So I wrote earlier this week about how I gave birth to Macgyver. This week I also tried stacking 2 gates on top of each other and putting a crib mattress on the floor. I had to climb on a chair to get in and out of Jackson's room. He still escaped. He somehow climbed the tower of a gate. We tried shutting his door and putting a child safety lock on the inside but that really made me nervous because I couldn't see what he was doing. He would take anything hard he could find, including his feet and slam them against the door. I would eventually cave and open the door because I just had to know what he was up to - especially if he was finally quiet. Then I came up with my master plan and I bought a two man camping tent. I set it up in his nursery and filled it with blankets, pillows, play mats, and a crib mattress. The top of the tent is all sheer mesh (it came with a rain top but I obviously don't need that) and I can easily see inside. So now I zip him up into the tent and breathe much easier knowing he cannot escape. He hasn't figured out zippers yet and once he does I plan on safety pinning the two outer zippers together. It sounds horrible but I swear if I showed you a picture the inside of the tent is like a sweet little play den. My older son is incredibly jealous. Have any other parents gone to this extreme to keep their young child in their bed? I just couldn't sleep worrying about him getting out at night and hurting himself. This way I know that he is in an environment where there is nothing but soft objects and stuffed friends. It's weird to say but yes, my son sleeps in a 2 man camping tent inside our house and I've never slept better. 
4 comments:
Haven't gone to this extreme yet but we definitely might! And I am absolutely positively NOT judging you! My little one is 2 and just attempting to transition to a big boy bed (toddler bed). Right now he stays in his bed with the help of one baby gate at his door but I know the days of that working are numbered. I really and truly have been wanting a tent for his room anyway (just because I think they're fun and so does he) but I really think this might work. As it is now he falls asleep most nights at the foot of the gate and almost never takes a nap because he's up playing no matter how many times I put him back to bed. Might have to look into this. :)
More power to you! Bed time was so stressful when mine were that age. It sounds like he's safe and ok with it...so if it works.
When our son was a baby he hated laying flat in a bed..he slept best in the swing. I had people who told me it was the worst thing to do and he was going to have so much trouble going into a regular bed down the line, etc...well, he's 6 now and he's fine. It didn't make sense to try and force him to sleep flat in a bed because, well, he wasn't sleeping!! Which, of course, also meant we weren't...He didn't sleep in it *all* the time or really for very long...but it worked.
As long as they're not getting hurt or scarred for life, do what you have to do.
Oh, I am laughing! But only because we're past that stage and I understand it. The extremes we go to that we never imagined, huh? I think that's a very inventive idea. I had problems with my son when he was awake. I work from home and built multiple barriers around the house to keep him in without feeling caged, and it was sooo difficult. A tent with mesh top? He probably would have LOVED having his own little house. Good thinking, mom!
Every time I read about your little boy, I just get this picture of the Doris Day movie "Please Don't Eat The Daisies." They had their youngest in a playpen with a top, that was locked shut with a keyed lock. I think that little boy was always saying "Okey Dokey" or something that sounded like that.
Hey, you got to do what you got to do to keep him safe.
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