' that bad. He's almost 3 and he still will have his days where he says he doesn't need a nap but then he's out in no time. He also gets up about a dozen times to grab toys and different things but he plays out soon after.

Good luck!

~Leslie~

This may be a good time to change her to a regular bed. At naptime, stretch out beside her with a book and read to her. Remind her (probably over and over and over) that this is quiet time. No talking, just listening. It will introduce her to books, get her used to staying in bed at rest, and making the transition to a big bed...AND, the rest will do you good too.

My 21 month old has recently started getting out of his crib by himself (thanks to his big brother and cousin showing him how). He hasn't hurt himself. He's always been a climber anyway.

My first son got out of the crib the first time around 18 months but then he fell and bomped his head and we told him he needed to always stay in bed until we came to get him. He always did, never got out by himself again (he was the "easy" child).

Of course, the second child is the complete opposite so us telling him he needs to stay in bed isn't having any kind of impact. We've been going in once or twice each night to put him back in bed. I've lowered the rail so that not only can he get out but he can get back in (I have visions of him getting out of bed after we've checked on him for the night and then not being able to get back in bed and us finding him sound asleep on the floor the next morning). This way, if that ever happens, he can climb back in himself.

We have always shut his bedroom door from day one when he's napping or at bedtime and he hasn't mastered door knobs yet so at least that's not a problem (him roaming the house). When he does get out of bed, we find him sitting in the dark (semi-dark because his bedtime is at 7:30) on the floor reading books or playing with the few toys that we keep in his room.

Probably by Christmas I'm hoping to integrate him and my 5-year-old son into the same bedroom (bunk beds... scary!) and make the third bedroom the playroom. We'll see how that goes.

H.

OP - at least your little one can CLIMB. My oldest wasn't so good at it - mostly tumbled head first out of his crib. Second son could shimmy like a monkey out of his crib at a very early age. Anyway, I just wanted to add a quick comment to this thread - it is always recommended that bedroom doors be closed when sleeping. In case of fire, this makes a tremendous difference in keeping smoke from entering the bedroom of a sleeping person. So, for those who may have little ones, get them used to sleeping with a closed door from the very beginning.