Ok, I need more help....

[PaigesMom]

She got out again, just a little while ago. It's dark outside. I am at work. My husband got home, relieved the sitter, both kids were watching Blues Clues and husband went upstairs to change his work clothes. He said he wasn't down to his underwear when my 3 year old son came screaming up the steps "Daddy, Paige is outside, Daddy, she's lost"..........out runs husband half dressed. SOMEHOW she opened the front door, which he says was locked and went outside. He found her in our neighbors yard on their swingset sliding board - no shoes, no socks, no coat, seemingly unaware that she should not be there - she said "Hi Daddy, come play with me".

Did someone at some point in time post something about a kind of window or door alarm?? How do they work - or should I just get my house alarmed?

She's in her room crying as I type this from work, because he spanked her and told her she never is to go outside without mommy or daddy. I'm having an anxiety attack because I'm not home to deal with it.

Its not the first time, or the second, or the third.......summer is coming, I forsee a major problem, a bigger problem as she gets older, unfortunately.

Any info on the alarms would be appreciated. Thanks!!

MB - if you're reading this.....the IEP was postponed, I am going to be PMing you later this week. I am trying some of the suggestions you had, not seeing to much of a difference, YET, but I believe there are other reasons for that. Be on the lookout for me, LOL.

[MB]

Our house is alarmed. During the running off phase, we had the door chime on at all times. This means a little bell went off whenever any of the exterior doors were opened. We would set the full alarm at night.

We put high locks on all of the doors, too.

The installation is not that expensive. The real cost comes when you have it monitored. Monitoring isn't necessary. I would call the alarm company, explain your situation and ask if they would donate an alarm system. All they can say is, "no."

My behavior mod would be to bring her back in the house to the door that she escaped from. Have her demonstrate three times walking up to the door, stopping and then asking permission. She will not do it willingly so I would help her along. The idea is for her to get the message of what she is to do instead.

Besides that, you could satisfy her curiosity. Tomorrow or the next day, you could take her to the swingset and let her get her fill of playing on it. You could also take lots of walks around the neighborhood so that running off isn't so special.

A social story about asking permission before you leave the house is in order. If she is waiting for your husband to go upstairs and put himself into the compromising position of changing his clothes, then, in my opinion, she knows exactly what she is doing.

Remember, the more emotion anyone shows, the bigger the payoff for Paige.

God bless and best of luck.

MB

[shellk]

We had that problem with Kourtney as well..To the point where 911 was called and she was missing for 30-40 minutes. That ws one of the worst days of my life...The second one would be when we evacuated to Tennessee for the Hurricanes and she got out of my Unlce's house in the middle of no where and was missing for about 20 minutes.

Our house is also alarmed and we don't have it monitored. But, the door chimes still work and the alram will still sound off in if I set it, and a door or window is opened. It really has given some piece of mind to DH and myself.

Plus the first time that Kourtney got it opened and the alarm went off...She really didn't care for anyone opening the door for a couple of days...She would hold her ears and say. "Shut it, door is too loud"

Now she really doesn't try to get out anymore..And that I am thankful for.

Best of luck to you. !!

Michele

[Jessie]

Oh, I feel your pain on this one. Our little houdini forced us to put alarms on our doors last summer - the morning he was brought home by the police. Talk about a heart-stopping moment there!

We just went to Lowe's and got a set of basic alarms, I think the set cost around $50. We figured we would start with those and see if they worked ok before getting into the expensive alarm service/monitoring type. For two of the doors (garage and back door) we have very simple alarms that once the door is open, a very loud alarm goes off. Neither of those doors are used very much, so it works ok to have them set the majority of the time. The front door has a coded alarm and it takes about 30-45 seconds of the door being open to set it off. We put the alarms up high so that if he did ever try to figure out how to turn them off, he would have to work at getting a chair to reach them - hopefully we would catch him in time. We are pretty careful to NOT disengage them where he can see how we are doing it.

The following Saturday morning after the police incident, I woke up before Jason did but I wanted to see what he would do so I stayed upstairs. Sure enough, he snuck downstairs, opened the front door and came screaming back in when that alarm went off. He hasn't tried it since! Remember - our kiddos HATE loud noises

This has not cured him from taking off completely. Just yesterday he found a hole in the fence surrounding his school and managed to squeeze through it. Although that scared us to death (because they obviously weren't keeping a very good eye on him), it would have been pretty funny to see all of those middle-aged women running through a field to catch him! ;D

Good luck with whatever system you go with. This is one of those issues that we can't afford to mess around with.


Jessie

[christie]

YIKES girl I can sooooooo Relate to this

Sooo HAPPY to hear ALL is well and Paige is home safe

CC ~

[Jessie]

Ok, I know this wasn't the topic, but how is Paige doing with her other little problem? I tell you, not a day goes by that I don't think about her and what you guys must go through. I mean, I know how awful it is to give a stupid haircut, I can't even imagine having to go through what you guys do on a weekly basis to help her.

Anyway, just wondering . . .


Jessie

[meghans_mom]

Yikes! I posted awhile back about do it yourself alarms....Bell Howell sells them very inexpensive...they should hold you til you get a professional alarm installed.

Kohls sells them (department store) and probably home depot & lowe's....also can get them on-line.

or you can install sliding locks high up where she can't reach them

hugs & good luck...! laurie

[Becky]

Boy I sure can wait for Justin to learn this one.
He sure does try though he will stand at the door for a long time wiggling the handle and just standing there trying to figure out to get out. YIKES when he does. I keep telling dh to go get sliding locks to go up high.
Becky

[Jodi]

We purchased the Bell Howell alarms from Heartland America (online). We got a set of 8 for $20. They work great.

We also use a picture schedule. Although it's not perfect, sometimes Ryan will bring a picture of the park, or one of the swingset instead of just heading for the door. That's his way of asking permission. (Sometimes he brings 5 or 6 outdoor pictures -- guessing he REALLY wants to go outside then!! ;D)

Unfortunately I leave extremely early in the morning sometimes (while it is still dark) and I have forgotten about the alarm -- now that will wake ya up!

I can see why MB is referenced so much on this site... great ideas!

Good luck to you!

Jodi

[PaigesMom]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I saw an alarm system from First Alert ---- I am going to check on the Bell Howell ones this weekend.

Jesse ~~ Thank you for asking about Paiges other problem. We are still having it. GI continues to say it is cognitive. We are still doing the cleanouts every 10 days. I've tried sitting her on the potty w/the enema, and the only thing it did was make it harder for me to clean up - she was afraid of the liquid coming out and she started screaming and jumping up and down - I guess in a diaper it's not as forceful. GI wants to see her back in 6 months. There is a bowel management program at a hospital fairly close to us, they wont take you unless you've had surgery. I am continuing with daily infant massage. Have started giving her apricot juice, which she will drink, but it doesn't do anything.

So basically we are in the same boat. I dont want to keep posting about that situation b/c I dont want to gross people out - it *is* gross and there is not much more that people can say, but my door is always open to suggestions.

Thanks again.

Debbie