Big Boy Bed

Today I became a faux Supernanny client.... I applied Jo's brilliant training techniques to the bedtime routines for Little Corey. I recently placed Little Corey into his crib for a nap as I always do. Minutes later, he knocked from the other side of his door to come out and play.... He climbed out of his crib!! Corey and I promptly went to Babies'R'Us to buy a bed rail so that we could convert his crib to a big boy bed. We have an acquaintance whose daughter broke her arm in three places when she fell while climbing out of her crib and she had to have surgery... three pins into her elbow.... years of checkups to observe growth patterns.... I did not want that pain for my son! We went to "fix" his crib and found that his mattress could go lower on the frame, so we tried this first, certain that he couldn't possibly pull his little body over the crib rail.... he did. His first nap today was spent with me standing by his door for an hour, spying through the cracked door to see if he would climb out of his crib. Aha! Time to implement Nanny Jo Frost's bedtime techniques! The first time he climbed out of bed, I walked in, placed him back into his crib and said "Time for ni-night, sweetie. I love you." and walked out of the room to await his next move. He climbed out again. I returned to his room, placed him back into the crib and sternly said, "Tim for ni-night." (No "Sweetie" or "I love you" to reinforce poor behavior with positive attention) I left the room and stood once again outside his door, spying to see what choice he would make. He climbed out again. This time, I silently placed him back into his crib, avoiding eye contact or any expression which would encourage the behavior further. This continued on and on for quite a while. After about one hour, and seventeen times putting him back into his crib, he finally gave in and went to sleep. During his second nap, he only got out three times in only thirty minutes or so. By the time he went to bed tonight, we converted his crib into a toddler day bed, learned that the rail we bought wouldn't work and so we chanced putting him to bed with no rail and nothing "stopping" him from getting out of bed. Wouldn't you know it?! He went right to sleep and never left his bed! Wow! Thank you, Supernanny! Be good, be good!