My toddler scared the crap out of me

I think at this point you have no choice but to convert to a toddler crib

Is his bed at the lowest level with everything out? I'm not sure there is any other option other than a toddler bed, climbing out of his crib can be dangerous and if he's getting up he mine as well do it safely.

But why would it be bad to sleep with his door closed while he was in a crib? I close my kids door so the dog doesn't go in there at night, but our room is right across the hall and we leave ours open.

I moved both of my girls to a toddler bed around 14 months for the same reason (apparently I give birth to monkeys) and they did great with it and actually slept better. It takes some patience but he's definitely not too young! Make sure his room is baby proofed, furniture is secured to the wall, and go for it.

Yes it's at the lowest level already I have no idea how he managed to get out.

Should I make the switch today or wait a little and see if it happens again?

This is about the time we moved my son to a toddler bed. We just put an extra tall baby gate at his door so if/when he got out of bed at least he couldn't leave his room (rooms were upstairs and didn't have a gate at the top of the stairs as most of our time was spent down stairs). It worked well for us, maybe only 2-3 nights of him getting out of bed at first, but I just stood at his door out of sight and told him to lay back down when he got up.

Go ahead and switch. God forbid he climbs out again but falls on his head or something scary like that!

Ok thanks everyone