Hello all,

It's been quite a while since I've posted, but I could use some advice. My BBG trips are 2 (they'll be 2 1/2 next month), and I think it might be time for toddler beds. The boys have been able to climb out of their cribs for a while, but until recently have waited for me to come into their room to get them in the morning before they get out. Now they have decided that they will come out of the cribs and their room to get me up in the morning. The problem is that I don't even give them free reign of the house yet. I still have them enclosed in the family room and a hallway when we are inside. They can scale baby gates and open doors, so in reality a good portion of my day is spent retrieving them from the forbidden areas. So far I have felt that the pain in the neck of constantly scolding them and putting them back in the area was more manageable than having to clean up the destruction and chaos that would ensue if I allowed them to access the other rooms freely. When they go into bedrooms, they rip down curtains, blinds, and anything decorative. They also like to take all the clothes out of the drawers. The bathroom is a place to unroll all the toilet paper and cover themselves and the room in lotion, soap, shampoo, etc... The kitchen is just a death trap as far as I'm concerned, and the little latches on the drawers and cabinets do nothing to keep them out. I know that their growing up is inevitable, and that they are requiring more freedom, I'm just not sure how to handle it. I am working hard all day to keep some sort of cleanliness and order to the house while trying to allow them to have fun, but I feel like it will become impossible if their area is expanded. How did you all go about opening up the house to your kids? Do they stop destroying so much once being in the room stops being a new experience? How old were they when you did this? A room or two at a time, or the whole house at once? How about the toddler beds? I'm just a nervous wreck right now! I don't want anyone to get hurt, and I don't want my entire house torn to shreds! I have a 4 year old, and I remember that I was a bit nervous when she moved into her bed, but this is a whole new ball game!

-Madonna

Proud Mommy to:

Grace 06/20/07 and

BBG 03/17/09 @ 33w 2d
Sophia 3lbs 6.1oz
Mason 3lbs 13.6oz
Owen 3lbs 0.4oz

First, you need to open up the house. They are too old to keep in one room. However, opening up the house doesn't mean they have to have access to every room. Put doorknob covers or another kind of lock on any room that you don't want them to have access. Frankly, I think they are going to go a little nuts with their new freedom for a while, then it will settle down. My kids had more freedom than yours did because I never gated them in one room. They were less destructive simply because they had always had access to a larger area and not as much was forbidden. Of course, any area they had access to was as babyproofed as I could make it. If your kitchen locks aren't working, try another kind. I've heard the magnetic tot locks work well for kids who can get the other ones open. Or, if it is possible, keep the kitchen gated.

We did crib tents, so I didn't have to deal with toddler beds until 3. However, if you are ready to move them, strip the room. Take everything out that you can. Any remaining furniture (like a dresser)make sure it is fastened to the wall. Lock the closet door. Our dresser had no clothes in it. When they got up and opened the drawers there was nothing in them to make a mess. I had a doorknob cover on the inside of the door so they couldn't escape and go wandering around the house. We only had beds, empty dressers fastened to the wall and a baby monitor on top of a dresser. When they got older and settled down we started putting things back in the room and took the cover off the door.

Lori

http://yesidohavemyhandsfull.blogspot.com/

Sometime after 2 we started opening up the house slowly to them, one area at a time.

If you let them have access to a room, baby proof it. Take anything that could hurt them or make a mess out. Toilet paper goes up, lotions are removed, outlets covered, curtains out of reach etc. The other option is lots of broken things, messes, injuries and partial to total insanity on your part. This stage only lasts 12-18m. So for a year live like you are in a daycare and reclaim your sanity.


Susan

ps. The magnetic tot locks were the only thing that worked to keep our trio out of cupboards...one figured them out, but as long as we kept the magnet out of reach it worked.

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




http://www.thedivinemercy.org/message

  

Wow. I think my kids have had free reign of most of my house since they were 1. At 2 they should be able to learn what is acceptable behavior and what is not. I'm not suggesting you keep fragile items in your living room but they shouldn't be pulling things out of drawers and pulling curtains down. Now, don't get me wrong. We definitely have had some instances of baby powder and toilet paper covering half the house but how else will they learn what is acceptable and what is not? Toddlers need to learn how to behave not only at home but when they travel to other people's houses or out in public. Someone will certainly get hurt. We had a few falls down the stairs and tumbles into kitchen counters but that is expected at this age. It will take a little diligence at first but it will be worth it. I would do one room at a time rather than the whole house at once. At this age, you kind-of have to let go of orderliness. I'm a neat freak myself but my house is a diaster during the day. I clean at night after the kids go to bed and feel much better. My kids would have gone crazy if I had tried to keep them to a small area of our house at age 2, and so would I.

