Crib tents now serve purely psychological purpose

I know that at 3y2m, our girls are kind of old to be in cribs anyway -- but as of this weekend, it's official that they could climb out if they wanted to. The crib tents have served us well for over a year, but when I went in to get them yesterday and today, Amy had very helpfully already unzipped her tent for me. (This morning she had removed her sleep sack as well.) She was very proud.

But now they're used to the tents and insist on having them zipped at bedtime. I worry a little bit about them feeling too exposed in their big-kid beds when we finally switch!

 

Aww... that is too cute! Maybe you'll have to get some of those bed tents. I think they sell them, just for fun rather than for containment purposes.

 

Very interesting.

We got back from vacation and took the tent with us and when we returned, I did not put it on his crib (since it is a pain to change the sheets) and wanted to see what would happen. He got very sad when we said goodnight. He needed that tent! We are far away from going into beds but I never thought that that may be difficult for him.

 

oh, instead of tents for the big kid beds, how about canopies??!

 

FWIW, when we finally took down the shredded tents (used them for almost 2 years!), I worried that they'd feel exposed. They always wanted them zipped shut at night and when DH tried to leave them open as practice for full freedom, they zipped them closed themselves. It turned out to be nothing, though. They looked at their converted toddler beds and were thrilled to try them out.

 

QUOTE(debid @ Jan 12 2009, 01:00 PM) [snapback]1143511[/snapback]
FWIW, when we finally took down the shredded tents (used them for almost 2 years!), I worried that they'd feel exposed. They always wanted them zipped shut at night and when DH tried to leave them open as practice for full freedom, they zipped them closed themselves. It turned out to be nothing, though. They looked at their converted toddler beds and were thrilled to try them out.

I hope the same is true for us!

 

This post made me feel good because honestly, when I first read about crib tents I thought anyone that could do that to their kid was cruel LOL I mean, who would put them in a cage (aka their crib) and then zip them in so they couldnt get out?! LOL Thanks for the post, it was a good eye opener that they can/do serve a purpose of security for children as well as safety!

 

I just transitioned my son to a twin bed in the beginning of December and he had a crib tent on his bed. I took it off a few days before we switched to the bed (he still wanted it on and asked where is was when put in his crib). Then when we moved him to his bed for the first 3 days he wanted his crib back and for a few days after that he still wanted his crib tent. After about a week he was fine with his new bed and since he got Thomas sheets for his new bed for Christmas (my parents bought them for him) he has loved his bed and loves going to his room to sleep on Thomas. So if your kids do get a little upset over no crib tents they will eventually get used to it. My girls who also had crib tents had no problem switching over to beds and they also loved their crib tents so it really depends on the child.

 

Just wanted to say that I REALLY hope to keep my girls in cribs until they are 3 so your post, at least, even though I have no advice for you, made me feel that it is possible =) hee hee ... thanks for that! And your post showed such personality from your twins! Too cute!

OH, well, I just thought of something ... my nephew has a cool tent on his bed ... it is like an outdoor tent but it straps onto his bed. You could always go and pick something like that out together (let them pick color/theme or whatever ...) if they want the tent.

 

I wouldn't worry about it till they do.
I sold our two bed tents, only because i could get a good price for them.
The twinkies missed the tents tho. And i think it was a cocooning issue.
We already had a screen door installed on our nursery door, so it essentially serves the same purpose as the cribtent only on a larger scale. It works so well for us. The room doesn't over heat this way, we can see and hear them but they can't wander the house at night, and we re-inforced the lower half of the screen to withstand swinging on it and climbing /kicking it. The twinkies shut it themselves at night too.

 

Oh yes, Ryan can get out of his now, too. He doesn't often, but he did this afternoon after naptime! Aye!