Now that the Mama-guilt has subsided, I am able to gather my thoughts and write a post about 5 ways to prevent your toddler from climbing out of their crib.
Unfortunately, this past weekend, my 21-month-old son decided to jailbreak out of his crib. We should have known he was going to do this because this was his month of becoming ‘the Big-Brother’. He literally became so independent so quickly, possibly knowing his little sister is due to arrive any day now. Some of the things he learned were how to do peepee & poopoo on the potty, bathe himself in the tub (while supervised), feeling confident enough to jump into the pool to us, swimming and floating in the pool (with a life vest), and now we have added climbing out of his crib to the list of firsts.
After we put our toddler down for his afternoon nap, we heard a loud thump, followed by crying. This cry was not the normal “take me out of the crib cry” but rather a very concerning “I’m hurt” cry. I can barely walk anymore, now that I am officially 40 weeks pregnant today, but something gave me the strength to run up the stairs to his room. I found my little Spider-man on the floor outside his crib. Hysterical crying myself, I thought, how did I let this happen?! Luckily, he was moving his head and back but was holding onto his wrist. I immediately put ice on it and inspected the situation. My Husband and I agreed we should bring him to the emergency room for an evaluation even though by the time we put him in the car he was already back to his normal smiling, happy self. Even the doctor didn’t suspect any breakage based on how happy he was, until we got the x-ray results. It turned out he fell on his arm and received a small buckle fracture.
As they were putting on his cast, I asked the Doctor what I could have done differently to prevent this. Once again with tears in my eyes, she said this happens all the time and unfortunately kids are going to get hurt. I had the camera on him (even though I wasn’t watching it that split second), the crib mattress was on the lowest level, it is a brand-new crib that met all safety regulations and he had not tried climbing out before. We were planning on switching his crib to the toddler bed once he turned two, as recommended, but that was not soon enough. I was not anticipating this happening at all and felt horrible that it did. If anyone was supposed to be in the hospital, it was supposed to be me giving birth. I guess this baby girl is waiting for everything to calm down a bit before she makes her debut.
I am so grateful that his small fracture was the worst of it. It could have been much worse. The fracture will fully heal and he will be able to take the cast off in a few weeks. Thank God!
Although some accidents may just be unavoidable, here are some things you may want to consider when preventing your little one from climbing out:
1. Lower the crib mattress to lowest setting once your little one starts standing in their crib
2. Use a sleep sack. No matter the age, a sleep sack can help prevent them from climbing out. I would recommend the Love To Dream Swaddle Up Click here because the fabric is super soft and breathable.
3. Ensure there are no objects in the crib or playpen that your child can stand on to reach further up on the crib rail.
4. Have a camera on them to ensure they don’t get into trouble. We use the Nest with motion activity alerts but use what works for you.
5. Install the toddler rails on your convertible crib or switch to a toddler bed all together.
