AE will boldly open her bedroom door.
Shocking, but I've been spoiled for 3 1/2 years now with having a child who regardless of falling asleep at nap time or waking at 6:30 am, would stay in her room without a sound. Well, much of a sound. Like a good little direction follower, she has obediently stayed in her room without a cry or shout. Without a heavy banging on the door. Without protest. At all.
For the last two weeks, AE has been reluctant to ACTUALLY fall asleep during her nap time. I can usually tell when she ACTUALLY falls asleep by the amount of sweat and drool on the pillow. When she doesn't ACTUALLY fall asleep, she usually entertains herself by re-reading the pre-nap books we read, taking the bow(s) out of her hair, talking to herself, pretending to have a party, etc.
In these last two weeks, AE has gotten BOLD. Once I heard her door come ajar. Then SLAM. The next day I heard that tell-tale sound of size 9 1/2 feet pitter-ing and patter-ing across the floor above me. Run, run, run, run. Run, run, run, run. Pitter, patter. Pitter, patter. You know the sound.
Last week The Daddy and I experienced our first "out-of-her-room-without-permission" moment. Most likely a Friday morning, my morning to "sleep in" because we have no pressing plans that day of the week. We hear a noise at our door. Bump. Bump. Doorknob turning.
Is that the crazy dog? He's been known to plow head-on into our bedroom door early in the morning when his use of the "facilities" is needed. No, he can't turn a doorknob. He just tries to head-butt the door open. With his head. No, it's AE.
Soooooooooooo, AE has made me put on my grocery list something I never thought we would need until HJ grew dexterous enough to turn the knob: the child door knob safety cover.
Discussing this topic over lunch today with a couple of my mom's club friends, we talked about how you kind of feel guilty using those things. It just feels like I'm going to be locking my kid in a closet. I am actually worried about how she will react when it's introduced.
Uncle C. is in town for work, and he's staying with us. Tonight AN HOUR AFTER BEDTIME, AE came busting down the stairs. She said, "I was scared. I was scared, so I had to come down."
Me: "AE, did you hear your Uncle C. and I talking?"
AE: "Yes. I came down to see Uncle C."
And the way she said it, YA'LL!, with the sweetest, most endearing voice I've heard this week, just about brought a tear to my eye. Just about. So we headed back upstairs, and after several trips back to tell Uncle C. something of complete and utter importance, that little girl thanked me for letting her talk to her Uncle. After the sun went down. While she should have been sleeping. Oh, precious.
I love it when they say thank you. I really do. Made my day. Now tomorrow, I'm headed to the store.
So tell me, will you, what you think about the doorknob covers? Do you use them? Do you ever feel guilty?
7 comments:
We recently had this problem with our youngest....my other 2 never came out of their room.
My wee son knew better than to come in to us, so he had started heading into his sisters' rooms. They complained that he woke them when he sneezed over them at 6am - what a lovely way to be woken!
After a few days of explaining, he now knows he cannot go in to ANYONE's room if their door is still closed. He can read books in his room. I must admit I thought he would be resistant, but we have now had a week of the new "regime" and he is fine with it.
Never heard of door handle covers so can't offer an opinion.
Hope you get things sorted soon.
We used the door 'locks' since before my kids could even reach the door knob. I decided long ago that their safety was more important than any feeling that I might be locking them in their room. My oldest two share a room (they are both under four) and I also still have a monitor in their room. So if there is a problem, I can rush in. However, their current room has a door that won't properly shut, so the door lock doesn't keep the oldest locked in anymore. But still works for the youngest....for now.
My oldest still lays down for a nap, but I know that he does not sleep the entire time he is in his room. But I feel that the quiet time is better than nothing. Good luck with your decision.
we used them until Claire stopped wearing pull-ups at night. We wanted her to be able to get up and potty if needed. She always stays in her room though during night time (nap time ... not so good) and comes out when she wakes up in the morning.
We use the doorknob covers on the pantry door and the door from kitchen to garage as soon as Claire was big enough to reach the door knobs. Otherwise, she would be in that pantry eating candy all day long!
I didn't feel bad about using these gadgets at all and you shouldn't either!
I will absolutely use them when the time comes :) I agree with the other poster--Claire's safety is much more important than my feeling guilty over her confinement! Good luck. I love reading your blog :)
Jack started coming out of his room at 18 months! So we used the door knob cover and then just last week he figured out how to take those off so we turned the knob inside out and we lock his door at night. He has to come past the stairs to get to our room and I have nightmares he may fall down them on his way so we lock his door at night. The first couple of nights he was mad but now he doesn't try to come out (or I don't hear him:). Definitely try the covers until she figures those out! You are lucky she hasn't done this sooner!
I never used a door knob cover to keep her in because I actually never thought about it. But, it wouldn't do much good now as she has figured our how to open doors even when they are on. I did lock myself in my room a few nap times to lock her out. It would have been much easier to lock her in. We did have a gate at her door for a while. We're trying to do without it right now, but we hear the pitter- patter sometimes before she fals asleep. We've recently put a digital clock in her room with a little number sign and she is allowed to leave her room when the numbers match. She loves showing off the matching numbers when she wakes up. So at 7:00 on the dot she is up. I sometimes wonder how long she lays there staring at the clock, waiting for it to turn. Best of luck!
just popped over from Kelly's and saw this post... I used them with my oldest b/c she climbed out of the crib at 15 months. She would leave her room and go everywhere. I *had* to use them. I had some people tell me it was awful and say "what if there was a fire?" Well, most 15 month olds don't climb out of the crib and I would have to go get her then (like I wouldn't go get her even if there was a knob cover on the door??). So then I just quit telling people I used them. I didn't want the comments... this was 10 years ago. She soon figured out how to take the doorknob cover off, but it was nice while it worked!
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