The 2 year old can open doors. Super. (Full Version)

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Zhi -> The 2 year old can open doors. Super. (6/30/2009 11:08:27 AM)

So, the 2 year old has learned to open doors, and I'm terrified that she'll get up earlier than me and sneak out.

We have a steel door with a round knob (no lock) and a deadbolt just above it (in easy reach of the 2 year old). My husband gets up super early and leaves before I wake up (I tend to work late into the night when I have a lot of work, since I finally get a break from the kids then, and then the 5 month old wakes me up in the middle of the night, and besides, sometimes the 2 year old wakes up arbitrarily early in the morning.) We've considered the following:

Chain or latch up high - won't work because hubby can't re-attach it when he leaves early in the morning
Deadbolt up high - the door is steel and we're renting the townhouse in a large complex, so they wouldn't be happy about it even if we had the tools to do it
Knob cover - we have one of these, but we're worried she will be able to snap it off given a little time to ponder it. The doorknob is round so it doesn't quite work right and we can't open the door with it on either, so we can't attach it permanently with string like you would usually do... we have to take it off to open the door. Making it too complicated is a fire hazard.
Training her not to open the door - well, she's 2. We're afraid that making a big deal of it during training will make it all the more tantalizing.

Any ideas? I'm contemplating crocheting a "knob cozy" that I can tie on, maybe with some gaps so that we can turn it but it would be significantly more difficult.



zoebob -> RE: The 2 year old can open doors. Super. (6/30/2009 11:15:36 AM)

Can you put a latch on her bedroom door so she can't leave her bedroom?



laura... -> RE: The 2 year old can open doors. Super. (6/30/2009 11:17:29 AM)

This site has multiple ideas.



Zhi -> RE: The 2 year old can open doors. Super. (6/30/2009 11:17:55 AM)

You're right, maybe I should be thinking more preemptively... I just worry about fire hazards.



StephK -> RE: The 2 year old can open doors. Super. (6/30/2009 11:21:32 AM)

My sister had to use a baby gate on my niece's door because she was an early riser and explorer. They also had to secure the bedroom window as the neighbor caught her climbing out.



Homegrownkids -> RE: The 2 year old can open doors. Super. (6/30/2009 11:27:06 AM)

We used a baby gate for as long as we could to keep them in their bedroom. After they could climb the gate we would use one of those child proof door knobs. But, they shared a bedroom with an older sibling that could open the door incase of emergency.



laura... -> RE: The 2 year old can open doors. Super. (6/30/2009 11:27:38 AM)

Maybe a door alarm would work for you. It wouldn't stop her from opening the door but you would know it was opened.



his_chosen -> RE: The 2 year old can open doors. Super. (6/30/2009 11:29:04 AM)

We used to have a double key dead bolt. The rule was the key was ALWAYS either in the lock or on a nail near the top of the door. It was only to be used for the inside lock.

I do understand your concerns! there is nothing worse than waking up and realizing that your kid has been up for who knows how long and who knows what all they got into!



laura... -> RE: The 2 year old can open doors. Super. (6/30/2009 11:30:55 AM)

quote:

We used to have a double key dead bolt. The rule was the key was ALWAYS either in the lock or on a nail near the top of the door. It was only to be used for the inside lock.


In many areas, this kind of deadbolt is illegal.



thisistheday -> RE: The 2 year old can open doors. Super. (6/30/2009 12:31:12 PM)

I think your crocheted knob cover might work. We used little socks on the bedroom doors when one of our kids was little. They could be tied on. It's effectiveness would depend on the child's determination I suppose.

I would still put other measures in place too, like gating her into her room and/or an alarm.

Dee



saraimay75 -> RE: The 2 year old can open doors. Super. (6/30/2009 2:13:26 PM)

This remind me of the preschool that I had my Practicum in. The gate had a childproof lock which the children figured out but I could not.[sm=icon_smile_blush.gif]



at-home -> RE: The 2 year old can open doors. Super. (6/30/2009 2:17:36 PM)

I have 2.5 year old twins, so I know just how you feel! I put a baby gate, which has a child-proof latch (had to search because these girls are masters at opening things!) across their doorway. I had to weigh it against the "what if there's a fire?" issue, but our bedroom is directly across from their room....I just have to have peace of mind that they won't be up and roaming the house sometime while I sleep. Also, I put one of those "flip locks" on our doors that lead outside. It takes five minutes to install but, again, offers peace of mind for me because it prevents them from opening the door. I know that the "what if there's a fire?" is an issue for those, too. But I have to weigh it against "what if they get outside when I'm not aware?" I do my best to be ever vigilant, but there are two of them and the are really clever and quick!



laura... -> RE: The 2 year old can open doors. Super. (6/30/2009 2:24:07 PM)

quote:

I put a baby gate, which has a child-proof latch (had to search because these girls are masters at opening things!) across their doorway. I had to weigh it against the "what if there's a fire?" issue,


I would suspect that in the event of a fire it is better to KNOW where a child is located rather than having to search the entire house to find where a toddler may have hidden out of fear.



bolt. -> RE: The 2 year old can open doors. Super. (7/1/2009 12:07:17 AM)

Attach a really big string of bells, coins, keys and wind chimes to the door. That'll make a racket to wake you if she's anywhere near exploring the door. Then you get up, get a cup of really cold water, and pour it over her head as she stands at the door. She's 2, but she's not stupid -- and she's not going to like that.



bolt. -> RE: The 2 year old can open doors. Super. (7/1/2009 12:28:50 AM)

Also, you already said the door is steel, so it's probably heavy... depending which way it opens, is there a way for you to make it just plain hard to move -- like it would take a good adult strength yank to actually get it open, even with the knob twisted correctly. I know my door is really hard to open in the winter, because we have to run an extension cord out at the bottom, then really shove it closed so that the rubbery stuff seals around it... Maybe you could raise the sill, or put an extra carpet under or something so that it does not swing freely.



Ellie-Mae -> RE: The 2 year old can open doors. Super. (7/3/2009 11:36:43 AM)

I had a child that was a master at door locks and would escape in less time than it took me to go to the bathroom. I used a door alarm to alert me when the door opened. He hated that thing because it tattled on him every time. It discouraged him from going out the door.



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