The Great Crib Caper, Update the First

There have been developments in the escape incident. First of all, after the events of Monday, I scooted the cribs as far apart as they can be. Believe you me, I have tried all possible configurations of cribs and dressers in this tiny room. Arranged any other way, they can reach the clean laundry I just got organized. So, I’ve done what I can with what we’ve got. Secondly, in case you couldn’t tell from the picture (or don’t know what they are because they don’t make them anymore), Worm’s bed is one of those old-skool “portable” cribs. It is a little smaller than a standard and has the ability to fold flat enough that you could store it under a bed. For perspective, his mattress is the same size as a Pack’n’Play mat, but without the board-type sections that makes a Pack’n’Play mat stiff.

 Yesterday at nap time, they’d been in their room for a bit and were still being pretty loud. I went to check, and once again, Worm was in Dervish’s crib. However, his crib was still upright and in the same spot! Perplexed, I put him back into his own crib and had a flash of semi-genius. Haha! I’ll nanny-cam ’em!

I say semi-genius for several reasons. Coming up with this plan off-the-cuff, I set my camera to video and placed it on a dresser. Since it was in plain sight, and pointed at him, Worm spent the first three minutes or so hamming for the camera. Another downside: they’d been lying down for a bit already, so Dervish was actually tired and not participating like I think she has been.

After his camera-love session, I did capture Worm trying to make the break. His mattress is thinner, and therefore more flexible, than a standard crib mattress. He slides his foot between the rails and mattress, then under the mattress, and pulls it up. Once he gets the mattress up, he can fold it in half and then stand on it. One side of his crib has a little “drop” leaf which is too small to do any good, but just big enough to give a good foothold. In the picture from yesterday, it’s the side of his crib that’s up against hers.

So, here’s my plan: I’ve rigged up my laptop in their closet. It’s mostly hidden and I plan to turn my webcam on to record just before I put them down this afternoon. I’m going to leave the room as-is. I thought about trying to make it a little harder for them, but I really need to know how they’re managing the feat. Until I know the whole story, I can only stay a half-step ahead. 

Which brings me to a whole new set of dilemmas. I’ve been planning on (and dreading) breaking out a toddler bed for Dervish. But she’s only 2 1/2, so there’s NO WAY she’s going to stay in bed and go to sleep without a long period of “training.” She’s just not that kind of girl. Then, she’ll be able to pilfer through dresser drawers and the few decorative items in the room. That thought led me to consider taking everything out of the room except beds. But then, once she consistently stays in bed and I bring the stuff back in, will I have set myself up for a backslide?

Also, my plan was to then put Worm into the big crib. Right now, he’s so happy to be somewhere he’s not supposed to be that he’s content to stay there once he’s in the darn thing. I’m sure that will change once it’s his bed, though. And I’m afraid he’ll be able to escape that one, too.

Anyway, if I get anything good on the webcam, I’ll share!

This is just another example of my denial that my baby boy isn’t really a little baby anymore. Until two weeks ago, I was trying to do storytime at the library with Worm in the front carrier. Ummm, yeah, he revolted. When a 25-pounder starts throwing a bucking, screeching fit when strapped to your chest, it kinda hurts. But the front-carrier was soooo hard to let go of. I only had to worry about chasing one kid if the other was attached to me!

UPDATE:

DISCLAIMER: It looked kinda rough, but she’s fine, I promise. No babies were truly harmed in the making of BabyCam 2010.