Prison Break...

After returning home from the holidays last year, we decided that the break in a routine was a good time to initiate a sleep policy so that we could sleep through the night. That was very successful and RJ has slept through the night pretty much ever since then. We wanted to make another adjustment this year -- removing the pacifier as a sleep-time essential. He no longer asks for it during the day and will even drop it in his crib voluntarily before leaving his room in the morning, but he still requires it for falling asleep at night and at naptime. As his teeth continue to come in we wanted to break the paci-habit to prevent needing a second mortgage for orthodontics.

On the first Saturday of the new year we hid the pacifier for his afternoon nap. It was a little heart-breaking because he was used to the routine and calmly reminded me "paci?". Then he saw me put his book away and repeated "paci?" As I started heading for the door -- "paci? paci! paci, paci, paci!" I tried to reassure him that he's a big boy now and didn't need it but he wasn't buying it. We committed to helping him through this transition so no backing down now or he'll own us for the rest of his life.

He was angry. Crying, screaming, and very much not sleeping. After about 10 minutes he quieted down. It surprised us it would be that easy. Then he surprised us as he ran into the living room where we were having lunch.

The first question rolling around in our head was "He can do that?" after which we tried to solve the mystery of how he did it without getting hurt given the obstacles.

Obstacle #1: The Crib



At 26" from mattress to top, somehow our 34" long boy managed to get out of the crib. There was no evidence that he dug out with a spoon. The clothes hamper was close to his crib, so maybe he dragged it over and used it for leverage.

Obstacle #2: The Door



We didn't think he quite had the dexterity for turning the doorknob yet, so we thought he may have had an accomplice. Perhaps the door wasn't fully latched and our cat Boca Chica sprung him from the outside.

Obstacle #3: The Stairs



Ok, that's just scary. We don't have a gate at the top of the stairs yet because the one we bought didn't fit with the banister so we just don't let him run around upstairs as an interim solution. He goes up and down the stairs all the time, with us holding his hand and walking with him. He has crawled down backwards or scooted on his butt before so that's probably what he did.

We tried putting him down for bed that night again. We took a few precautions this time, moving the hamper to the other side of the room and keeping a close eye on the cat. Listening intently to the monitor we heard him drop out of the crib. Running in he was covered in blood as he had cut his lip pretty badly.

Now What?

Uncertain whether Alcatraz could contain this kid, Cheryl remembered a parenting tip from Gilmore Girls (Season 5, Episode 6 -- "Norman Mailer, I'm Pregnant") so we decided to turn the crib around and put it in the corner of the room. This worked well because the back of his crib is higher than the other 3 sides. We also gave him back the comforting support of his beloved "paci" and within a few days we were back to our normal sleep routine. We'll wait until he's ready to give up the pacifier on his own terms (or his 18th birthday, whichever comes first) but at least he hasn't tried climbing out of the crib since.

We just turned his crib back around so here is a more recent picture of him in his crib, lip long ago healed and he's even a little bit taller: