Getting out of the cot

Matilda is almost 17months...and she can escape out of the cot at day care. She refuses to lay down with the other kids so far & will just disturb them sleeping, and the day care mum has had a rough day with her. I'm trying to think of something that can help her because she hasn't gotten out of the cot at home yet, but its only a matter of time now....

My questions:

What steps did you take to keep them in their rooms?
How did you get them to go to sleep? (Matilda doesn't like sleeping but gets really tired and tantrums if she doesn't sleep)
How do you get them to stay there?

I've seen and read stuff about repeatedly putting them back in, but I can see this happening for hours & hours with her and me giving up...

I have tried to bring her to bed with me & nap with her, but she thinks its playtime if I'm with her.

Thanks!

Not sure if i am any help but with her getting out of the cot, when i did this to my mum she always left the side down after so if i did happen to get out it wouldn't be as much of a fall.

Christy - is she escaping from a normal cot? Was just wondering if she would have less chance at escaping out of a portacot maybe?? Would she have her naps in a portacot do you think?

She did both at day care today, port-a-cot first and then an older cot as well. The older wooden cot seemed a bit low to me though...but now that she's worked it out I hope taller helps us for a few more weeks.

Is it time for her to go into a bed if she's getting out of the cot? I'm just thinking from a safety POV?? I appreciate this might be hard though if you have difficulties getting her to sleep in the first place.......obviously it would be a whole lot easier for her to get out of a big bed, so that would compound the problem of getting her off to sleep........

Sorry that this hasn't been of any help Christy. I hope you find a solution.

hi christy

i have never had a problem with my kiddies escaping from their cot, however i did put my first dd into a bed when she was 18mths old as i was prg and i wanted the cot down and well and truly put away before jay came along. i actually put her cot mattress beside her bed so if she did fall out she would be safe.

as for staying in her room well some people may think this is wrong but i considered it being like a bigger version of a cot, i used a safety barrier gate across her doorway so she couldn't escape all the time, it was only up for a couple of months my the time ds came along it was well and truly gone - but it saved alot of stress at the time as she would regularly come out and it was getting a bit ridiculous.

other than that maybe make sure the cot side is down in case she does try and get out, it will be safer for her and maybe put a soft landing like a spare mattress on the floor.

good luck to you

Ok, well tonight we have put a foam mattress next to her cot. During the week we are going to have to take heaps of things out of her room which will become toys...and things like the heater, fan and radio will have to be moved. Maybe we will put a ceiling fan in her room... :-k she can reach that one :)

Christy - I know Shane's middle son did this really bad too from a young age. I'll find out what he did and post tomorrow....

Fi

None of my kids managed to escape from the cot but I had them out of it before they managed to do it I think.

Emma started by sleeping on a matress for day time sleeps from about 15 months of age. By the time she was 2 she was in a big bed for during the day and at night. I didn't have to worry about her escaping as we used to stay with her until she was asleep.

Jack started sleeping in a bed at 15 months as well becasue when I moved to Adelaide after I seperated from his dad there wasn't room for a cot and bed in room, so I opted to get rid of the cot. He was a terror as he was able to self settle to sleep until he got in the bed. I had to ask my Landlord to take the door off the hinges and put a wooden gate up so he couldn't get out of his room. It only took him about 3 months to work out how to open that and then I had fun and games trying to get him to stay in his room and I hate to say it even now at 7 he has trouble so I think it is more to do with his personality than the situation!!!

Asha is heading to 17 months and is stil in her cot. I don't know when I will be ready for her to get out of he cot yet but as the weather warms up I think I might put her for day time sleeps on the matress on the floor. She sleeps on the matress on the floor at day care because she kept waking up in the cots. I think after Christmas is over and I have enough money to buy Jack a new bed then Asha will get her new bed ... ;)

Good luck Christie, I don't know that I have helped any but thought I would let you know what I have done in the past.

Cheers

I caught Angus in the act of trying to escape from his cot a few times.
We put him in a bed not long before he turned 2 which is a bit older than Matilada though.
This sounds bad but I put a tea towl over the door so he can't get out of his room. After a while he will go to sleep in his bed, or under the bed, or on the floor. But at least he won't fall and hurt himself and if he doesn't sleep he is a horror.

admittedly I have never had a problem with Maddy in regards to sleeping... 8-[

But I think if hse is climbing out at Day Care it wont be long til she can climb out at home too, so i'd look at puytting her in a bed at home soon, my sister used to lock from the outside her sons door, it took a few weeks & he stopped trying to escape! She always un locked it before going she went to bed though incase!

But make it special that she is a BIG girl ina BIG girls bed???
HTH...

Yes this weekend we decided we are going to build a frame for her cot mattress & start that way, have her on the ground in her cot mattress and buy another cupboard to lock everything in. Take out the fan etc so she can't get hurt in her room. She can't even reach the door handle yet thank goodness so we have time before she starts coming out of her room. She sleep in darkness so we don't want her hurting herself in the middle of the night. We haven't even thought about big beds yet or anything, and we are going on holidays next week with a port-a-cot ](*,) but we will see how we go...

Christy, I had this thought come to me the other day but I dont know if it would work or not.... would it be possible to put her in a really lightweight (0.5 tog) grobag every time she goes to have a nap/sleep?
I was just thinking that is she was in a grobag she wouldn't be able to get her legs up, or the grip that she needs to get over the side of the cot? Unless she has super-duper upper body strength? ;) Though I dont know if that would make it more dangerous if she tries and slips because of the grobag?
I dunno.... I just know the Aidyn rarely has much sucess standing with his grobag on, so I can imagine it would make it fairly difficult to climb with it on too...

LOL I was just thinking of that myself!! We are going on holidays in 2 days and I have packed singlets & a lightweight growbag to sleep in as she'll be in the port-a-cot & I'm scared of dealing with the getting out thing, so that is a great idea Ambah!! I packed two body suits too just in case its a bit colder in NSW...