Now that summer is finally here I've been trying to get out more with the boys to places like the park on a regular basis. Max and Nathan love to climb on anything and everything, so the play structures at the park provide them with the perfect medium to hone their skills while simultaneously scaring the crap out of me. It's terribly hard to keep track of both of them when they really get going, and I usually spend most of my time chasing somebody down and reminding him of the "no running off" rule. So now the bloom is off the whole park thing for me, and I've even started to dread it sometimes because I'm so concerned about trying to keep either or both of my kids from either getting away from me or becoming seriously injured (or both.)
As a result, I've started taking them to a nearby pool that has a special gated kiddie pool. It overlooks train tracks and Lake Shore Drive, so the kids get to splash to their hearts content while also indulging their fascination with trains and buses. It's mostly a win-win for me, as long as I remember to bring all of the gear required to keep them busy and hydrated and sun-screened. I feel kind of guilty though that I haven't taken them to the park in over a week though, like I'm cheating somehow because it's easier to take them somewhere fun that's enclosed and free of fall hazards.
The guilt of a mother never ends, does it?
The only side effect I've noticed is that the boys still need an outlet to satisfy their climbing jones. I'm constantly pulling them off furniture and small wheeled objects that they try to utilize to climb wherever. I've tried to make pillow mountains for them to climb on, and they are allowed to climb on to the couch and the arm chair, but not surprisingly that just isn't good enough for M&N. So now I guess I will start taking them back to the park again soon so they can get the climbing thing out of their system for a few days or so.
Nathan is my more intrepid and fearless climber of the two boys, and if I leave the room for a second he is the one I expect to find standing on the table when I return. Last Friday he figured out how to climb out of his crib apparently because he didn't feel like taking a nap. We battled for over an hour, I put him in time out and then returned him to his crib, and then finally deposited him in the packnplay thing we still have set up in the master bedroom in a fit of desperation. It worked in that he couldn't figure out how to climb out, but not so much since he couldn't or wouldn't fall asleep. I think the whole thing at least delivered the message that it isn't OK to climb out of the crib, because he's only tried it a few more time since then.
I'm thinking one of those crib tent thingies might offer a good short term solution until I think the boys are more ready for toddler beds. I'll post more about that next time, but suffice it to say that I'm certain the boys will not sleep if given the opportunity to roam around their room/the apartment instead.
Anyone else tried a crib tent? Liked it? Hated it?
I bought a crib tent for my 22 mos old son not even two weeks ago and I LOVE IT! He is a very, very active toddler that climbs anything you can think of. The way I looked at it was this: I could either turn his crib into a toddler bed (it's a convertible), pretty much remove all the furniture from his room (he climbs the dresser, seriously), and then put a lock on the door. Or I could put up a crib tent. Basically, I would either turn his room into something like a cage, or his crib into one. The crib is a whole lot easier and probably more peaceful for him. I went through the whole thing with the toddler bed with my daughter when she was the same age and it was a nightmare. I don't think my son minds the crib tent at all, and bedtimes & naptimes are back to the easy routine they were before. With him knowing he can't climb out, he doesn't fight going to sleep like he did once he learned he could get out. I'd recommend a crib tent in a heartbeat. It cost about $75 and has been well worth it.
Posted by: Heather | June 24, 2007 at 10:46 AM