Sleep Sacks / Staying in Crib

My girls are still in cribs (2.5 yrs old) but constantly climbing out, especially at night time. I have heard that the larger sleep sacks will help with them from climbing out. Does anyone have used ones they would be willing to sell? I really don't care about the color. Or any other advice?

Thanks!

Briana - mom to 3 girls, Taylor (9), Peyton (2), Alyx (2)

 

We bought crib tents for our boys when they started climbing out. I found 1 on craigslist & bought the other on amazon. Although sleep sacks might not have been a bad idea as mine apparently can't stand being cold.

 

I've heard it doesn't always work... if they're really determined, it can actually make them fall and hurt themselves, so I would spare yourself the money (especially as they could get out of them probably).

At this point I'd just get rid of the cribs...

 

At 2.5, my kids could unzip their own sleepsacks. So I don't think sleepsacks would have helped keep them in cribs.

 

Depending on what type of crib you have, you could try what I did. I removed the mattress spring and put that and the mattress directly on the floor of the crib. It gave me an extra 3 inches which made it too hard for them to climb out.

Here and here is what it looked like.

Not the best look, but it worked for us. I moved them to toddler beds on their 3rd birthday.

 

Ditto this!

 

I have 2 of the XXL ones and I think a couple of the XL - PM if you are still wanting to go this route

 

That's when I just put a very tall gate at the door and put the mattress on their floor. I heard them fall ON their head too many times. And they would have absolutely figured out of a crib tent. I did keep them in sleep sack, but my guys were tiny, so we could still use the smaller sizes.

 

Thanks so much for all the tips. I can't change them into toddler beds yet, as they are currently sharing a room with computer equipment and I would be afraid of them getting into all that. They do know how to unzip, but I was going saftey pin them close.

I had thought about putting the mattress on the floor inside the crib, but I think I might have too much space underneath and they could climb out that way. I will have to measure.

Briana - mom to 3 girls, Taylor (9), Peyton (2), Alyx (2)

 

It's been about a month and I'm pretty happy with the crib tents. There's no way to figure out how to get out of them as they go under the mattress and zip from the outside.

 

My girls could still climb out of their cribs with sleep sacks on... it just made them especially dangerous because they'd get one leg over and then fall right out of the crib. If you need them to stay in the cribs, crib tents are the best option.

 

We got rid of the sleep sacks a while ago because my kids would try to walk around the crib in them and would end up falling and hitting their heads on the crib!

 

zip them up backwards... and inside out if you have to! that will help slow them down.

now be warned that once they learn to "hike" their legs up horizontal while holding on to the rail... they will be able to climb out even with a sleep sack on... but yes, it slowed ours down! good luck!

 

Two and a half... Have you ever seen them on a playground? They are way too old for a zip up sleeper not to mention a crib tent.

 

Hmm. I respectfully disagree.

Sleep sacks are designed for kids who are too little for blankets or don't keep them on. Honestly, my boys have woken up twice every night since we've had a cold snap. I'm very tempted to go out and get some bigger sleep sacks.

Crib tents aren't designed for newborns- their purpose is to keep kids safe in their cribs. At 2.5, many children lack impulse control to stay in bed when awake. Now if we were talking about a 7 yr old being crib tented, I would agree with you.

 

I am not sure I agree. Sleep sacks are great to keep restless sleepers warm at night. My LOs still wear them and love them.

To the OP: Unfortunately, sleep sacks to do not deter my LOs (not quite 2.5 yet) from climbing, it just makes them more clumsy and thus more likely to really hurt themselves if they attempt and loose balance. So, I would not rely on the sleep sacks alone to keep them in their crib.
BTW, I have never seen a crib tent (not sold here, it seems), so I am no help there ...

 

yeah, it wasn't until our twins were closer to 3 yr old that they calmed down at night enough to actually go to sleep w/o the tents... even then we have to make sure that they are worn out. if you "have" to keep them in the cribs, then crib tents are the way to go. hopefully you have good luck.

 

I don't know, I think that you should probably just clear out the computer equipment and whatever other dangerous things are in the room and make it into their bedroom only. You will have to do this soon anyways - and why bother buying expensive gadgets (like a crib tent) when this is just a temporary solution. I was terrified to transition mine to toddler beds, but it ended up not being so bad. We cleared everything out of their room except their beds, a few books and their clothes and put a door knob cover on the door.

 

Agreed...

 

I will say I loved my tents... but... I got them from used from our twin sale, and they were super cheap... not sure I'd really want to spend the $70?? each on them, especially like the pp said, for a short amount of time...

it's worth taking into account how much time you'll "buy" with crib tents and what it's worth in dollars to you!