With daughter Haley Joy attempting to escape her crib recently, Hoda Kotb is looking for advice, and she needs it…yesterday.
Hoda told Sheinelle Jones how she was shocked to watch on the video baby monitor as Haley Joy hoisted her little leg over the side rail of the crib, trying to climb out.
“She is scaling the crib,” Hoda exclaimed, describing how she sprinted up the stairs to Haley Joy’s room to make sure she was safe.
Hoda said she asked Google for help by searching “My child is escaping from the crib,” and came up with a solution: sew a piece of fabric between the legs of Haley Joy’s pajamas bottoms which would prevent her from climbing.
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Commenters on TODAY’s Facebook page had plenty of stories and solutions they used on their own crib climbers.
“Mine was escaping all the time...I would lose sleep worrying that he would get out,” said Joy Stevens, who posted a photo of a baby crib tent, like this one.
“This helped so much. He was too little for a toddler bed and has no fear.”
Candace Metz suggests using a sleep sack, which is like a sleeping bag attached to pajamas.
“There are all different materials to buy them in. They zip up the front and are like a blanket but they can’t hike their legs,” Metz said.
Others suggest that macgyvering Haley Joy’s existing crib is the answer.
“Remove the slats that hold the crib mattress,” commented Inge Ginsburg. “Build a box that fits inside the crib on the floor. Place the mattress inside the box. HJ will be able to stand up to see out, but she won't be tall enough to hike up her leg to get a boost up to the rails.”
The majority of commenters, however, suggest to Hoda that Haley Joy’s crib days might be coming to an end.
“It’s time for the toddler bed!!,” writes Michele Berger Brown. “My daughter climbed out of her crib at 10 months old and walked to the side of my bed. Crib came down the next day and the toddler bed went up.”
An alternative to a toddler bed, says Karla Koenig, is to “put a single mattress on the floor...safer than falling from a crib.”
Merle Gold Day agrees, commenting, “Time to babyproof her room and put the mattress on the floor. They will do whatever they can to ‘escape.’ Get a toddler bed with a side rail so she doesn’t accidentally roll onto the floor while asleep. Sorry, Hoda, the fun is just beginning.”