2 BR--Safety Concerns-Take two

[Johnnie Fedora]

After experiencing the dedicated 2BR at BCV, I am convinced that many 2BR layouts (at least at the "hotel style" resorts) pose a real safety issue for famlies with little ones. For our adventerous kids, the balcony off the 2nd bedroom is a real safety hazard. I would never consider placing our kids in the 2nd BR alone. Our oldest, can open both locks on the patio door, and allow balcony access to the yonger one(s) (who loves to stand on the patio chairs). Since you can't hear or see the second BR balcony doors from the living room, monitoring is a big problem. Also the sinks and extra water access are a big temptation.

For those of you that stay in a 2 BR with little ones, what do you do about the unmonitored access to the patio doors?

Johnnie

 

[magicmouse2]

We stayed at a villa last year (offsite) and our 5 yr old let herself out during the night to catch frogs. Imagine the shock when there was a knock at the door at 3am. She was stood there gleefully telling us about the huge frog she almost caught!!!

Request a first floor room, then the balcony is not an issue

 

[A1A1]

Don't really understand why your last thread was closed. The issue wasn't the number of people. Also, the two bedroom holds more than 5--I think it is 8!

Anyway, I have always been concerned about access to the balcony. You can turn your back for a minute and have a tragedy. I wish there were higher locks on those doors. You know, high enough for parents to reach, but not little ones.

 

[EAP'sDAD]

At Home Depot the sell a patio door lock bar. we bought this last time. 2yr old DS has no fear and will get the lock open on any door, well this item does is fits up at the top were even older kids can't reach it and fits tightly between the sliding door and the frame. My DW has a problem opening it it so tight. well DS 2 and DS 4 were able to sit in the LR of our 1 br while we did other things and there was no way for them to get out, and let me tell you they spent the first day trying there hardest. it cost like $10 and I had suggested that the should supply this to a CM and she thought that it was a great idea since they are asked about this alot. I wonder who I should contact at Disney?

 

[disneyberry]

yes, i too have thought about this problem.
it seems strange because i'd think that most of the people who stay in 2-bdrm units are families.
and the logical sleeping configuration would be the parents sleep in the master bedroom. and the children sleep in the 2nd bedroom.

so you'd think that the balcony doors in the 2nd bedroom would have more childproof locks or something.

or perhaps if they had a lock that could only be unlocked with a key. and the resort staff has the key. so parents who are concerned about this might be able to request that the resort lock the balcony for the length of the stay.
i don't know, i guess there's a lot of complications with setting up any extra safety measure.

just having a simple higher lock won't help if kids are prone to getting a chair and standing on it to reach the lock.

*sigh* it's hard to figure out a good solution.

i've actually also thought about kitchen safety.
what if your child goes into the kitchen and turns on the oven or stove?
is there a switch in a fuse box that could be turned off? for ex. turn off the electricity to the kitchen appliances to prevent any accidents from happening if children turn on the stove/oven?
(actually i was thinking this is especially important for any autistic persons, or even someone like my grandma who has alzheimer's and is a perfectly capable adult who can operate appliances, unlock doors, but might not have the correct mental judgement etc.)

 

[CaptainMidnight]

We have very young children as wall and have the little ones sleeping in the same room as us at night. They just strech out in sleeping bags on the floor and one in the crib. They are too young to be in a strange room by themselves at night. I share your safety concerns, including the one about a little kid standing on a chair on the balcony.

We have purchased some child safety devices we take on trips with us, like covers for the electrical plugs that we install when staying at a DVC resort and a couple of other devices to help protect small curious fingers. We've used a portable kid gate to keep the littlest one out of the kitchen as well, and the living room coffee table to block an exit and establish a play area boundary.

I also don't understand why your original thread about child safety was closed.

 

[rbuzzotta]

I also have those concerns (with my 2 younger DD's) and will be faced with them in a few weeks!!

This time my oldest DD will have a friend with her and that scares me that these pre-teens may try to escape for some adventure!!!!

 

[The VWL Five]

It's a constant battle with us. We have a 4, 3 and 2 year old. They have been to Disney twice (first trip they were almost 3, 18 mo and 6 mo (yes we were nuts). Each kid feeds off the trouble the other one causes so we always have someone getting into trouble.

As parents we have split up in our sleeping arrangements to help with the kids. The wife takes the 2 girls in the 2nd br and I take my son in the master. Works well.

During the day we shut the door to the 2nd br to keep the kids out. Add some kid proof locks for the kitchen and just keep them in our sight the best we can.

The balcony scare me big time. Each time we've been down, there has been a lock at the top of the slider. We just locked it without the kids seeing us. This way they don't even know it's there. It has worked so far.

I'm sure we'll need a backup plan........... the bar sounds good.

 

[Richyams]

How is overcrowding a one bedroom or studio any different?

The kids still can get up in the middle of the night, still wander to a patio door. Still do anything they could in the two bedroom.

I think this is a made up excuse to try to justify spending less points and overcrowding rooms.

Get the two bedroom, have your kids sleep in the master with you, you will be following the rules, your kids won't be taught unethical ways of getting around rules and they will be safe with you in the master.

Little chains and/or bells may help also.

 

[floridafam]

You can pick up a safety pack at any local baby store or Toys R' Us.

I don't think they can make higher locks, etc. on doors for fire safety-shorter people/children have to be able to get out if there was a fire.

Hang a strip of jingle bells on the door at night.

I guess you can look at it both ways-I don't want my children to be able to get out on the balcony at night but I want them to know how and be able to get out in an emergency.

As far as the fuse in the kitchen goes-I'm not sure on this one. Is the fuse box in the kitchen? If you turn the fuse off will this shut off any smoke detectors that are "hard wired"?

In any child safety pack there should be the knobs that fit over the stove so they can't turn it on.

