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Post by andrewsmom on Feb 13, 2007 13:30:55 GMT -5
Hi there...I hope everyone is doing good! Well.....it's happened. Andrew can now open doors...*SIGH* We used to have the handles on our doors that you can just push down and the door would open. After listening to some of you with older kids, we decided to change all the doors to just the "regular" door knobs. Yeah...we thought that would stop him. Hmmph. Well, yesterday I let our dog out and when she wants to come back in, she sits by the door. When Andrew sees her (oh believe me, he WAITS for her) he tells me and we let her in and give her a cookie....actually Andrew gives her the dog cookie, that's what he likes so much about letting her in. So.....I'm filling the dishwasher with dishes and I thought, "hmmm it's really cold in here." Yeah...I'm not the quickest to get clued in. When I was all done, I called for Andrew and got no response, so I figured he went upstairs to play. I never even looked toward my backdoor for some reason, I just went right upstairs. Well...I was calling him and checked all the bedrooms, bathroom, and even the 3rd floor where the older boys room is...nothing. I was just about to panic, when I ran back downstairs and saw my backdoor wide open! It was so cold you guys! I ran to the door and there on my back deck is Andrew sitting beside my dog. He looked up at me and said, clear as day, "HIIIIIIIIIIII". ;D I honestly didn't know whether to yell at him ar praise him for his good speech! LOL! All I could think about was a story in the news where a little boy ran out after his dog and his poor mother couldn't find him. The dog ended up showing the father where the boy was, But Geeez. So.....anyone want to tell me what I do now? Since yesterday, he has opened the door over and over again......and it is just too darn cold for the door to be open! Ofcourse I'm also worried he will leave the deck and go for a little stroll all by himself. I checked out a door alarm that looks like a door stop, and if the door opens it goes off. Do any of you have this? If so, does it work? And can your kids remove it by themselves? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks! -Trisha
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Post by Jessie on Feb 13, 2007 13:56:43 GMT -5
Hi Trisha, Welcome to the club!!! Thankfully, we are retired members of this club. Although, we do still have the alarms on the doors . . . heck we still alarm the doors when Jason's not even here! Becomes a security blanket, KWIM? LOL We have the kind that go off when the door is open and these do work great (and they are farily cheap) - Jason HATES to hear that sound and they are loud enough for us to hear them anywhere in the house. Ours are up high enough on the door so that he can't reach them and he hasn't apparently had the desire to drag a chair over and really check it out how to disengage the alarms. He really hates the sound that much to not even bother with them. Back when he was younger he would take the iniative to get a chair and a broomstick to take off a chain lock or whatever Brian used to use, but he hasn't bothered these alarms. It might be kind of a pain to have them activated during the day when your family may be in and out of the house, but I would bet that Andrew will only have to hear that noise once or twice to learn to not open the door without you there. You could then probably just go to activating the alarm at night. Good luck! Jessie
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Post by Claire on Feb 13, 2007 15:54:17 GMT -5
We also have an alarm on he doors. It's a cheap magnetic one from Wall Mart. It works great as Adam doesn't like loud noises. When we first installed the alarm I made sure he didn't see us, and then I called him over to open the door the alarm went off and he went like 10 steps back. Hasn't touched either doors since. He used to run off too, and let me tell you these little guys are pretty fast. We caught up with him at 5am he was already almost at our local beach area, which is only one block from our house. We also have a little hook lock on his bedroom door on the outside for at night as he would probably get up and get into anything possible. We also have a baby monitor and a fire alarm in his room at all time as to make it safe. The way we look at it, better safe then sorry.
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Post by hidyperson on Feb 13, 2007 15:59:28 GMT -5
You didn't mention a lock ( I'm assuming your back door has one ) - a latch placed way up can help.
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Post by Valerie on Feb 13, 2007 17:09:10 GMT -5
Locks, locks, locks!!!! Can't stress it enough. I have an escape artist here. We also switched from the handles like you described to the regular round knobs. We keep those locked, also have a deadbolt higher up that he can't reach that we keep locked, AND have an alarm that sounds on the doors. I also have one of those covers on the inside of his door so if he wakes up during the night he can't get out and wander around. And a baby monitor. And a smoke alarm.
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Post by meghans_mom on Feb 14, 2007 10:33:54 GMT -5
also, they have those door covers (sorry if someone already suggested this) that you have to press the rubber together to open..... i have these on EVERY door in my house....bedrooms, bathrooms, outside doors..... we also have the doors alarmed but its a central system. good luck....one day last year i found Meghan AND Matthew (5 and 2 at the time) outside barefoot...walking the dog down the drive way!! can you say YIKES!!!
laurie
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Post by Chester on Feb 14, 2007 11:54:12 GMT -5
yep, we've got the stick-on door alarms. We were really good about leaving them turned on, but we've become lax again, thanks for the reminder to not let our guard down. The alarms are a bit on the annoying side, but nothing like the feeling of seeing the door wide open and not being able to find your guy in the house....
Dawn
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Post by andrewsmom on Feb 14, 2007 14:42:26 GMT -5
Jeff...our only lock on our door is in the handle, so you can always open it from the inside. Thanks so much for the suggestions! I think I'll look into the stick -on door alarms a bit more and probably end up with them this weekend. On the door covers, my sil has a daycare and also has them on all her doors.....what a quick and easy fix! I didn't even think of that!!! Thanks so much! Since posting this yesterday, we have had to put our big lazy boy chair in front of the door. Andrew just LOVES his new ability! But obviously, the chair can only be a temporary fix. Our dog has to go out that way so we have to keep moving the chair....uggghh. I'll let you all know what we decide. Thanks for the suggestions!!! -Trisha
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Post by hidyperson on Feb 14, 2007 21:41:12 GMT -5
Trisha - get a dead bolt on that thing ! Door handle locks keep no one out ! Grandma could kick it off if she wanted your toaster oven....
