Naptime callers/doorbell ringers

[zulupetalz]

I'm seriously considering making a sign to hang on my door that says "baby sleeping, do not ring the doorbell." The truth is, I try to sleep during that time, too, and DH just called (no matter how many times I remind him, he still calls during naptime) and the UPS man just rang the doorbell. I need to turn my ringer off more, too. I can only imagine that it will be even more frustrating when baby #2 arrives. :: getting out her sharpie and posterboard ::

[Dea]

Many lifetimes ago I had a horrible job which was all canvassing and I often saw signs like that. I don't think it's uncommon. You could also check to see if you can disable your door bell. Even if you just cut the bottom off of a disposable cup and tape it over the button....

[Dea]

Many lifetimes ago I had a horrible job which was all canvassing and I often saw signs like that. I don't think it's uncommon. You could also check to see if you can disable your door bell. Even if you just cut the bottom off of a disposable cup and tape the bottom part over the button....

[Peppermint Leaf]

we had the same problem .. so we did the following:

• Disabled the doorbell
• Hung a sign outside that stated: positively no soliciting of any kind, and also a do not disturb sign (and underneath: visitors by appointment only ) : I have never been one to appreciate "drop in visitors" .. I like people to call first! .. that is just the way I am. Even my family knows. If solicitors knock anyway I think that is pretty rude so at that point I am pretty obnoxious about it by ususally saying "why would I buy anything from someone who can't even read" LOL:
• When I feel like it -- I also turn the ringer off on the phone .. people can still leave a message though.

We have a saying in our home "IF momma ain't happy - ain't nobody happy"... and trust me .. If I don't get my sleep ' I ain't happy

[Kitten]

We disconnected our doorbell. Bliss! Inevitably someone would ring the doorbell during DS's naptime. Also, we have the same street numbers as another house one block away. For WHATEVER reason (I DON'T want to know) they get a lot of late night visitors, like 9 or 10 or even later and they would keep getting confused and coming to our house first. It was really uncomfortable to have people ringing our doorbell late at night and asking if so-and-so was here. So we put our street name in big letters on our mailbox which our neighborhood association just loves. Between that and disconnecting the doorbell, it seems to have helped.

[lincap]

I think a sign is a good idea. I might do the same.
When it is election time around here.. OH MY.. knock knock.. all day.

When DS was a newborn, we were napping upstairs, and I heard a knock at the front, then a knock and the back, then front then back... I assumed my house was on fire... it was some guy running for city something... and was like "oh I saw the car in the driveway.." ARGH..

I will be using a sign.. no doorbell here and cell phone only (vibrate!)

[guestmama9972]

I haven't had the baby yet but I already covered the doorbell with masking tape and wrote "shhhh" on it. We are also posting a sign on the door with our rules for visitors.

My second baby I had a sign on the door that said baby sleeping but it sure didn't deter people from pounding on the door or ringing the doorbell.

After the births of our kids DH always records the *statistics* about the baby on the answering machine, then we turn it way down and turn the phone ringer off.

I don't think measures like this are rude at all. To me they are in the best interest of the new baby and parents. What is rude to me is people who just show up or stay forever or ring the doorbell of the family with small kids in the middle of the afternoon!

[aircantu1]

When my 5&3 year olds were younger and still napping I taped a sign over the doorbell that said DO NOT RING BELL, KNOCK SOFTLY! It worked.

And the ringer in our bedroom has been turned off since our 5 year old was born.

I fear this time most of the noise will be coming from inside the house.

[Writerbird]

Lately I've had a rash of salespeople who do not realize that "no soliciting" means "no sales."

The religious nutjobs consider themselves exempt, because contrary to all appearances and facts, they don't think they're selling anything.

And the people with petitions don't think the sign applies to them because they "just" need my signature.

For these reasons, my sign will read "Do Not Knock For Any Reason. If We Want You Inside, You Already Have A Key."

[zulupetalz]

thanks guys, it is nice to know I'm not alone on this one.

[Gunter]

Originally Posted by zulupetalz

I'm seriously considering making a sign to hang on my door that says "baby sleeping, do not ring the doorbell." The truth is, I try to sleep during that time, too, and DH just called (no matter how many times I remind him, he still calls during naptime) and the UPS man just rang the doorbell. I need to turn my ringer off more, too. I can only imagine that it will be even more frustrating when baby #2 arrives. :: getting out her sharpie and posterboard ::

we did! well, right after ez was born, DH taped an sign saying, "new baby. do not disturb" over the doorbell with tape in an X shape. people who were there to drop off food or help us post partum just knocked on the door. it worked well and we kept it up for at least a month.

[camille76]

after spending a lot of time getting frustrated with people during naptime with baby #1, i learned that i had to be pro-active to make sure things didn't happen. no one else but me knows what's going on, so i have to be the one to take the preventative steps.

i put a sign out "baby sleeping. please knock quietly." i taped the note on top of (covering) the doorbell. i turned off ringers. i let the dog in so she wouldnt start barking during naptime.

that said... now that i have 3 i've found that i dont care if someone calls or rings the bell. baby just sorta sleeps thru it. but i do remember having that issue with baby#1.

save yourself a lot of frustration by just planning ahead. I know sometimes it's hard, especially if baby falls asleep unexpectedly, but just do your best.

[Steady101]

I always have a sign on the door for solicitors. New baby or not they drive me insane.

[LoveChild421]

oh thanks for reminding me! I can already think of a few neighbors who will be ringing away once they see blue ballons on the mailbox!

[mama_nym]

We'll have a sign on our door stating that there's a new baby in the house, etc. and will most likely turn our phone ringers down to their quietest setting, but I'm not holding out much hope for a quiet house with my four "older" homeschooled children around (ages 9, 7, 5 and 2). This baby will have to learn to sleep through the chaos and noise!