Karla

6/29/08
Amelia - 2 lbs. 12 oz
Marcus - 4 lbs. 11 oz
Jocelyn - 3 lbs. 15 oz.

born at 32 weeks 6 days
http://mybabydrama.com/

I dunno. We tried this recently - gated the kitchen but gave them free access to the living room, gating the tv set, laundry room (cat litterbox) taking everything out of end tables/coffee tables, gating the bathroom (because even thought the cabinet and toilet are locked I don't want them playing with the toilet brush and plunger) etc. etc. All went relatively well until they learned to climb up on the couch. Then they stood and jumped on it and we have tile floors! I was afraid someone was going to break their neck! Then one went from the couch to standing on top of the end table (surface is the same height as the arm of the sofa so she was up pretty high) - and *standing*, over a tile floor!!! I'd had enough. They now are only in a gated playroom during the day for their own safety. (Also by "relatively well" I mean they didn't get hurt. They did pull out all of my tupperware and plastic cups for my 6 y.o. all over the house, all of my holiday tablecloths, all of my dishtowels, cloth napkins and everything out of drawers in an armoire that DH doesn't want to "ruin" by installing baby locks on it. Oh and they kept shutting their own and each other's fingers in the drawers also, empty or full. I was constantly collecting things and putting them back where they belonged - and I have no other place to store that stuff - no basements or big closets here in Fl and no space in my garage either. And even if I took everything out of the house they would still shut their fingers in the drawers!

I can't even let them play in the backyard because we're on a busy street and we don't have a fence and all 3 take off in 3 different directions. I learned this when I took them to an unused soccer field. They all ran, fast, 3 different ways, one towards the woods, one towards the parking lot and another towards the middle of a high school soccer game in the next field over. Thank God I had a friend with me or I would have really been in serious trouble.

For us, waiting is the answer simply for peace of mind. It stinks but I just don't know what else to do but coop them up - for their safety and my sanity.

You have definitley at a transition stage with your triplets. I think it might help to attach crib tents to their cribs to at least give you six more months of them at least being contained while they are their cribs. This would at least give you some peace of mind time while they are napping and sleeping at night. If you have this, it might make the transition to more freedom around the house feel more doable. Good Luck. Isn't it always when we feel we are getting one stage down, something changes and we are at square one again trying to figure out the best way to handle the next stage. Fun Times!


http://tripletmomplusone.blogspot.com/

Mom to BBG Triplets and singleton boy. Charlie, Jake and Kaylee are three years old and Sam is one.

When our kids started figuring out the doorknob locks and going around the house, we got a roll of the wide velcro and put strips of velcro on the tops of the doors of the rooms they were not allowed in, and we kept them velcroed into their room until we were ready for them in the morning. It worked really well for us, and cost next to nothing...much cheaper than a bunch of locks, and the wide velcro is really strong.

Good Luck...before you know it, they'll be fourth graders!!!

Tanya
Erica, David, Halley 4/7/02

Sufficient unto the day is one baby. As long as you are in your right mind don't you ever pray for twins. Twins amount to a permanent riot; and there ain't any real difference between triplets and a insurrection.
- Mark Twain

I love my kids but there are days that it feels like an insurrection at our house. We used the crib tents until they were a little over 3yo. I converted to toddler beds, but DS was dumping the water from the humidifier all over the floor, so back into the tent he went for a bit (the girls did let him out as he was the only one who could open the gates). We have had the same issues with the blinds and curtains. Their bedroom has shutters, but no blind or curtains (they pulled the 12 foot long headrail down with the blinds attached in their playroom--luckily no one was injured). My kids are 3 1/2 and there are still spaces I don't allow them in, but mostly with door knob covers (some they can open). We keep the kitchen gated (but it really just slows them down as they can open it..and if one is in, everyone is in). The tot locks didn't work with our cabinet fronts, so we really only have one inaccessible drawer with knives and scissors. They do know how to behave in public, but I don't allow them to go to the bathroom alone in a public place or even someone else's home (I do at home, but check if they're gone too long or are too quiet.) Clean after they go to bed, otherwise you are expending a lot of energy and still have to do it again once they go to bed. It didn't work for us, but some people make the kids clean up one set of toys before taking out something else to play with. Good luck!

We let ours have access to the house when they were around 16 months (before that it was access to everywhere except the kitchen). I keep our bedroom, my older daughters bedroom, and bathroom door closed. Every other room has been toddler proofed. A lot of MoMs I know swear by the magnetic locks although I never tried them. Use door knob covers on the doors you don't want them to open. Keep all breakables and such high up out of their reach. I'll admit that my house looks kinda barren in areas (like books on the top half of the book shelf and empty shelves on the bottom) but it is worth it. If you can't block off the kitchen, and don't want to install the magnetic locks, can you clear out all the drawers and cabinets they can get to? I agree with a previous post that you will probably go through a "crazy" period at first since this is their first taste of freedom in the house, but it will calm down.
Ours started climbing out of the cribs at about 18 months so we moved them to toddler beds. It was actually easier transition then I ever expected. Here are some tips for you that might make it easier: http://thetripletlife.com/moving-to-toddler-beds
I also highly suggest a video monitor if you don't have one already. It really helps to see what is going on in there. We got a two camera, with night vision and sound, with a monitor for $60 from harbor freight and we love it.
Good luck!

www.thetripletlife.com

http://www.zazzle.com/the_triplet_life


""