Mom Can’t See Toddler on Baby Monitor, Unprepared for Where She Finds Him

A mom from Illinois experienced a heart-stopping moment when she couldn’t find her 22-month-old son on the baby monitor.

Jessica Johnston, 30, was attempting to put Archie down for his daily nap. Since he’s transitioning to a toddler bed, Johnston was keeping an eye on the baby monitor while he was walking around his room.

About 10 minutes later, Johnston checked the baby monitor and couldn’t see Archie and ran up the stairs to try and find him.

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“I panicked. I ran so fast up those stairs. I’m seven months pregnant too, so my emotions were all over the place,” she said. When she burst into Archie’s room, she still couldn’t locate him immediately.

After scanning the room, she finally found him lodged between his crib and a bookshelf, sound asleep while sitting upright. “He was snoring!” the mom of two added.

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Johnston captured the aftermath on video and posted it on TikTok, where it quickly went viral, amassing over 2 million views. Over 900 social media users commented on her clip, with other fellow moms sharing similar stories of how their toddlers had escaped from their beds.

“Found mine passed out in an open suitcase once. Debated moving her to the bed, decided to take the W and leave her,” one wrote.

Another shared how she woke up to her son in bed with a pack of unopened holiday cookies, her laptop and utensils. A mom of twins commented that she has found them in a variety of places: “In their car seats. Under their bed. My 2nd born passed out under the table covered in peanut butter,” they wrote.

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Others resonated with the toddler transition phase, with one also commenting that a “win is a win.”

Despite the initial shock, Johnston couldn’t stop laughing about where she eventually found Archie. “If you know my son, that’s something he would do,” she added.

Johnston also provided reassurance to other parents who were approaching this stage and said that the transition from Archie’s baby bed to a toddler bed has been challenging. “He wouldn’t stay in his bed; he thought it was playtime 24/7.”

Now, at 23 months old, she told Newsweek that, “he’s amazing with it! It took about two weeks for him to stay in his bed, but now he’s completely fine with it.”

Thankfully, Johnston was able to move Archie to his bed without waking him up. “He snored the entire time and didn’t even flinch. He slept in his bed for 1 1/2 hours after moving him,” she said.

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