child-proofing entry doors

[CathyLee]

hi all

My son is 2 1/2 just moved out of his crib...his grandmother is worried he will open the deadbolts on the new entry doors and go outside in the winter while we are sleeping (she heard it happened to someone else on the news)

My husband works from 4 am to 7 am milking his cows so I would like a lock that will lock behind him and that he could open when he gets home. Any ideas?

Do they still make those old keyed locks that pull to lock and have a button you push down to open?

I have taught my son to leave the house when the fire alarm sounds so I don't really like the idea of locking the doors ... any thoughts?

CathyLee

[Toller]

I never even considered the possibility of our kids doing that. And they didn't. Unless you have some specific reason to fear it, I would forget about it.

(if you worry this much at 2, just wait until they are 18)

[Lawrence]

The obvious solution is to change the locks. You can get the style which uses a key on both sides. Any other solution is bound to a version of this solution.

There are many solutions which will be less expensive or bothersome but they will achieve the same result: to lock the door from the inside in some way whether by changing the locks or by some other method which locks the door like a safety chain or other device especially designed to be childproof.

The point is: no matter what the solution is, it has the result that the door will either be actually locked or locked for the child only. Regardless of where you live, you should lock the doors especially if children are in your care. I know lots of folk who live in safe communities tend to drop formalities like locking the doors. Change the locks so that they require a key, inside and out, and you will not have to guess where your child is when, god forbid, they go missing. Children like to play games and hide-and-seek is a favorite.

Lawrence

[Norminn]

We installed locks that open with a key, inside and outside, in preparation for extended visit by grandsons. We live on the water and did not want them outside without our knowledge.

Pretty tough for a toddler to try to leave the house alone if fire alarm sounds, and he might take off when you burn dinner. In a real fire, he might panic without you and hide or lose his way in smoke. My grandson, when four years old, got up in the middle of the night and played with a lighter. He tried to put it out, could not, and climbed in bed with his parents. My son woke up just as flames were reaching the living room drapes. I would rethink that one ..

I woke up in the middle of the night once to hear a toddler crying in our yard. He lived in the house in back of us.

[Jeff Wisnia]

Change

In many localities locks which require a key on the inside to open them are illegal for obvious fire safety reasons.

There's no easy way you can install locks which will keep kids contained and also let them to follow your instructions about leaving the house if a fire breaks out. You could of course spend a gazillion bucks on a battery backed up automated system which would release the kiddy locks when a fire alarm detector went off, but that's a long run for a short slide.

When our kids were small I installed sliding bolts mounted a couple of inches below the top of the entry doors and on the doors of closets we didn't want them to get into. By the time our children were tall enough to reach those bolts even when standing on a kitchen chair they were well enough trained so that the bolts weren't needed anymore. And, they were NEVER left at home alone, even for 5 minutes, during their early years.

Jeff

[Goedjn]

Well, you could install a door-alarm that goes off whenever the door is opened, and put a switch to supress it at the top of the doorframe. That wouldn't keep the child from going outside, but at least you'd know about it.

Alternatively, you could kill and eat the grandmother....

[Oren]

I must have been age five when Mom noticed my two year old sister could not be found. She went through the house, I rode with her around the local streets. Nothing. I guess Mom was about to call the authorities when she noticed my sister on the floor behind the couch.

She had woke up at some point and crawled behind the couch and went back to sleep.

Those were safer times.

-- Oren

"Well, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it happens, it happens constantly."

[HeyBub]

So how do you arrange a burglar-bar door?

I have key locks on both sides of the burglar bar doors. I tell all my overnight guests that in the event of fire, forget the door, make for the window (the windows' burglar-bars all open from the inside).

[Freckles1507]

Have a second door knobs installed close to the top of the door. This knob does not need to be locked from either side. It won't let the child get out in the event of a fire, but you could keep a bell or horn by the door that the child could sound in case he needed to get help in an emergency.

[hallerb]

A good friends 2 year old wandered off, he is one busy boy.daylight neighbor saw and returned him. all in less than 5 minutes. he is fast!

they fenced in part of the yard, with wire mesh fence and a chain link gate with hitch pin in chain link gate, so far he hasnt defeated it, and I already have a plan if he does:) stops him from running to road. much safer all around.he loves the road thats where the action is:(

alarming his room so you know he left it at night is a good idea. a busy boy could get hungry and start a fire cooking a 4 am snack.

[Jeff Wisnia]

I really don't know, but I'm always willing to learn. Google showed me different things called "burglar bars" including those "sticks" you set into place at an angle from the inside surface (of an inward opening door) down to the floor, to prevent someone easily opening the door while the bar is in place.

In defense of my mentioning that burglar bars with inside key locks might not be allowed in some localities, Houston says this:

Though, the third paragraph seems to contradict the first.

Go figger... Maybe older installations with key operated locks are grandfathered in.

Peace,

Jeff

[Norminn]

A toddler should never be out of earshot of parents, and the only scenario that makes sense for toddler to escape alone is if parents are overcome, but he would probably be overcome first. Escape route through parents' bedroom? He should be able to dial 911, too.

Twos and threes are adventuresome .. trained in electronics by first birthday (know where the CD drive and on switch for computer are).

[hallerb]

that occured with my old neighbors son, police ambulance dragnet of cops checking cars, tv reporters etc etc. kid was my age my mom freaked.

timmy meehan asleep behind couch.

many years later his sister a adult disappeared and made unsloved mysteries. wierd seeing the home next to where you grew up on tv like that.

sadly patty was never found.........