Well he finally did it.... he jumped out of the crib in a sleep sack and now we have a
free range toddler!
We held on as long as we could with our almost 2.5 year old sleeping in the crib. In August, he had climbed out during a nap. I started putting him back into a sleep sack and that curbed the crib escape for a little longer.
Highly recommend trying this first before you switch to toddler bed. Another tip that I read was to remove the bottom of the crib and place the mattress on the ground but still in the crib, BUT only if their was no space between the mattress and bottom of the crib frame. Our crib didn't have this option.
About two weeks ago, on a Saturday when my husband and I were doing some serious Spring cleaning during nap time, he jumped out of his crib in a loose sleep sack. We had the super turbo, Shop-vac out and couldn't here what he was doing in his room. He had jumped out of crib, gone into the bathroom stuffed two toilet paper rolls in the toilet and started a bath. All while still wearing his sleep sack. When we turned off the the shop-vac we heard him screaming. Guess he was done his bathroom adventure and had locked himself in the bathroom. It was beyond terrifying to realize all that he had done and what could have happened. It was officially time to make the switch to the toddler bed.
{Here is a good resource for more tips on making the transition}
Luckily our crib came with a conversion rail and was easily switched within a couple minutes. But this transition was something I had been fearing for a while! We had already secured the all the furniture to the walls when we moved in but had to re-arrange the room due to him using the glider as a way up onto the dresser. We also had 3 floating bookshelves on the wall that we removed so not to turn into a "rock climbing wall".
So far he has done pretty good with this transition. We removed most toys from his room except board books and some stuffed animals. He will get out of bed sometimes and if he wants to read a book or play with a stuffed animal in the middle of the night, I could care less because he always goes back to sleep. Sometimes he sleeps on the ground but mostly he stays in his bed. I think he likes the autonomy of being able to get out if he wants. If he does and it is right after we put him to sleep, I will get on the monitor and ask him to get back into bed, "Time to sleep", "You need to lay down" etc. He typically listens, so we will continue with it.
We have been super happy with our crib, especially since it came with the toddler crib conversion. Funny how many times we have already re-arranged his room, from moving artwork away from crib, moving monitor, etc.
OUR ORIGINAL NURSERY INSPIRATION
Now our Toddler proof bedroom....
BABYLETTO SCOOT 3-IN-1 CRIB /// SCOOT DRESSER /// GLIDER + OTTOMAN /// CRIB SHEET /// TODDLER QUILT /// FRAMES /// RUG
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