Conference moira::parenting_v3

    Sleeping on the floor sounds like a good idea. It might get him
    used to not being in his crib before his bed arrives. Just make
    sure you take everything suspect out of the room or put it up where
    he can't reach or climb to get. Plug up all the outlets (you can
    put dressers in front of them if he takes the safety plugs out).
    Mkae an adventure out of it. And you can put the baby gate in his
    door so he can't wander around if you are worried about it. 
    
    With the gate in the door you can say to him, "It's o.k. if you
    don't go to sleep yet, but you have to stay in your room now, and
    when you get sleepy, lie down on your sleeping bag." Just so he
    knows that after he is put to bed, that is it, he has to stay in
    his room.  I know alot of people will hate me for saying this, but
    he may cry at the gate for a while, but he will probably give up
    eventually. Hopefully he can't climb over the gate! You might want
    to try without the gate first, and then if he keeps coming into
    your room, tell him you will have to put the baby gate up. This
    works with my 2.5 yr old.
    
    Good luck. I know how you feel.
    
    Dottie

    You can also consider lowering the side of his crib, if it's
    adjustable, to make it easier for him to get out. He may be feeling
    trapped for some reason.
    
    You mention he does this when he's feeling hysterical. Is there any way
    you could help (without giving in :-) before it reaches the hysteria
    level? Perhaps some of the ideas going on in the recent discussion
    about putting to bed -- Ferber's book on sleep problems can be quite
    helpful. Generally, you want to reassure him that you're there by going
    in every 5-10 minutes, but only stay a minute.  Be firm and polite and
    then leave. They soon get the hint, believe it or not.
    
    Best of luck,
    Lynn
    

    Is it not possible to remove the front side from the crib? (maybe
    detach the rods that allow it to slide up and down?).
    
    		- Bruce

    Perhaps he is having some sort of anxieties when he's going to bed or
    something that causes his hysterics.  If he's anxious or nervous try
    some sort of mood music as he's going to sleep.  My sister's child is
    about the same age, she too had to lower the crib to the lowest setting
    since Steve was becoming "adept" at climbing out.  
    
    I agree with the other repliers about trying the sleeping on the floor
    routine, etc.   He definitely would hurt himself less if he rolled off
    the matress while it was on the floor, etc.  However, I'm wondering why
    he gets hysterical.
    
    My sister had more of a problem not so much with climbing out and she
    did with his anxiety and she said the new tapes help....they are
    relaxing and so far he hasn't woken up in the night again.  
    
    It's a strange suggestion but with kids it's hard to guess what'll work
    and what won't.  Perhaps it's worth a try?  
    
    R.
    

Bruce,

It depends on the price of the crib. Ours was a medium priced
crib and the side does not remove. We dropped the side and tied a
two-stepped stool on the side of the crib so that Sammy can crawl
out.

Cal

    That could have been my son exactly at that age. We went on vacation
    and he slept in a bed with a sleeper keeper (that was for 8 weeks).
    When we came back I have planned on keeping him in his crib, which has
    a removeable side finished so no sharp edges or bolts stuck out - this
    was the reason we bought this crib; to extend it's lifespan. We'll Berk
    wanted nothing to do with that. He flipped out of the crib at all hours
    of the night. We tried the gate in the door to keep him from wandering
    but he would even flip over that to let us know he wasn't happy. So we
    put a spare king size mattress on the floor and never had a problem. He
    knew when he wanted to be in the bed and no one or nothing was going to
    keep him in that crib or his room. 
    
    In the meantime waiting for bed to come in, try putting the crib
    mattress on the floor. My son wouldn't sleep on his but we did try. Or
    maybe a mattress from a sleep sofa. Also remember that hot air rises so
    if the weather is hot, sit in the floor for a while to see how cold it
    is down there before blasting the room with fans.

    When my oldest son started climbing out of his crib we moved
    him to a low bed and stuffed rolled towels under the bottom sheet
    (it was a fitted sheet) that made enough of a 'lip' to keep
    him from rolling out of bed.
    
    I recall when I was growing up, people delt with the problem of
    kids climbing out of cribs by putting extenders on the cribs to
    raise the sides and putting a top of netting on the crib, essentially
    making it a cage.
    
    Times do change.
    
    Bonnie

    I moved Erica (19 months) into a twin bed last week after her jumping
    out of the crib and she started climbing into my bed for her afternoon 
    naps.  She did fine for a few days but this weekend she was a horror 
    story...any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  
    
    Erica needs her nap in the afternoon but I'm having trouble getting her
    to stay in the bed for them and at night too.  The bed is low enough so 
    	she can get out very fast as soon as I leave the room she is at the 
    door banging to get out.  I close the door until she falls asleep.  We 
    do the same things every night...dinner, bath, play, read, sleep???....
    but now she screams when I leave the room.  I've gone in and given her 
    a hug but she holds on for dear life.  Last night after and hour of going 
    in and out I just let her cry (scream) and she fell asleep at the door 
    (talk about guilt!).  Has anyone had this problem and how did you deal 
    with it?  Once she is asleep she if fine and stays there until the morning
    when I go get her.
    
    Any suggestions/experience is appreciated.
    
    Darlene