Random Parenting Bullets Sprinkled With The Periodic Request For Input
- Nikki likes to talk. She talks all the time and often to herself using random collections of information and stories to weave her own conversations, songs, and dramas that keep her entertained on the 15-minute commute to Target. The other night? She started in on “jokes” – which are just random strings of statements that eventually involve any one or all of the following: Poop, butts, pee, or vaginas. I think she called them jokes because we laughed, either way? She had two adults and two teenagers cracking up. And one 2-year old wondering what the hell was so funny.
- Wes has started climbing into his crib when he’s playing in his room. I have no idea what to do with this. He’ll be two on Friday so I think we’re safe to take him out of the crib, but I’m not sure if I trust him enough yet. I just don’t want him trying to get out of the crib by himself, that’s the part that scares me. What do you think? Should I go ahead and get him out of the crib? Share with me your stories about when you transitioned. Wes is my first climber so this is kinda new to me.
- Speaking of things that are kinda new to me – suddenly Wes has also decided to put foreign objects into his mouth. I’m having to throw away small toys he’s played with fine for ages. Because suddenly? It’s funny to cram things in his mouth and that freaks me out. Anyone ever seen that with their kid? The resurgence of the desire to eat everything – even when they know it’s not food?
- We put in an offer on our potential Forever Home yesterday. The wait for a response is GOING TO KILL ME. So, to help me pass the time, I’d like to hear your cool ideas for playroom decor. There will be an “extra” room in this home (if we get it) that would be a perfect playroom and I’m thinking I definitely want to do something with some chalkboard paint and some magnetic paint. But that’s where my ideas stop. Do you have any fun ideas of things you’ve done or seen done? Keep in mind two important points: 1) I have minimal crafty skills limited to cutting and gluing and 2) I have absolutely no patience.
Re: crib. If you think he’s going to climb out anyway, why not leave the railing down when you put him to bed. Or take the mattress out of the crib completely and keep him on the floor for a while to see how he does. I was lucky with my kids when they moved into beds – they always called out for us when they woke up – they didn’t think they could get out of their beds!
Re: playroom. Lots of easy storage so that the kids can clean up after themselves. Think classroom style (bins labeled with pics of dolls or trucks); bookshelves, cubbies.
Keeping fingers crossed that your offer comes thru!
Talking: I really loved that stage. I also loved to watch them when they played by themselves and had these conversations with their dolls. A lot of it really didn’t make any sense but it was so funny.
Climbing: Oiy. Margie wasn’t a climber either, but Amelia was. Though it does not appear she had near the talent that Wes possesses. We had to take everything out of Amelia’s crib because she would stack all of her animals and dolls and climb up on those to get out of the crib. She never did climb INTO it though. We transitioned her earlier into a twin bed, no frame, and butted it up in a corner. I put the saftety rails on the other side and a toy chest at the foot of the bed. That seemed to work really well. I also kept the crib up for just a little while so that if “she wanted to” she could sleep in it, but that didn’t happen too often.
Playroom: I have no taste so I ask friends as well. But I would say, storage bins. That way, everything has a place and the kids, even Wes, will know just where everything goes. Lots and lots of bright colors.
I’m keeping all of my digits crossed that the deal comes through for you on your house. How long before you know?
Instead of chalkboard paint, we got a huge dry erase markerboard from a local educational supply company and attached it to the wall and put painted trim around it as a frame. It’s large (6 feet long, 4 feet tall) and the kids LOVE it. It’s magnetic, so it holds all the magnetic alphabet letters, their artwork, random magnets, etc. It is also easy to erase and clean.
Good luck with the house offer!
We moved Christopher out of his crib when he was 15 months old. We also put a baby gate in his doorway so he couldn’t wander around the house unsupervised. He would get up and play in his room and was totally happy. I was happy because I didn’t wake up to him screeching for someone to pick him up out of the crib.
is there a certain amount of time they have to either accept or decline the offer?? what’s the earliest you guys could possibly hear something???
