Most mornings, I rely on my kids to wake me up. Recently, however, I found my daughter making a daring attempt to escape her crib. When I opened her door, I discovered her with one leg dangling over the edge and the other foot straining on tiptoes as she tried to pull herself up and out. It hit me that we needed to upgrade my son’s bed this weekend so that he could pass his toddler bed down to her. She was clearly done waiting.
That afternoon, I placed her in her crib for a nap. I expected her to chatter away when she woke up, but instead, I heard her screaming an hour later. Rushing in, I found her with her leg caught between the slats. Panic set in as I realized she was stuck, and all my efforts to free her were in vain. I called for my son, who, instead of being concerned, complained about the noise.
I tried to soothe her while my son fetched me a chair to help her balance. When my husband didn’t answer my call, I thought of my in-laws nearby. I frantically asked my father-in-law to bring an Allen wrench to disassemble the crib and rescue her. Meanwhile, my son returned with snacks, a jar of applesauce, and pretzels—his crisis management skills were surprisingly better than mine.
When my in-laws arrived, we quickly figured out that the Allen wrench wouldn’t work. I dashed next door to borrow a saw from my neighbor, who was thrilled to showcase her DIY skills. As I held my daughter’s hands to comfort her, my son rambled on about his cartoon, seemingly unfazed by the chaos.
Once the saw was up and running, my daughter froze in fear. Thankfully, we managed to cut the slat and free her leg, feeling relief as her circulation returned. Reflecting on this experience, I realized that we had been too slow to transition her out of the crib. Our son had never attempted to climb out, but with her, we should have acted sooner.
Moving forward, I’ve made sure to keep the contact information of our neighbors handy for emergencies. We’ve now installed a landline for serious situations, and my daughter is comfortably sleeping on a mattress on the floor. It’s a lesson learned: don’t wait until your toddler tries to make an escape!
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