A possible solution for climbing out of the crib

My boys have not climbed out of their cribs....yet, but have started to try. At first I turned their cribs around so the higher part was in the front (their cribs do not have a drop down side). Problem is the head and feet areas are the same height as the front so that is where they are trying to put their legs over.

Oddly enough the person who gave me this idea was a photographer that had come to our house in December to take holiday pictures. He has 3 kids of his own and told me to remove the mattress spring and put the mattress directly on the floor in the crib.

I just tried it and it works. :woohoo: I actually put the mattress spring on the floor with the mattress on top. That gives me about another 3-4 inches.

It will all depend on the desgin of your cribs but it's worth a try if you have climbers. When I put just the mattress on the floor I felt there was a gap. By adding the mattress spring it gave me that extra inch so their feet or hands would not get caught. Plus I won't have to store it.

Hopefully this will be a solution. I'm not ready for toddler beds.

 

That's brilliant, thanks!

 

Great idea. I'm gonna have to try it too. Thanks!

 

That's awesome! I'm going right home and seeing if this is possible with our cribs. My guys haven't started climbing out (yet?) but if they do I am in no way ready for "free range toddlers"! :lol:

 

I put them down for their nap and I would be shocked if they could now get their legs up that high. Plus with it on the floor they can't jump as high in their cribs. There have been days when I was afraid that the springs would break because of all the jumping.

The only downside is that they are really low. I'm 5'8" and once I put them in their cribs, unless they stand up, I can't get to them to give hugs and kisses.

 

That is an awesome idea!! My boys have been in big boy beds for a few months now and I really miss their cribs!! They were not really ready for beds but they were not safe in their cribs either since they were so determined to climb out of them. I'm glad you found a solution that works for you! I can't tell you how much I miss being able to put them in their cribs, say good night and wake away! Oh the good ole days!!

 

That sounds like a great idea - can you take a picture to show us? I might want to do it - but not sure that it would work with my crib...as mine doesn't have two mattress (a mattress and a mattress spring), not sure if this would work for me ...

 

I had thought of that, but for us, there was a big gap, and then I worried if something would go wrong somehow... so we just zipped them up in sleep sacks and that prevented them from hiking their legs up to climb over... but recently even that wasn't going to help so we're in toddler beds.

good for you if you're able to procrastinate the switch!

 

It's not a extra box spring mattress but the spring base that you adjust the height on. I just removed it and put it under the mattress on the floor.

I will admit it's not that attractive but whatever works. It's not like a have a bunch of people going into their room.

Here's a few pictures:
Crib 1

Crib 2

 

Thanks for the pictures, that really helped! I am going to give this a try (mine have not started to climb out yet, but I know they will soon!).

 

yeah, your crib's lowest rail is way lower than ours... and we have a wood floor, so ours would slip around. looks like it might do the trick!

 

That is a good idea. I know ours are not that low to the ground though, so there would be a gap which I think could be bad. Hope it works for you though!