Crib tents?

One of my DDs fell out of her crib the other night so we put a crib tent on her crib. It keeps her in and safe, but I feel so bad using it. I feel like I am caging her in (well, I AM caging her in). She doesn't like it and she cries but succumbs because she really has no choice. I feel like this is wrong and I should be teaching her how to sleep in a toddler bed, and how to stay in her own bed. The problem is she is only 15 months old and how much can she really understand. Plus there's the safety issue of her being able to get up and wander at night. We are very babyproofed but nothing can ever be 100% safe for a child unsupervised. I've read mixed advice about this and there seems to be the camp that says get a crib tent for a child this young, and then the camp that says no matter what age your child is, when your child climbs out of the crib, she has outgrown it and it's time for a toddler bed. Our pediatrician advised the crib tent. Then I talked to an EI specialist and she doesn't believe in crib tents. She advised putting the mattress on the floor and gating the door.

I am just so confused about this and really distraught about the whole thing. I hate to see my child unhappy about her bed. Then again I want her to be safe, and I want us to be able to sleep too. Just wanted to see what other people had to say.

 

I say go the crib tent route. All 3 of my kids have had to use crib tents because of climbing and they all loved them. Not sure what the cons are to having one. My pedi says as long as they are content in the crib, leave them in there as long as you can. It worked great with the older ones. They are still great sleepers. I am counting on Pey doing the same thing, and I am afraid if I put them in a bed too early, there sleeping habits would have been disturbed and changed.

 

Sorry to hear you are torn and she is not happy. I think that transitioning to beds is something everyone needs to be ready for, parents and children. When K did her first climb I absolutely knew I was not at a point where I could give the transition the attention it needed and honestly didn't think she was ready so I went with the tents. Thankfully K&K loved them, if I ever accidently forgot to zip it they were actually sad. Do you think it is just something that needs some getting used to? I hope things work out for you, whichever route you decide.

 

Okay, I used a crib tent for my son because he learned very young how to climb out… and I remember my nanny coming and just being mortified… he didn’t mind it… so I dint mind it, but it only lasted 3 days as he figured out (and this was around 15 months) to get his little hand around the crib and unzip it enough to then get his finger in it to completely undo it… then crawl on out… so then we did the mattress on the floor and put a gate at his door… crawled over that… then we put 2 gates on top of each other… well he learned (and we don’t watch much football, if any in our house at that point) that if he got a running start and put his arms crossed in front of him he could pop the gates right out… that’s right, like a line backer… this is all happening after naps when I didn’t realize he was awake… so finally we set a motion detector out side his door and if he left his room in the middle of the night, it would set it off the whole house alarm… he did it once and he never left again, always called us on the baby monitor to turn it off… and I know reading this it sound like we left him alone in his room alot, but we didn’t, he did all this with a big old smile on his face…

 

I solved the zipper issue by putting a safety pin across just above the zipper. The zipper could not move without me removing the pin (from the outside).

 

Well, Bea broke her wrist climbing out of the crib, so I am very much pro-crib tents. Literally it was one day they were throwing their legs over, next day she fell. I should have put the crib tents on right after the leg throwing-over. I do not think my girls are ready to be "loose", and we made the decision to go to crib tents vs mattress on the floor or beds based on all the things we would have to do to make the room safe. Move the dresser out of the room, remove the blinds, gate the door, safety locks on the closet, make sure they can't reach the diapers and wipes (they love to pull the wipes out of the box and throw diapers around). You get the idea. I'm lucky that my girls like their crib tents, but yours will get used to it.

 

If she won't listen/cannot yet comprehend "Stay in your crib", how can you expect her to stay in bed or on a mattress? In all honesty, I take little advice from parents of singletons on this type of thing. Until they've had 2 kids the exact same age throwing a party in their room - and plotting against them - then they have no idea how to parent twins.

Do what works for you and your kids. I personally would go with the crib tent.

 

QUOTE(kj2racing @ Oct 30 2007, 08:55 PM) [snapback]474432[/snapback]
I solved the zipper issue by putting a safety pin across just above the zipper. The zipper could not move without me removing the pin (from the outside).


The solution is so simple, and the newer version of the crib tents has it (no, I couldn't figure it out on my own): a loop on the zipper that you can fasten on the edge of the crib tent frame (if this makes any sense); dd cannot figure this out, however ds did (he's a little engineer!) But we solve that issue as well with a bungee cord pulled throught the loop and fastened around three crib slats. This tightens the loop and he cannot undo it or the zipper.

Honestly, my twins are absolutely not ready for toddler beds, it would be a dangerous disaster. They'll stay in crib tents for a while yet!

DeLana

 

Update -
We've used the crib tent for 2 nights now and I must say, this is the most sleep at night we've all gotten in months. Kate still wakes up a few times at night, but she cries for a few minutes then goes back to sleep. The first night was really tough because she was hysterical, although she went to sleep within 20 minutes each time. The second night (last night) she woke up, cried for 5 minutes, then went back to sleep. It used to be that we'd have to go in there because we'd watch her on the video monitor and she'd start trying to get over the rail. Then we'd be up all night with her because she wouldn't sleep anywhere, not even our bed. I'd have to stand or sit upright holding her to keep her calm. As much as I don't like using the crib tent, it is keeping her in, it's keeping her safe, and we're all happier in the morning because we got sleep! I know if we switched to a toddler bed right now, we'd have hysterics all night. The good thing is also, that the girls now have their own rooms. They kept waking each other up which exacerbated the problem so we moved them into separate rooms, and my other daughter Lindsay is now getting a full night's sleep. It's a little sad that they aren't together anymore, but I think they are better off getting the sleep they need, and I think they will play nicer together too. It's tough to be with someone 24/7!

Thank you for all of your input. It makes me feel MUCH better knowing that the crib tent worked for other parents, especially parents of multiples. We have the newer version of the crib tent that has netting all around the crib so she can't stick her hand through the rails to undo the zipper.

 

I'm glad things are settling down at your place. One of my boys has the crib tent II and I'd be lost without it.

I hated it at first too - I hated the idea of caging him in but it never bothered him and now I don't have to worry about any injuries from him jumping out of his crib.