I guess I would just use a gate if my kids were little enough. I do understand your feelings about the kids being way in the other room. If you have really young ones I guess the only solution is for the parents to sleep in each of the rooms with one of the kdis.

 

[PamOKW]

I think it's fine for parents to discuss among themselves how to handle their concerns and to share ideas about bringing locks, etc. However, I don't think it's the responsibility of DVC to solve the problem of children leaving the rooms. I realize being in a strange place with Mickey out there somewhere is a temptation but what do you do at home? Do you sleep with your children and barricade the doors in your home?

As this thread shows, the concerns with kids can be never ending. With the real little ones it's concern that curiousity may bring them harm. With the older ones, it's a sense of adventure that may have them sneaking out. However, any of this can also happen in your own home.

 

[Terry S]

There are a few 2 bedroom dedicated rooms with no balcony off the 2nd bedroom. I had one last time and it was really nice not having to worry about that. The kids also somehow felt safer knowing that no one could come through that door at night. I have requested one of these type of rooms for our next trip.

 

[TwirlerGirl]

Hi Everyone,

We have an escape artist in our home. He just turned 5yo. I've added extra locks to all
patio doors, we have a fenced yard and have added extra locks on the gates as well. Safety locks were also added to the front door, the door to the garage area and the basement doors.
A curious child at 3, 4, 5 ... can open doors and let strangers in or get out their self. Until they learn and undestand the danger you protect them from harm. Last year at WDW we worried about the balcony as well. At home certain rooms are off limits to the children like the living room, my bedroom, the basement without adult supervision and we set the rules at the villa as well. But that balcony was very tempting, as a quick fix we moved the lungeage infront of the sliding door and made it very difficult to open the door. We allowed the children on the balcony from the main door but only after reciting the rules that we set. This worked for us but can understand anyone stilled worried about the other balcony. As far as sleeping in the room alone, they didn't so we avoided that problem. Next time I'll try the bar for the door. I wish they had the extra lockes at the top of the doors like we had installed at home! You can not be with your child every second of everyday and it only takes a second for a accident to happen.

 

[Johnnie Fedora]

Originally posted by Richyams
How is overcrowding a one bedroom or studio any different?

The kids still can get up in the middle of the night, still wander to a patio door. Still do anything they could in the two bedroom.

I think this is a made up excuse to try to justify spending less points and overcrowding rooms.

Get the two bedroom, have your kids sleep in the master with you, you will be following the rules, your kids won't be taught unethical ways of getting around rules and they will be safe with you in the master.

Little chains and/or bells may help also.

Please Rich lets stay focused, I don't think there are any references in this post to what you refer to as hypothetical overcrowding. You may be confusing this thread with another one.

As far as your safety points, each family is different. Ours kids do not to wander at night so I'm not as concerned.

Little bells may be a good idea, I'm sure I could unethically hear them from the living room patio door, but I doubt I could ethically hear them from the 2nd bedroom patio door.

Also, 1st floor rooms at BCV have the pool hazard to worry about, which is a BIG worry with a little escapee.

Pam...You are right, all these things (and more) can happen at home. But I and the kids are more familiar with our surroundings there. And yes, our door at home is locked with locks the kids can't manipulate yet. I don't think its necessarily Disneys responsibility to change anything, but the patio door locks aren't high enough, and are often misaligned. I usually bring a phillips screwdriver along so the locking plate can be adjusted to work properly. I have also stayed in a 2 BR where the upper floor window locks were not in place and the 5th floor bedroom window opened. Something I noticed and called about on check out day. A child wouldn't have to stand on a chair to fall out as the bedroom windows are very low.

Parents need to be sure do a safety check on these things with the units before unpacking to make sure all the safety features are functioning.

 

[jk1]

i've actually also thought about kitchen safety.
what if your child goes into the kitchen and turns on the oven or stove?
is there a switch in a fuse box that could be turned off? for ex. turn off the electricity to the kitchen appliances to prevent any accidents from happening if children turn on the stove/oven?

What do you do at home?

 

[Terry S]

Originally posted by Johnnie Fedora
Pam...You are right, all these things (and more) can happen at home. But I and the kids are more familiar with our surroundings there.

Johnnie..... I think you have solved your own problem with the quote above. You need to go to BCV more often so that you kids are familiar with the surroundings. Hey, that works for me, any excuse to go more often!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Another solution might be a dedicated 2 BR at OKW until the kids are older. You can monitor and lock the big patio door quite easily. I must say, I would be more concerned about older kids sneaking out than young ones escaping.

 

[rbuzzotta]

"Do you sleep with your children and barricade the doors in your home? "


No, I don't sleep with my children at home, BUT, my doors have somewhat of a barricade!! Everytime a point of entry/exit door or window is opened in my house, bells chime!!! The chimes are especially loud in the master bedroom!!

No escaping our house!!! LOL!!

 

[riggins]

We took a baby monitor with us last November when we stayed in a 2-bedroom at OKW. We turned it on at night when we went to sleep so we could hear if DD was up milling around at night. You may be opposed to "espionage" with your older kids, but it works well with the little ones. They aren't going to be able to unlock and open the door without making some noise, especially if you pile a few things in front of it. If you don't still have one from when they were babies, you pick up an inexpensive one for $20-25.

 

[Claudia1]

Terry S, I like the way you think!

riggins beat me to the baby monitor idea.

When our 10 yr DS was a toddler, he was also an escape artist. Our primary tools of the trade were the door knob covers and 2 Fisher-Price motion/door alarms. We still have them and you might find them on Ebay. Also, you can do a Google (or other serach engine) search for door motion sensors. There are some for under $20.

A baby monitor and a couple of well-placed motion sensors could cover most of the problem areas.

We also move furniture to block areas.