I need some practical advice from parents who understand triplets.

My kids will be 3 in 19 days. I have two crib tents with broken zippers. This has not been an issue until a few days ago, when I found both of my daughters outside their cribs after "rest time" which has now replaced naptime. Since then, they've climbed out both mornings (they do generously unzip their brother's tent, though he has not climbed out yet) and today during quiet time, they immediately hopped out when I closed the door. I put them back twice then gave up, and now they're playing in their room while I figure out which course of action to take.

The tents are out of warranty, so it would cost $84 to order the replacement nets. I'm trying to decide if I should order those to keep the girls in or just switch to beds for everyone. (Or maybe just for them?) One big reservation I have about switching to beds is that one of my daughters bit the other on the arm while they were in their bedroom the other day. They obviously cannot be trusted not to hurt one another. I'd also have to move some furniture out of their room, including the changing table we still use (yes, even at 3 - it's easier on my back than crouching all the time, but we're using it less now that they're potty trained during the day) but those are small things.

I'm hesitant to order more tents, because now that they're old enough to climb out without getting hurt, I feel like it's less of a safety issue and I don't like the idea of trapping them in their cribs for my convenience (it would be different if they were still napping more frequently), though I really need some "quiet time in their room" sanity during the day. I'm a teacher and I'll be back at work in a few weeks, but I appreciate the quiet time on the weekends, too. They do nap sometimes, and I like them to have that opportunity.

When did you stop using your crib tents? What would you do in this situation? Thanks for the advice!

BGG born at 34 weeks on 8/12/08

Move them to beds. Clear the room, babyproof anything left in it and deal with the party until you get them used to it. At almost 3 it isn't worth buying new crib tents. We switched the week of their 3rd birthday. Naps were done at that point. They were pretty spotty before we switched so I think my kids were just ready. I did have a doorknob cover on the inside of their door for a year. They may have been ready to get out of cribs but were not ready to stay in their room without being forced to.

Lori

http://yesidohavemyhandsfull.blogspot.com/

We used our crib tents till they were a little over 3 1/2 and then went right to big beds.

If it were me I would just move them to beds at this point and not waste the money. If they were 2 I would invest the money. But they are getting a bit older and maybe ready to quit napping.

Can you put them in separate rooms? When we moved to beds we moved our boys to a room to share and DD has her own room. We never had a problem with them staying in their beds. But we also stopped naps at this age too. For the first 6 months they would call for us to get them out of their beds! lol We didn't even use those bed rail things either. I think they each fell out of bed maybe 2 times. I put pillows on the floor for a few months.


Terri~
12/21/01 at 33 weeks

Since they are so close to three, you should be able to find some sort of discipline that works to keep them in without the tent being closed. If you can't find a way to keep them in the open tent now, you sure won't keep them in the bed if you move to them.

Susan

Parent to GGG born 31 weeks 4 days 4/26/07




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WOW, I am not sure ANY form of disipline would of kept mine in thier cribs when they learned to get out! We Moved to beds when this happened, right around thier 3rd B day. Nap time was a hassle, but they still needed them, so we started to take time and sit in the room with them for about 15 minutes and they fell asleep. We cleared the room of EVERYTHING. THey had thier beds, and a bin of books, that was it. At night we read a few books, tucked in bed and sat outside the door till they fell asleep. We had to train them this was to stay in bed. I think it would of been easier if they weren't in the same room, but we don't have room to split them up. THey are alsmot 5 and still in the same room. They do gedt out of bed and horse around with each other, but after a few moments of htat they are off to sleep! We didn't give them thier dressers back untill they were 4, and they just got a lamp back in. Good luck.

Zayn 3/6/04
Pari 8/30/06
Trevor 8/30/06
Larkin 8/30/06

Live for today, dream of tomarrow, remember all your yesterdays

Yes, I'm not as worried about keeping them in bed - I can sit in the room for that. My issue is that I was sitting in there to get them to stay quiet and nap, and at first I only stayed 15 minutes or so but after a few weeks, I was sitting on their floor 45 minutes or more, getting sleepy myself and then leaving before they slept because I just couldn't take it anymore. I don't care if they nap or not, but we all need the down time in the afternoon. Frankly, I really don't care if they party in their room during "rest" time, *I* need the break! At least with beds, they could get back in and go to sleep if they wanted to. Right now, I know one can climb back into her crib but the other girl cannot.

We don't have room to separate them into different bedrooms. I'm ok with sitting with them for a while at night (since they dropped naps, they go to sleep fairly quickly anyway) and I think we should move to big beds.

Thanks for the advice!

BGG born at 34 weeks on 8/12/08

We stopped with the tents about 3 mo. ago for the girls and last week for DS. They share a room. Some days mine still need a nap (not DS so much). It isn't that mine can get the door open with the doorknob cover on, it's that at 3 1/2 they just remove the cover and open the door (they also open the safety gates). Discipline is very difficult at this age for us as they don't really seem to have anything they miss having taken away. I'm looking forward to the start of school next month.

my vote is for beds. We changed ours to toddler beds after being in a big on vacation for about 12 days. It worked and went much better than I thought it would. they had just turned 3 at the time. Good luck!