Baby Locks on Doors, but What If There's a Fire?

A child that would know to get out of the house in a fire would know how to open any of those locks. I child that is old enough to know to get out in a fire is also old enough to be told you do not go outside.

I never put child locks on the doors because by the time they are old enough to open a door they already knew not to.

When I was still training them I did set my alarm to chirp if anyone opened the door and then we would have a discussion.

I do childcare, I do not have baby locks on the doors, the children are not allowed to touch the door knobs. No debate, No arguement, No Touch!!

M

I don't. I have a 2 year old and almost 4 year old. They both know they cannot go outside without permission. Thus far we have had no problems. I've explained to my oldest repeatedly my safety concerns, etc.

My biggest problem is my 2 year old locking me out when I go to get the paper. He is always nice and lets me back in, but still ;-)

Unless you live right on a highway, I would just teach them the rules of the house/yard --you cannot be in the front yard by yourself, you cannot go outside without permission, etc.

The likelihood that you have a house fire is nearly non-existent. The likelihood that your child will open the door and go out is more likely to happen. Protect against the one most likely to happen.

The likelihood that a 5 yo and a 2 yo would try to get out in the case of fire is even less likely than you having a house fire. Kids that small tend to hide rather than leave.

I feel that it is safer for my DD at this point to NOT be able to get out easily and be wandering down the street. In all likelyhood, she would not be able to escape a fire on her own. In general, she's pretty good about only opening doors when we tell her to.

Further, I intend to get a smoke detector that calls her name or talks in my voice because little kids don't register the beep of the smoke alarm in their sleep. She's old enough now to call for us.

I had your same concern until I saw my daughter (5 at the time) giggling and pointing at the door. My 2 year old was on the outside of the screen door looking in, completely pleased with himself that he unlocked the screen door and was now outside.

After that I immediately realized the real danger was not in the house fire, but in keeping the little ones inside. Before the day was out, I had installed a chain lock too high up to reach, even if they got a chair :) When I told my MIL about this, she shared how my husband at 3 yo took his little brother (18 mo younger) on a little field trip to a store, without an adults knowledge.

I agree with another poster. If there was a fire, the young kids would not be trying to get themselves out of the house. They would be hiding waiting for mom and dad to come get them.

I agree with Michelle G. I also do home childcare and its the same way here. No debate. Just NO.

I even have a half door leading to my playroom/daycare room. I do have a bathroom type doorknob on it so I can lock it from the otherside (I can reach over it to unlock easily, but its far too high for any of the kids I care for). The only time I have ever locked it is when I had a drop in child and they were not so well versed in the "you do not open or close the door unless asked to" policy. Same goes with light switches, etc. This is no different in the learning.

I agree with you and always worried in a panic situation I myself would freak out having to go thru other locks to get out, etc. I never did with my own daughter (now 17 yrs old).

Teach them the importance of following this rule.

Best wishes!

ETA~ @AV...just do at least monthy fire drills. In home daycare we are required to do this and all my kids know what it sounds like and what to do. Even my now 21 mos old toddlers can say GREEN MAILBOX as I drill it into them. This is our meeting place. I hit the button on both of our smoke detectors at least once a month and we go outside, no matter the weather. One of mine is a talking one. They giggle at it (not my voice)..but when we are outside the 3 year old try to copy it. FIRE FIRE FIRE..exit the house..blah blah. Its pretty funny. But the point is they KNOW what to do!! Everyone should do these drills at home and have their meeting spots! I feel strongly about this as the child of a former Firefighter and now my brother is a FireFighter as well!

What about doors to the the back yard?
The doors that lead to our back yard are not child proofed. The yard is completely fenced in and the gate latch is too high for him to reach so I don't have to worry about him running away.
We have a slide bolt up high on the front door.

We didn't baby proof the doors but we did have the doors alarmed so if someone opens them you hear a big beep throughout the house. This has woken me up so it's pretty loud. We also had the pool gate alarmed so we could hear in the house if someone went into the pool. Hope this helps.

tou don't need baby locks, use a security or screen door, they take 2 seconds to unlock. J.

Updated

tou don't need baby locks, use a security or screen door, they take 2 seconds to unlock. J.

I had a doorknob cover on my front door when I lived up north and a spring curtain rod at the top of the sliding door. My daughter still cannot open them, but she did figure out how to pull it apart as she got older (4yo). I am sure your 5yo knows to not leave the house, but the 2yo may not completely understand.

I also have always taught my daughter to get her father or me first in an emergency.

Windows are glass--go through the window if necessary.

what is your position for a house alarm system? that way after its set if a door opens it sets off the alarm, you can bypass certain doors at times if you know that you will be having a lot of activity. It would def keep your little ones inside, and the bad ones out.

we put hotel style door locks on all our exit doors. My middle child was the escape artist.

I need to edit my answer after reading a couple posts....DO NOT feel bad if your kids open the door and go out even though you have told them no. Parents that think that is all it takes are lucky. Period. I have 2 easier children, and another that has been a challenge since conception. Good luck.

I happen to have a padlock on the inside of my front door. My 5 year old started going outside during the night time hours so we had to go to this extreme to protect him. If there is a fire they can go out a window. If you are on an upper floor that has no window exits then I would consider buying those ladders that attach to the floor under the windows to flip out and allow one to climb down.

We have an unmonitored alarm system (where if we set it and someone broke in, the alarm is LOUD....but we don't set it while home). What we do with our alarm system is that it beeps if someone opens a door or window, and will show by a little light WHAT door or window is open. We keep the deadbolt locked on the front door, which my youngest can't reach (and if they are tall enough and strong enough to reach the deadbolt, then they know to be responsible and NOT open that door without my permission). If the children went into the garage the 5 year old can reach the button to open the garage door to the street, but I don't think the 2 year old can. The 5 year old knows the rules, and the 2 year old is not "allowed" in there alone. This isn't an issue in our garage because the light switches are up high and he's not walking into that garage in the darkness. Our backyard is fenced in and we allow it to be opened, and both boys can open it. So they have a backdoor to take them to the yard, and a garage door if it were a real emergency. My 2 year old can touch the lock but not get a grip around the latch to unlock it. I would NOT be ok with him being able to open that door at 2 though....I'd hate to be in the shower or in the laundry room, and him open the door. I think you should look at your floorplan and have 2 ways out of a house. (Not counting windows). Our backdoor and our garage are on opposite sides of the house, so that works for us (no matter what end of the house, there's an exit. The front door is in the center, and while a convenient exit, I'd rather it be locked and my kids safe on a daily basis. I really like what Jackie said about teaching children to get mom or dad first. That way I'm not running around in a smoke filled house looking for them, because I wouldn't leave without them accounted for.