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Post by momofrussell on Feb 14, 2007 21:48:19 GMT -5
Before we moved we had put some deadbolts on our front door and door to the garage... both doors NEVER had a deadbolt on them.. silly! So, we got the double key'd kind... that you have to use a key for on the inside and outside... for this reason right here. But you know what, when it came time to sell it was actually commented on, on the inspection and is actually not "code" to have deadbolts with key'd entry and exit deadbolts. The first go around with the sale that is what was one of the things they wanted us to change and we JUST bought them.. and we said NOPE... we had them for our own spec needs safety reasons... but in actuality they are not up to "code" that way due to fire codes I do believe. Which, well, I'll take my chance.. because the odds of Russell getting OUT and running down the street are MUCH higher then then my house catching fire. Our new house had a keyed dead bolt both ways on the front door but there is only a regular lock on the door to the garage where it's only keyed from the garage.. and when you lock it from the inside it locks the outside but you can STILL turn the handle from the house when the garage is locked... does that make sense? Some locks when you lock them (turn the lock) you actually can't turn it from the lock side or from the keyed side... but this one you can and well, guess who can turn it and can get into the garage A.
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Post by CC on Feb 14, 2007 22:04:40 GMT -5
WE too have many many locks on our doors. OMG no kidding ones that come here for the first time are like Hmm have you been robbed?? I am like NO its not to keep ones from getting in its to keep a certain one from getting OUT. We have a front door, side door and back doors you can get out of each door that you can exit I have bells on along with locks that you can only open or get out of by using a key to open. Actually the lock smith did not want to put them on as they are not suppose to BUT when he heard of our problem he said OK for things like that one that escape he can do. It can be a fire hazard is there main concern but for us we could just go out the window if we couldn't find the key, so we are OK on that. Our problem these days is no matter where we hide the keys, Chris finds them and knows which key goes with which lock BUT thankfully he is doing much much better and not taking off, KNOCK WOOD. I know exactly how frightening it can be, we have had some very close calls I suggest calling the Lock Smith tomorrow CC ~
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Post by laurasmom on Feb 14, 2007 23:18:35 GMT -5
Oh my goodness, the memories!!!
I remember very well when I discovered Laura could open doors. Our master bed and bath were above the garage, with the bath at the front of the house. There was a window right by the commode, and one day I was, well "busy" in the bathroom, when I heard a door downstairs open and close. I leaned over and looked out the window, and watched Laura start walking down the sidewalk, pushing her baby carriage. I was momentarily at a loss, not sure what to do first! I got it figured out, and caught up with her about halfway down the street. She was having a great time!
We used the door knob covers on all the outside doors. We also had a laundry chute from upstairs to down, and a I put a hook and eye type lock on that. We used a gate on the stairs, until she learned to climb over that.
She never figured out the door knob covers, so we never had to go past those. But when she was out in public, look out, there she would go!! I will save that story for another post.
Sharon
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Post by chasesmom on Feb 15, 2007 8:42:04 GMT -5
HI there, I am Robin, mom to Chase, the greatest escape artist unomas ever had We have tried everything and used everything. They all worked for a while..... and the store with the biggest choices to pick from was Lowes I found. The problem with all these great ideas is that as your Houdini gets older he will master each thing and then you have to go back to the drawing board ( or Lowes so to speak) A is right on with the keyed deadbolt. The best news about that keyed deadbolt is that you dont HAVE to use the key until he is much older if you choose. I have mine unlocked and the key put up and I just use them as regular deadbolts for now until Chase can reach them (ok fine, I'll tell you he uses a chair and unlocks them now and I really really REALLY should start using the keys) anyways, I have never found a better alternative and BELIEVE me when I say we tried them all The good news is that it gets better with age, I swear, and the reason is......... Chase doesnt run so fast anymore and he is more interested in DVD's, videos and music then always escaping now. Good luck with what ever you try, I know it is a very scary thing at the time, but in a year, trust me, you will look back smiling on how you found him sitting on the porch with his dog (thank GOD he didnt decide to wander, my heart is beating wildly for you!) hugs, Robin
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Post by laurasnowbird on Feb 15, 2007 8:56:28 GMT -5
Robin,
The deadbolt in our new addition is keyed, thanks to the stories I heard about Chase, LOL! Because it is an area of the house that is harder for me to keep track of, it seemed like a good idea to put a keyed lock back there, cuz I just might not hear him get out THAT particular door. And it is placed much higher than a normal deadbolt.
Good to hear that Chase is outgrowing those particular issues, it makes me think there is hope for us all!!!!!
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Post by andrewsmom on Feb 15, 2007 14:58:38 GMT -5
Hi Robin!! I remember you!! Thanks so much for the tip about Lowes. We will be going this weekend to check out our options.
Sharon....speaking of being "busy" in the bathroom, my poor daughter was in the bathroom this morning and Andrew just walked right in on her! I was in my bedroom and heard this very loud SCREACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I went running...thinking she was really hurt or something terrible.....but no, just Andrew opening doors again!! LOL! We all have to lock the bathroom door now. Ughhhh
-Trisha
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