If Your Toddler Sleeps in Own Room...

[not_telling]

Do you leave her/his bedroom door open or shut? Do you leave your own bedroom door open or shut?

In a few weeks (just after DS's 2nd birthday) we're going to make a bedroom transition. Right now we all sleep in the same room on the third floor. We're going to move down to the second floor, DH and I in our room, and DS in his own room. He's not really adept at opening doorknobs yet, so I'm leaning towards leaving his door cracked open so he can get to us if he needs to...which also would mean leaving our door cracked open. This is a bit problematic, at least at first, because we'll be using window air conditioners in these rooms and having the door shut would be best. We will be using a monitor, but I just feel kinda uncomfortable with DS being "stuck" in his room. On the other hand, I think for fire safety reasons we're supposed to leave bedroom doors shut.

I was going to convert with crib to the toddler bed when he started sleeping in his own room, but maybe I'll kepe it in crib formation at first (for familiarity's sake)...in which case, hopefully he won't climb/jump/fall out and having the door closed won't matter.

And then there's the cat. Poor kitty...I'm going to start locking her up in her own room each night cuz she can be noisy and I would be so annoyed if she meowed outside (or in!) DS's or our room all night.

[tbone_kneegrabber]

Well we are lucky because we have a door between our room and ds's room, so we leave both doors to the hallway closed and leave the between door open.

For fire safety, yes all hallway doors are supposed to be closed, however, in the heat w/o ac that is nearly impossible (at least here!)

I really like having the hallway door shut, because ds's door is VERY close to the stairs and often when he comes looking for us in the middle of the night he is barely awake and I am afraid that he might fall down the stairs.

As long as he's in a crib, I'd leave his door shut with the ac on.

When he's *not* in a crib, I would leave the doors open/cracked or get different door knobs that he can open or cross that bridge when you come to it.

We went to a futon on the floor as a bed for ds when he got his own room about a month ago. It was the best decision, that way when I end up going and sleeping with him (almost every night) I fit in the bed. And when he rolls out of bed (a few nights a week) he doesn't even wake up because he doesn't "fall"

[cheryllynn]

We have doors shut and use a child monitor. Right now dd is in a crib, but I am not fond of the idea that she could get up and start wandering through the house without me being aware that she is up and around.

[russsk]

DS starts the night off in his room then joins us when he wakes in the middle of the night. I close his door - he is a light sleeper and needs darkness to sleep. We also have pets, and I do not want the cat sneaking in there. He can easily open his door.

We leave our door open so we can hear him if he calls us. We also leave a light on in the hall bathroom so he can see if he comes out of his room. If dh is home he calls us when he wakes, but if dh is away he just walks down the hall to come sleep with me. He's never wandered the house.

[Mal85]

We close her door. Only because her room is right off the living room and we wouldn't be able to move or talk or make any noise after she goes to bed if her door was open. We leave our door open so we can hear if she wakes throughout the night. If she were on a different floor (if we had 2 stories) then I'd probably leave it open a crack.

[tessie]

Right now she's in a cot and I use a monitor and keep the door shut. If we have the door open it gets too light in the mornings and she wakes early.

Once she's in a bed I'll put a safety gate up at the door. Her doorway is near to the top of the stairs and I don't want a half asleep kid toppling down them.

[slgt]

DD has been in a toddler bed since 14 mos. when she proved adept at climbing out of her crib. For a little while, we could get away with a gate across her door mostly to keep the dog out, and we would leave our door cracked open.

Now, we put her to bed with door closed. She can open doorknobs, but is more likely to stay in bed if her door is closed. We open her door when we go to bed, and leave our door cracked. We have a very solid gate at the top of the stairs.

[leanbh]

we cosleep and have her in her own room.
basically, we keep her door shut (we have a monitor, and she is able to open the door) until we go to bed, and then we open her door and our door so that she can freely climb into our bed when she wants to (usually at about 3 or 4 in the morning) even if she's half asleep.

[LadyCatherine185]

We shut DS's door when he first goes to bed and we are still up (light sleeper) but we open the door when we go to bed. We also have our door opened. We don't use a moniter, however, our rooms are directly across the hall from eachother.

[QuestionGal]

DS is in a "big boy bed" in his own room. Our room is directly across the hall from his. No door knob covers. We sleep with both doors closed and use a monitor to hear him. DS does NOT wander at all, he won't even get out of bed unless one of us comes & gets him. I have no idea why but we aren't looking that gift horse in the mouth

[trghig]

My DS (2.5) sleeps in a toddler bed in his room. His room is right next to ours. We keep the door closed for safety reasons. He has night terrors and sleep wakes. The last thing I want is for him to have a sleep walking episode and fall down the stairs. We have a monitor in his room, so we can hear him.

[mamadelbosque]

ds1 moved to his own room ~20 months shortly after I got preggo w/ ds2, he sleeps w/ his door shut and ours shut too - but we're just down the hall.

[Dreamy]

DS starts the night in his room, and I leave the door open an inch or so so I can hear him. There's a sound machine in his room that drowns out any noise we make.

We leave our door open, or if I don't want the A/C blowing in, I close it over and hold it almost shut with a Kleenex box, that way DS can easily push it open. Sleeping with doors completely closed feels too isolating/restricted to me, I like for air to be able to flow through the house.