We moved my daughter to a toddler bed when she turned 2, because we were going to need her crib in a few months and it seemed like a good time to give her a “big girl room” for her birthday. We put a doorknob cover on the inside of her room, so she couldn’t get out and wander the house.
My son, though, is a climber, too. We lowered the crib as much as possible, but he can get out now (he’s not even 2!). So we bought him a toddler firetruck bed, it’s got sides all around to keep him from falling. We just haven’t tried him sleeping in it yet; he’s a little too wild, I’m worried he’ll just run around his room! But we’ll have to do it soon, not much of an option there.
Good luck with that, and the house!!
My oldest never tried climbing out of the crib, but as soon as he tried climbing into the crib we fashioned our own little toddler bed out of the thing. It may have been irrational thinking, but we didn’t want the crib falling over onto him while he was dangling from the side.
To fashion the toddler bed, we took the movable side off, screwed some 2×4 together so it looked like a flat ladder (the length of the crib), covered that in foam and then stapled fabric to everything. The new side/ladder looking thing was then screwed into the footboard and headboard of the crib to keep it stable.
First the new side came a few inches above the mattress to keep the baby from falling out at night. Then we gradually moved it lower and lower to get him used to sleeping in a real bed.
Yeah, it leaves screw holes in the side of the crib, but we knew we’d only be using it for our kids so it wasn’t much of an issue. My youngest is using it as a regular crib now, but he’ll be 2 in 2 weeks and we’re considering putting the padded side on soon.
Hope this helps! If you want a picture of the side we made, let me know and I’ll get you one.
Swiggy
Both of my kids were out of the crib before they turned 2. My son used a toddler bed for a while, but my daughter went straight into a twin bunk bed with a railing on the side at about 15 months. She wanted to sleep in a big bed like her brother. Shortly after that we had to take the top bunk down because we couldn’t get her to stop climbing up! (Why is it children have no fear?)
My just turned 2-year-old is putting everything in her mouth too. I’m blaming it on her 2-year molars cutting through. They’ve been working their way through for a couple months now and she’s always shoving toys and/or her hands in her mouth.
No insights (although good to hear everyone else’s), but good luck on the house!!
My youngest also climbed into her crib. She did that for about a month (whenever she got tired) before it ever occurred to her that if she could get in, she could also get out. We found out the hard way as she hit the floor. I’m with the others who suggested making a toddler bed of some sort out of it or leaving the side down. If it fell on him or he got hung up as he was climbing out, he could really get hurt.
See, I now know from Facebook that you got the house! So I can just be excited for you instead of sharing in the nervousness because I didn’t read your blog til now hehe. And I am – really excited! I can’t wait to see pictures (that would make it easier for me, at least, to come up with ideas, because I am *so* visual! – but I know there are tons of very creative people better able to help you out with that too) and to see what you’re going to do with it! Yay!
I am currently feeding my son while I type one handed so I will be brief. For our playroom we bought a “Fat Boy” chair from Amazon…the best thing ever!!!! And it can be wiped with a baby wipe to clean off any ickies.
No advice, but I’m sooo excited about the house. Fingers and toes are crossed! Oh wait, I do have some advice. I had great fun with vinyl decorations for my baby’s nursery. We were using a cherry blossom tree and then a ladybug/dragonfly set both from Babies R Us. I’m sure there are things out there for older kids, though.
Good luck on the house! We’re about to close on our Forever Home (we used the same term, too…weird) and it feels GOOD. Of course it took us 3 months to get here because it’s a foreclosure. But that will all be behind us soon.
As for playroom decor, you always have great ideas…especially when it comes to chalk paint, so I defer to your judgment!
Good luck with the house! Both the forever house and the current house.
Changing homes could be a great time to switch Wes to the big kid bed, if you don’t think it would be too upsetting, it could be a special treat along with his new room. When I switched my kids to big beds, I put a gate at the doorway to their rooms. They were wanderers and would come out at night or at nap time if there wasn’t a visible barrier. Just spend the extra for the extra tall gate with no crossbar, other wise he’ll just climb over it. Good luck!