How do you childproof your front door?

[greenmansions]

My 2 yo DS has figured out how to get out our screen door and will soon be able to reach the deadbolt on the wooden front door too.

The screen door is the only ventilation into our living room/dining room so the front door is open much of the summer. We bought a new screen door with a lock last year, but turns out DS can unlock it easily and open the door.

I'm looking for suggestions to keep him safe if I have to leave the room for a bit, or even if he should wander at night... He's just so tall for his age, so has lots of ability with 2 yo level of understanding.

Both doors have those lever-style knobs, not the standard round knobs. We could add a chain lock up high on the wooden door, but the screen door is metal and I just don't know what to do there. My understanding is the plastic childproofers for the lever knobs do not work well, and will not fit our screen door anyway.

sorry to ramble, just am getting concerned about this issue!

[Junebug]

We put a second deadbolt about 3/4 of the way up the door.

Uh oh... I didn't get the part about the screen door being the only barrier. Not sure what you could do about that.

[Joannarachel]

Ok, I know exactly what you need.

I hope you have a Target near you because they don't have it on their website. Parents Magazine makes several child safety products, but my absolute favorite, which has been a godsend in our very old house, is basically a little thing with two squares of adhesive and a flexible latch that goes between them. One square on the screen door, one square on the jam, latch between way up high where Baby can't reach. Voila!

[Trishy]

http://www.safety1st.com/product.asp?productID=614

Would this work for you?

[rubelin]

I second Joanna about these.
http://www.safety1st.com/product.asp?productID=205

Those little latches have become my lifesaver. We had the same problem with our screen door at our old place and I would have paid a million dollars for someone to make these (I think they started making them last year). Our new place has a dozen drawers in the kitchen with smooth formica fronts and no handles and I've got these on every single one. You can find them at Home Depot, too.

[nonnymoose]

We have one of those latches on our fridge, but one weekend with a friend who kept forgetting it was on there did the adhesive in. You can drill a metal door, no problem. I'd put in a second lock, or at the very least a hook-and-eye up top. Adults are more likely to notice a lock at eye level than they are a piece of plastic that matches the door.

[True Blue]

We actually have a door alarm chime that we bought at Lowe's or Home Depot...doesn't actually keep them in, but lets me know if they get out!

[Yo Becca]

we have a simple hook and eye latch at eye level on our screen door - it would just be a matter of drilling the metal door.

And at 2, I would back it up with regular talk about not going outside alone, the safety issues, etc., what she should do if wants to go out, and what the consequences might be if she goes outside alone. A 2 year old should be able to understand these issues and would then better understand the lock.

Good luck!

[amberielle]

Our main door is so tight that most adults have trouble leaving! We don't have a screen door for our house, but we have two for the pool enclosure. We got doors without knobs and added our own knobs. We put them about 5 and a half feet off the ground, so no kids are reaching those!

[USAmma]

We have one door handle and one deadbolt. The deadbolt used to be the kind that any toddler could open by turning it. We replaced that with one that requires a key to open it from either side and we have the key in a safe place. You could buy a new knob for the screen door that requires a key on both sides if that door doesn't have a deadbolt on it.

[Junebug]

We have one door handle and one deadbolt. The deadbolt used to be the kind that any toddler could open by turning it. We replaced that with one that requires a key to open it from either side and we have the key in a safe place. You could buy a new knob for the screen door that requires a key on both sides if that door doesn't have a deadbolt on it.

Be really careful with that! We just bought a house that had a lock like that & the inspector said he wouldn't sign off till we changed it. It violates fire code & he pointed out that during an emergency, fiddling around with a key could mean the difference between getting out alive & getting trapped.

[Alkenny]

You can drill in the screen door for a hook and eye latch, but make sure it's up high enough that the little 'stinker' can't push something over to stand on to unlatch it! (Speaking from experience. )

[Anka]

Have you tried turning the handle so that it sits vertically on the inside instead of horizontally?

[Hatteras Gal]

Originally Posted by Alkenny

You can drill in the screen door for a hook and eye latch, but make sure it's up high enough that the little 'stinker' can't push something over to stand on to unlatch it! (Speaking from experience. )

I second that! Our oldest is 4 and now able to reach the hook and eye latch. She's only done it once, at the bidding of her friend who was at the door ("just move the chair over, you can reach it") but once is enough to know we need to move it up higher!

[LolaK]

My daughter can get out the screen door too so I put a baby gate up inside the door frame so we still get the ventilation but she can't get out. I just use a pressure gate so I did not even need to drill into the door frame.

[faithnj]

Grandmother has Alzheimer's, so aside from the cheap, adheasive door chimes and the latch hooks so high they are out of reach and sight, I'd also recommend a nice, deep, resonant and loud wind chime. No one can come in or out without the entire house hearing that thing.

Best wishes. You have a lot of good advice to choose from.

Faith

[greenmansions]

Thank you all for the ideas you've shared. I have shown them to DH and we're going to look at the door chime/alarm and putting in a hook & eye up high on the screen door, additional deadbolt on the main wooden door.

Hopefully that will take care of this issue for us!

[noelsmommie]

Originally Posted by rubelin

I second Joanna about these.
http://www.safety1st.com/product.asp?productID=205

Those little latches have become my lifesaver. We had the same problem with our screen door at our old place and I would have paid a million dollars for someone to make these (I think they started making them last year). Our new place has a dozen drawers in the kitchen with smooth formica fronts and no handles and I've got these on every single one. You can find them at Home Depot, too.

I'm adding another vote for those latches.. it's the only thing that worked on our corner cabinet that turns.. ds would have certainly sheared off a finger by now if it weren't for them.

[ashleylesh]

Those all sound like great ideas... I just wanted to chime in with how someone who lived in this house before us had the great idea of installing a deadbolt at....you guessed it... toddler height! There is another deadbolt up in the regular spot, but it doesn't work. We -should- be done renting here before Taso figures the deadbolt out. If not, we will be using some of the aforementioned ideas...

[Treasuremapper]

It gets even more exciting when the older toddler lets the younger toddler out into the front yard. One day my older dd did that! The girls were about 33 months old and 11 months old. : I could be way off on the time, everything is a blur these days. :

Fortunately, I was close behind them but they did get almost to the street before I was able to reach them. I admit that I did yell. : But I was truly scared. Just the thought that I could have missed it and God knows what could have happened.

Within 24 hours, I located a device that is two flat panels. It cost about four bucks at our local hardware store, and it works so well that it is hard for me to open. DH installed it the next day near the top of the door. Even if my older dd could figure out how to drag up a chair and get to the lock, there is very little chance that she could get it unhooked.

We have plastic doorknob covers on most of the doors of our house, but the one on the front door kept breaking off and ended up not being used. That's how accidents happen.