Mom Sees Daughter Missing From Bed, Unprepared for Where She's Found—'Help'

Newsweek

6 days ago

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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A mom and dad had a moment of panic after going to check on their young daughter in her bed, only to find she was nowhere to be seen.
Courtney Rey, from Lisbon in Portugal, took to her Instagram, @cbm, to share footage of the moment she and her husband discovered Romy, who was 2 at the time, missing from her bed.
The video was filmed during a trip to Cape Town, South Africa, in December last year, when Rey was beginning the process of transitioning Romy from sleeping in a cot to sleeping in a bed.
Rey told Newsweek she had been forced to begin the process at this particular point because Romy had "started crawling out of the crib."
"The Airbnb hosts were kind enough to leave out both a crib and make up a queen bed in the same room, so we had both options during the transition time," Rey said.
Parenting can be stressful at the best of times. In Care.com's 2025 Cost of Care Report poll of 3,000 parents, 90 percent of respondents said they had lost sleep because of parenting stress, while the same proportion reported feeling burnt out.
One of the biggest stresses Rey was facing as a parent happened after Romy was supposed to be sound asleep. In a somewhat apt development, switching over to a proper bed has seen Romy develop a habit of roaming around at night.
"The temptation for Romy to escape her bed just because she physically can now often means we are hearing her door creak and having to walk her back to her bedroom multiple times a day for her nap or at night for bedtime," Rey said.
It has led to some memorable days and nights, for good and bad reasons, like the one captured on camera during their Cape Town stay. That was the afternoon they went to check on Romy during her nap and realized she was nowhere to be found. "I saw on the monitor that she was not in the crib or bed, so ran in to check," Rey said.
She added that her initial reaction after realizing Romy was missing was one of shock—but it didn't last. "First, there's a bit of fear," Rey said. "But we found her in the closet pretty quickly. The cupboard was open so it was pretty easy to spot her."
Romy, in her half-asleep state, had chosen to climb inside a nearby closet with a duvet, creating a cozy spot for herself in the process and much to her mom's amusement.
"Once I saw that she was safe in the cupboard, I thought it was the funniest thing ever and grabbed my phone and my husband," Rey said.
Captioned "please help," the video went viral, much to Rey's surprise. "I just hope people get a laugh from it and realize that nothing is easy about being a parent, and being in it all together certainly makes it more manageable," she said.
The good news is that Romy, who recently turned 3, has now fully graduated to a "big girl bed."
"From Cape Town, we traveled on to Kenya where all of the beds have mosquito netting, and she loved this. It was such a great way to help with the transition as she felt secure below the netting and also like a princess," Rey said.
Even so, Romy said she still likes to get in a crib every now and then. "If we travel, like to my parent's house and there's a crib, she does love to get back into it for old time's sake," Rey said.
Just as long as Romy stays in there, of course.