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Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Now what do I do?

This is not what the post is about, but let me get it out of the way. Ohio State lost last night. They looked terrific in the 1st quarter. After that, I have no idea what was going on. It was sad. It wasn't a complete blow-out, but we could see they didn't stand a chance. That's life. I'll take it. It was fun to be ranked #1 for a while and get to the championship game. We'll get there again sometime. I'm OK with it.

OK, on to my real post now. Sorry about that brief interlude.

This morning Zachariah woke up right after I got done showering and dressing. I hear him calling for me, so I went in to get him. We (he does rather) play this game sometimes. When I come in I turn on the light and go over to where he's standing at the end of the crib. When he wants to play he says "bye bye", waves, and then runs to the other side of the crib. Most times when I say "OK, bye bye then" and start the leave the room he says "no no" and comes back towards me in his crib. He'll do that a few times, then finally stop and want out.

Today he played the game, but didn't come running back towards me each time. He'd say "bye bye" then stay at the back of his crib and watch me leave the room. So, I went into our room and got a basket of clothes, then peeked in at him. He still didn't want out, so I took the laundry to the washer. I peeked back at him again. He would say "no, bye bye" each time. After checking in about 3-4 times, I went back to laundry. Then I heard this ker-thump coming from somewhere in the house. It wasn't a loud ker-thump, just a soft one. But it was enough that I came running just in case. It was the dog, he was sleeping on the couch. I really wasn't too concerned...until I saw what had happened.

I walked into Zachariah's room and he was on the floor! Standing there grinning at me. The little turkey climbed out of his crib! This is the first time he's ever done this. There is a little cradle with stuffed animals beside his crib. He climbed, somehow, into that and then onto the floor. He was perfectly fine. It was like it took no effort at all.

Needless to say, when he's awake in his crib, from now on I will get him out right away. But how am I to know that he won't just get the idea to do it again without me even knowing he's awake. And I know he'll do it again eventually. I knew this day was coming, I just didn't think it would happen quite so soon.

So, now what do I do? Do I wait to see if he keeps practicing his crib climbing skills? Do I think about moving him into a toddler bed right away? I'm not sure he or I am ready for that. I know they make crib tents, but I don't really want to invest the money into that. I think he's close to being old enough for a real bed. I just wasn't prepared. Luckily for now his crib converts into a toddler bed. We'll use that for a while (because we don't need the crib for anyone else right now). Then I figure we'll get him a twin bed someday when we need the crib back.

I need your advice, fellow mothers. Do I wait this out and see what he does? Or should I start the new bed transition? Help!

9 comments:

jen said...

I am sooo in the minority here, but... I just put the rail down and let them climb in/out. D's been climbing out of his crib for a couple months now, and the railing is down. He's older, I think, though. But, putting him in a bed would not go over well. Same with L, I had to wait a while until I knew she'd be open to it. Do you think he'd be ok in a bed?

Julia said...

How about moving the cradle that you said is beside his bed, then see what happens??

I have a climber, but am resisting new big beds, because the other twin isn't climbing out yet.

Its really up to what you want to do. I have a thing about putting the kids to bed and loving the fact that they are in their cribs, and not one big party. But you only have one kid right now, so you probably don't have to worry about that.

Do you think he will stay in a big bed? Or will he be up and down at naptime and bedtime?

mamashine said...

My personal preference is to leave them in the crib as long as possible, but my girl wasn't a climber.

Do you think he'll stay in a bed? Maybe you could start at naptime to see how it goes and still do bedtime in the crib for awhile?

Nowheymama said...

K. was not a climber - I had to tell her one time not to climb out, and she didn't. E. started climbing out at @ 16 months - much too young for a bed for my taste. My mom got us one of those crib tents, and that has done the job so far. He'll be 2 next month.

andria said...

Sorry about them Buckeyes. They did look good in the first quarter and I had high hopes, but after that second Tiger touchdown they lost momentum and it was ugly after that. I had to turn the tube then because I hate me the LSU since some purple-yellow fellows were taunting my blue-gold wearing children during the Pitt game (that we will no longer speak of). LSU sucks.

Anonymous said...

Ditto Julia's comment - I'd move the cradle and see if he does it again. Could it have just been a fluke?

And sorry about your football team. After I found out they were playing LSU, I really was rooting for them; you either love or strongly dislike LSU in my part of the country. Guess what category I fall under. :)

KatieBug said...

Two out of my three have been climbers and they were both out of the crib by 18 months or before. I put a gate at the bedroom door and the whole room becomes the "crib". That way I know they are safe in the room and if they do happen to climb out they are less likly to break a bone. They also learn to play quietly by themselves before and after the sleep.

2Forgetful said...

Well, you already know that mine are in tents but it's mostly because I didn't see a way to really childproof the room. (especially in the winter with the humidifier and radiator heat.) Plus, I wasn't ready to give up nap time which I heard coincides with the introduction of toddler beds. My big motivator for spending the money on crib tents was that one of my friend's triplets broke her arm climbing out (with the rail down). Plus, crib tents have a really good resale value on eBay.

The other option could be a sleep sack. They make them in x-large (which fits one of my friend's sons who wears size 3T). It gives her son enough space to walk in but he can't get his leg up to climb. This is something I would have tried if I'd known about it a few months ago.

I've also learned that mine won't/can't? climb out of their pack n plays so you can always try that at nap time and toddler bed for bedtime if you decide to switch.

Good luck! Keep us posted.

Shauna Loves Chocolate said...

Great tips from your readers! Now I'll be prepared too, if Elise starts climbing out of her crib!