Jumping in crib | Imamother

Chippies

Sun, Jan 30 2011, 2:44 pm

My 2 year old picked up a new habit: when I put him down for a nap, he jumps in his crib for a long time. We also hear him laughing hysterically - he's clearly having a great time. He never jumps or climbs out of his crib, so I'm not concerned for his safety. Sometimes, after jumping/laughing for a while, he'll lie down and fall asleep. More frequently, I go in and find that he has a dirty diaper. And then there are other times, like today, when I start to go into his room and he says, "no mommy...I sleep now" so I thought that maybe he'd actually sleep and I left, only to hear him go back to jumping a minute later. I'm just wondering, how long is too long to let him jump in his crib? At what point should I give up on his nap and force him out of his crib/room even though he's having a great time in there? He's a very happy kid, BH, so I realize that I'm fortunate that my problem is that he's jumping/laughing (as opposed to crying) in his crib, but even so, I really want him to sleep because he's exhausted. And if he refuses to sleep, then at least he should be doing something more productive (eg. social/educational/fun/etc) with his time instead of jumping around by himself for an hour or more.

mamommommy

Sun, Jan 30 2011, 3:32 pm

amother wrote:

He should be doing something better with his time? He's a kid! I say if he's enjoying himself and it's safe, then that is his form of play.

Agreed. He obviously enjoys the activity which is why he'll sometimes send you back out of the room so he can jump some more. Just continue to enjoy the extra time to yourself. It probably won't last much longer. (And a lot of kids give up their naps at 2.)

natmichal

Mon, Jan 31 2011, 12:47 pm

Get him out of the crib- it's not worth it for you taking the chance that he'll break it by all this jumping... and think in investing in a small trampoline for home use. Then he'll be able to jump as much as he wants, and nap time can go back to what you want it to be- nap time!

Chippies

Mon, Jan 31 2011, 1:12 pm

Thanks for the replies. I just wonder how long is too long to be jumping in his crib. I usually don't let it go on for much longer than an hour, but yesterday he really didn't want to come out so it ended up being more like two hours. I guess part of my concern is that he spends too much time playing by himself. He's not the most social kid in the world (and yes, I know that he's still very young, but he definitely has high anxiety) so I try to get him out as much as possible.

I am also a bit worried that he'll break his crib if all his jumping continues, but it seems to be holding up so far. I check to see if anything is loose on a regular basis, and it seems totally fine. Getting a trampoline is a great idea - I'll look into it and hopefully we can find something affordable. Any suggestions of brands/types? I wonder if a trampoline would actually help with nap time, but regardless, I'm sure my son would love it. Thanks again!