So we have an escape artist who is getting more sophisticated with her each passing day. Not the first escape but it is definitely becoming more well thought out and calculated.
It started a few months ago. We put her to bed and walked away as we watched her in the monitor. We noticed she was trying to climb up the corner of the crib but wasn’t having much success.
All of the sudden she hulked up, tried again by pushing herself up and over. We saw it but as with most baby monitors there is a delay of a few seconds. We jumped up to run in and stop it but it was too late. She was out and thankfully somehow landed on her feet and tumbled on her backside.
After looking for suggestions from other parents, we decided to turn the crib so the high side was in front. This made it a little more difficult for her to get out. In fact it seemed to stop the threat.
But, of course it wouldn’t end there. For weeks you can see the wheels in her spin. She was trying to draw up a new escape. Her changing table is right next to the crib so I always felt that was going to be the route.
She started by trying to climb the changing table from the floor which she was successful at. Then climbed down successfully. We have a gap between the crib and the changing table so we didn’t think it would be easy.
What we didn’t take into account for was the fact that the changing table is not a heavy piece of furniture. So she simply reached over, grabbed it, pulled it up the the crib and voila. The great escape.
She climbed up and over the crib onto the changing table then down the front of the table. Didn’t really give it much thought as she did it simply because I’m sure she drew up this plan over the past couple of weeks.
Now some would ask, why didn’t you stop her? Well the answer is simple for us but may sound silly to others. Confidence building. By allowing her to climb out of the crib and climb on anything and everything, she builds confidence.
She is realizing that she can do anything she sets her mind to. And with that she learns that if she falls that’s ok. Just don’t give up and try again. Practice makes perfect or so they say.
So now we have had to rearrange the room so there is no climbable furniture by the crib. At this point we know this won’t buy us much time but it is what it is. Next step soon will be to convert the crib to a toddler bed.