No circulation or messy room?

About two months ago Mia started getting her chubby little legs caught in between the slats in the crib rail. It was so bad that her little legs would turn purple and I guess the pain would wake her and she'd start screaming for help, so I researched online at what age do parents typically remove the rail, or convert it to a toddler bed. Most of the sites said between 18 and 24 motnhs, some said it's up to the parents, some said as long the child can get on and off of a regular height/size bed. So, John and I felt like, well, she's been walking since 9 mo., she gets off of the couch just fine, which is just about the same height as the crib. So, John removed the rail and installed the toddler safety rail. Our friends said we were crazy and their two year olds weren't even out of cribs yet. They kept saying she's gonna get down one day and trash her room, or go downstairs. Well, it scared us a little but it still worked fabulously for a couple of weeks because she, for some reason, just would not get off, even though there was a huge gap for her to get through now.
She would just wake up and sit up and call us to come and get her like she normally did. UNTIL ONE DAY, it was way past her wake up time and I went upstairs to check on her and found her and YEP she got off, she was burried in the biggest mess I'd ever seen in her room. Her room was in complete disaray, with toys, puzzles, play food, dolls, you name it, just scattered everywhere. She looked up and proudly smiled at me. I've since had to modify her room to just big play things that if she gets into them she can't make that much of a mess. She gets in and out now independently and sleeps and wakes up like normal. Only now, she entertains herself a lot longer in her room after she wakes up, better for me!