Tips for Keeping Your Child Under 2.5 in Their Crib

This is part one of a two-part series all about moving from a crib to a toddler bed. There are so many questions around moving to a toddler bed - When's the best time? How do you do it?

The first piece to talk about is when to move to a toddler bed because you may be thinking that it's time but if your little one is under two and a half I don't yet recommend moving to a toddler bed. 

Why Wait?

The biggest reason why you want to wait is developmental. It's not really until two and a half that children can understand that invisible boundary that a bed creates. In a crib it's very concrete - there are four sides, four walls - you have to physically get yourself up and over to be able to leave that crib. But in a bed there's none of that restraint. It is just wide open and for some children that's a lot of freedom and responsibility and they can feel that. It just feels a little bit too open-ended, a little bit too much space and they're not quite sure what to do with themselves. That leads to them feeling really uncertain and really dysregulated. 

They don't know what to do with themselves in this situation. Maybe they've been told to stay in the bed but they're not really sure why they need to stay in the bed and they're going to seek out that comfort that a crib provided in that small little space by going either to another part of their room or to find you in another part of the house. 

Tips for Keeping Your Child in Their Crib

So, before moving to a bed there's a few different things that you can try, even if your child is climbing out of the crib. 

Sleep Sack

If you have moved your child out of a sleep sack you can put them back in one. 

I always recommend sleep sacks from three to at least twelve months because they're not yet able to have a blanket in the crib with them. At 12 months you can start to use a blanket - it is safe per safe sleep guidelines. 

But using a sleep sack is also really great for:

A: Those children that are a little bit wild while they are sleeping and may not be able to keep a blanket on.  

B: Those children who are more adventurous that may start to show signs of trying to get out of the crib. If you have an early walker, an early climber, you’ll definitely want to consider keeping them in a sleep sack a little bit longer because that's also going to translate to when they're in the crib.

The sleep sack is going to prevent their legs from being able to spread wide enough to swing one leg over the side of the crib.

So that's going to be your first line of defense - either keeping the sleep sack on or putting them back into a sleep sack. You may also have to put that sleep back on backwards so the zipper is in the back if they're a smart little cookie and can unzip it from the front. 

Lower the Mattress

The second thing you're going to want to do is lower the mattress all the way down to the ground. To do this, you would take the piece the mattress sits on completely out and put the mattress all the way onto the ground instead.

Depending on the height of the mattress and the height of the crib all this may not be possible because you don't want there to be any space between the top of the mattress and the bottom part of the crib. You want that to line up so no fingers, toes, or anything can get stuck in a gap if they're trying to shimmy their way out.

Turn the Crib Around

The third thing you can do to keep your child under 2.5 in a crib is turn the crib around. Again, depending on your crib, this may or may not work.

Typically cribs have one side that's like the headboard, that's a little bit taller than the other sides. Usually that taller side is against the wall and then the shorter side is closer to you so you can easily get them in or out. Consider flipping that crib around so the taller side is now facing out towards the room and the shorter side is against the wall. That way they won't be able to get over that extra height that that taller side provides and won't be able to climb out of the crib. 

So those three things are the steps that you do before you even consider moving your child who is under two and a half out of their crib.

Bonus Tip

Also, a little bonus tip, if they are able to safely maneuver their way out of the crib I would still keep them in the crib. If motorically, they are able to just swing their leg over and safely get out of the crib that still may not be a reason to remove them from the crib. You want to keep them

in that calm safe environment as long as you can until they're really able to understand what a bed entails and why they have to stay in their bed.

I really would only move them out if it's dangerous - they're falling, they're getting hurt, things like that.

Make sure that you subscribe to my YouTube channel for part two of how to actually make the transition to a toddler bed. Your child has checked all the boxes you've done all the things, you've kept them in the crib until they are at least two and a half. Now you're ready to make the leap and they're ready to make the leap. We will talk about that in part two so make sure you join me for that!