Accidents after converting crib to toddler bed

[Anonymous]

DD climbed and fell out of her crib so we converted it to a toddler bed. Less than a minute after we let her access the bed and turned our back, she fell and hit her teeth / gum somehow (mouth full of blood dripping everywhere and a massive bruise on the gum that has me worried about long term damage to her tooth). Now two days later, she has busted her lip. She is close to turning 2, and I know people move their kids out of a crib earlier than that.

Does it ever get easier, with fewer accidents, once toddlers get used to that new freedom?

[Anonymous]

Strange. Is the toddler bed at it’s lowest setting to the floor? Does it have the half railing?

Maybe she isn’t old enough for the open bed. Have you tried a sleep sack in the crib? Sleep sacks make it hard for them to climb out.

[Anonymous]

Just put the mattress on the floor

[Anonymous]

I think some kids are just more adventurous than others. My nephew was like that. They wound up just doing a Montessori style bed with a mattress on the floor, on top on a soft rug. You could also try a sleep sack, as PP suggested, though that might not contain this particular child because some kids figure out how to climb even in a sleep sack. Kids are very inventive when they want to be!

But yes, they outgrow this. Or more accurately, they start to better gauge risk and also get better at moving around so there are fewer accidents. It’s not something that happens all at once— it’s a long process and kids fall down and can be accident prone into the teen years. But even though it’s scary to see them get hurt, most of the time it’s just bumps and bruises. Part of being a parent is fine tuning your worrying so you don’t intervene too much (they need to fall to learn) but keep them safe when it counts. It’s a moving target and one of the harder things about parenting.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you. She had a sleepsack on when she fell out of the crib and the half rail was on both times she fell out of the toddler bed. She is not very risk averse generally, and doesn’t seem to mind a few bumps here and there (will hit her head on things to get attention when upset).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just put the mattress on the floor

This

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you. She had a sleepsack on when she fell out of the crib and the half rail was on both times she fell out of the toddler bed. She is not very risk averse generally, and doesn’t seem to mind a few bumps here and there (will hit her head on things to get attention when upset).

You should mention this behavior to her pediatrician.

[Anonymous]

Whoa! She’s not even 2 and you have her in a regular toddler bed??? Our 3 year old still sleeps in a crib!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whoa! She’s not even 2 and you have her in a regular toddler bed??? Our 3 year old still sleeps in a crib!

Whoa! Your 3 year old still sleeps in a crib???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just put the mattress on the floor

This

Definitely this. Mine rolled in his sleep and fell out of his toddler bed several times. Switched to a queen size floor mattress and he still rolled out of bed but at least it was less than 6 inches to the floor.