Argh can climb out of cot, advice please

[Rosa]

My "baby" is 21 months now and has managed to climb out of his cot last night and today, ARGH. I kind of expected this as he is a total climbing ace with no fear but was hoping he'd not think to try it Anyway we were planning to get bunks for them once this happened but actually DS2 will just climb the ladders just now and be a complete fall risk so I think we'll have to put that off. Anyway I'm going to lower the side of his cot so he can get in and out safely. But HOW can I make him stay in it?? The big problem here is that my two share a room, so I can't really stair gate him in the room as I did with DS1 as it's not fair on DS1. He really resisted going in his cot at nap time today despite the fact he was dead on his feet but kept climbing out.

I have been through all this before but I can't remember ANYTHING about it, does anyone have any tips. Frankly there is NO WAY ON EARTH he is dropping his nap, DS1 starts full days at school in four weeks and I have been coping through this sh*tty phase of my MS thinking that in the near future I might get a sit down or short nap in the day time. I wonder if he would sleep in the buggy but I've just got rid of my reclining buggy . I foresee a future of driving him around to get him to sleep them pulling up at a service station for the duration of the nap Actually thats not a bad idea

Any tips gratefully received xx

[myzzterri]

I honestly don't think you should worry about him climbing up to the top bunk just yet... I know they all develop at different rates and all that, but at nearly 3, it's only been a couple of months since Nikki learned to climb up & he's only just learned to climb down again... (& he did climb out of his cot at around the same age as A....) Getting him to stay in it? - it's just a case of keeping on putting him back in till he's actually ready to go to sleep

As for the gate - why not? L is old enough to be taught how to use it if you're worried about him being shut in unfairly...

Nap-wise I can't help unfortunately - Nikki dropped his at less than a year old...

[Rosa]

He can already scale bunk bed ladders, we had them on holiday when he wasn't yet 18mths and it was a nightmare, he loves ladders and climbing, we had to lock the bedroom door to stop him playing in there, he was trying to jump off the top!

Alexei is on his knees by about 11am, he has made it through the day without a nap once or twice but the afternoon was HELL so though I know we'll lose it soon, I can't see him managing yet. (OR ME ).

I was thinking more of LOuis having to listening to all the crying and rattling of the stairgate rather than him being able to get out

I guess we'll have to see how it goes.

[myzzterri]

ok - he's a climbing demon!!

He'll get used to the gate really quickly - honest... How is Louis with him waking in the night? Does it wake him up or can he sleep through it? Cos if he can sleep through it, then he'll probably be ok if Alexei does rattle the gate...

Naps - what time does he go down at the moment (or what time do you try to get him down!)? Have you thought about shifting it?

[Rosa]

They do wake each other very easily... but as I've been thinking about what you've been saying I've been thinking that I'm expecting DS2 to be the same as DS1 (i.e. awkward!) but it may not end up being as much of a problem as I anticipate.

That's a good point about naps, we are limited from school pick up at 12 just now so come and he is so tired and grumpy he won't eat much of his lunch so he goes down about 12.30. I might be able to play with this a bit more easily when we don't have to leave the house at lunch time

[Jeany]

He can already scale bunk bed ladders, we had them on holiday when he wasn't yet 18mths and it was a nightmare, he loves ladders and climbing, we had to lock the bedroom door to stop him playing in there, he was trying to jump off the top!

Nothing useful to add, but he sounds just like my Ds2(19mths). He climbs absolutely everything including stair gates. I am amazed at some of the things I see him dragging around the room in order to climb things. We co-sleep so don't have the worry of climbing out of the cot. We do have high sleepers in 2 of the childrens rooms and he is always up the ladders. Luckily the older ones are older enough to watch him.
Hope you find a way to get him napping so you can get a rest in the afternoons.

[VivB]

My Niece does this ,she can also scale the safety gate o_O I put her to bed in a sleeping bag that zips downwards ,I have to tuck the zip pull in and it has a cover with a button,she can undo the button but hasnt managed to get the zip pull out yet (im sure it wont take long tho).She can get out of the other types.I cant put her in a bed at the moment as shes in our room and theres too much for her to get into .Theres no room in the girls room plus they have loads of unsuitable things she can get into so Im stuck!!

[Daisy66]

I think I'd get a gate on the door and try to get A into napping after lunch. L will just have to bear the noise of gate rattling for a couple more weeks until he is at school full days!

Of course, if he's an excellent (and resourceful) climber, it won't take A long to figure out how to get over the gate

I remember having to walk ds around in his buggy in order to get him to have afternoon naps. Not possible for you really Sorry, not much use am I!

[Rosa]

Yeah walking would be ideal for us all, but car might have to suffice for the time being!

I'd not thought about him scaling the stair gate but i guess he'll suss it out pretty quickly

ARGH RUBBISH TIMING!

[Mrs B]

I'd try a sleeping bag, we used to have to put DDs on backwards so she couldn't undo it and get out, worked a treat though. Good luck xxx.