Welcome! & Kids who get out of bed!

I created this blog over a year ago to post ideas, tips and info about my company JumpStart Parenting. Life events have kept me from posting but with the new year I have made it a goal to post at least once a week. Maybe a tip, maybe an idea or a story that happened with my own children or even a client's story. Hopefully these posts will help some of you with some of you parenting challenges!

I got a call this morning from a friend who I have helped with many parenting concerns. Today she was really stressed, she had been up all night with her son, who for the first time climbed out of his crib last night  and did so multiple times. She works from home and really counts on being able to put her son in his bed and know he will stay there and rest. The ever-evolving job of parenting can be so stressful, just when you have a system working... kids, grow, develop and change which causes us to change and stress!

So what did I tell her to do? First, calm down, and realize that her son is normal and so is she! Some kids never crawl out of bed or climb for that matter and some kids do! (I have a friend whose daughter is 6 years old and still calls her parents to come to her room, never leaving her own bed without an adult.) Once she relaxed a bit I told her she pretty much had two options, a crib tent which is literally a tent that the mattress goes inside of the crib, the parent zips it around the mattress to keep the child from climbing out and getting hurt in the night or during a nap time. Or option two, transitioning to a big kid bed, either a toddler bed or full size bed. The transition to a 'big kid' bed can be a scary for the parents. There needs to be adjustments to the child's bedroom for safety reasons. When we did this with my son we thought that just putting the video monitor up on a shelf was going to be a great idea so he couldn't mess with it, but when he pulled it down by the cord and broke it, we realized that we had to get a little better with disguising and hiding it placing the monitor where he could not access it. Either way the transition brings something new and there will be a adjustment period for both the child and the parent. No matter what you decide is best for your child make sure it is well thought out explain the changes to your child simply informing him/her the new sleep plans and what the consequences will be for not following directions and stick with your plan. Kids need boundaries and structure to thrive. If you stay with it your child will do great and everyone will be sleeping soundly soon!

To Sum it up:

• Stay calm
• figure out what plan of action to take, crib tent or big-kid bed
• Initiate the plan
• Inform your child of the new plan
• Stick to it!
• Sleep better