Help me think this through...

The boys have been waking up at 5:15 or 5:30 for the last three weeks. At first I tried waiting it out, letting them stay in bed until 6:00, which used to work after a few days. Not this time. And now Tom is awake enough that he's climbing out of his crib and wandering around his room - he can't open the door...yet.

The climbing out and wandering around his room is actually solving the other half of the problem - his brother is entertained enough that he does not start screaming to be let out. Together, they do a fairly decent job of trashing the room. (This morning, Jack had reached into the drawer of the changing table, pulled the wipes box into his crib, and emptied out all of the wipes; meanwhile Tom had emptied out the dirty clothes hamper, switched on the light, and neatly arranged all of the books from the bookshelf on his chair.)

I would much rather deal with straightening up the room than getting out of bed at 5:30 - that is really getting to me, as I've been up until midnight most nights trying to finish work that I can't do while they're awake. But am I missing something? Is it really bad to let them do this? I am so in need of the sleep that I feel like I'm blind to the consequences.

 

As long as they're safe and you don't mind cleaning up the mess, go for it! Having toddler twins is just like having newborn twins in a way - forget the "rules," just do what you gotta do. I have been known to let them empty every last piece of clothing from the dresser just to keep them occupied while I catch a 10 minute nap lying on the floor close by. Just think long and hard and with great paranoia about any possible safety issues. (Cords of blinds, anything toxic if they start chewing up wipes or nomming on butt cream... And is the changing table anchored to the wall? And if he manages to open the door, are there ungated stairs he could fall down, or anything dangerous outside the room he could get into?)

If you don't want free range toddlers that early in the morning, how do you think they'd react to crib tents?

Anyway, yikes. I wish they'd sleep in longer for you! :hug:

 

QUOTE(fuchsiagroan @ Jun 3 2009, 02:18 PM) [snapback]1339178[/snapback]
If you don't want free range toddlers that early in the morning, how do you think they'd react to crib tents?


Oh, thanks for reminding me, Holly - we've got the kind of cribs that don't seem to work with standard crib tents (why didn't I think of that two years ago?), and my budget is super tight now, anyway.

Wall anchors... must install those wall anchors I bought a year ago.

 

my kids have very minimal stuff in their room. It is pretty much their beds and toys. I have their dressers in their closet and they cant get in there. If you have the room, I would move out the big stuff and just leave beds and toys. It is safer and you wouldnt have to clean anything up!!

 

QUOTE(fuchsiagroan @ Jun 3 2009, 10:18 AM) [snapback]1339178[/snapback]
As long as they're safe and you don't mind cleaning up the mess, go for it! Having toddler twins is just like having newborn twins in a way - forget the "rules," just do what you gotta do. I have been known to let them empty every last piece of clothing from the dresser just to keep them occupied while I catch a 10 minute nap lying on the floor close by. Just think long and hard and with great paranoia about any possible safety issues. (Cords of blinds, anything toxic if they start chewing up wipes or nomming on butt cream... And is the changing table anchored to the wall? And if he manages to open the door, are there ungated stairs he could fall down, or anything dangerous outside the room he could get into?)

If you don't want free range toddlers that early in the morning, how do you think they'd react to crib tents?

Anyway, yikes. I wish they'd sleep in longer for you! :hug:

I totally agree with Holly. A mess is probably easier to deal with than screaming toddlers who want attention waaay too early in the a.m. She pointed out some pretty important things. Definitely make sure you get anything heavy anchored to the wall asap.

The only things my girls have in their rooms are a bucket of stuffed animals, a small basket of books and their dresser. They do on occasion pull up shades, move beds, pull blankets off, empty their dresser, etc. but it's a small price to pay for downtime, IMO.

 

I would double check their rooms and make sure it was safe and I would probably let them be. Sometimes at naptime my girls will play the whole time and their room looks like a tornado went through it, but that is about and hour and a half of me time. They stay in their room and just play..I really don't see that any different than what you are doing. I know that there isn't anything in there that they will really damage, they just clear out their toybox and play in their closet. So, as long as they are safe, I don't see any harm.

 

I would be very nervous about the climbing in and out of the cribs. We have had a number of children on this forum who have had broken bones from falling when climbing. I would really try and find some way to rig a crib tent to keep him from climbing out.

 

I think it's a bad idea...sorry. Especially since he is climbing out of a crib versus getting out of a toddler bed. There are so many things that can happen that you may think seem impossible like broken bones, head injuries, strangulation and that is just attempting to climb out of a crib. Not even considering the actual room once he is out and about. I would do crib tents, we actually just transitioned the boys to toddler beds yesterday and until yesterday they were in cribs with tents. I do not have stanard cribs either and they worked fine. If that is not possible, I would really consider transitioning them so at least it eliminates the dangers of climbing out of a crib. GL.

 

The first time mine climbed out of their cribs, we spent a whole morning in their room with the sides to the cribs down, and they practiced climbing in and out all morning with me there to supervise. Now they are pros at getting in and out on their own. They play in their room in the morning before I go and get them for breakfast like pps have said. Just make the room baby proofed, and we even have the door handle turned around and lock them in their room so they don't go wandering.