Poly door safety question

[triplover]

Planning a stay at Poly (hopefully in connecting rooms) & daughter is concerned about safety of 4 yr. old sleeping in adjoining room. Wondering if anyone has ever had any problems with toddler during naptime being able to open hall entrance door while adults were in connecting room.

 

[outlander]

Just use the safety latch. Unless she is industrious enough to unlock the door and pull a chair over to reach the latch. In that case, you should not leave her unattended.

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

Definitely put the safety latch across. My DD2 had no problem opening the door until I put the safety latch across then she couldn't get out. We were all in the same room with her but you never know - she can be pretty sneaky and knows when to make her move.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

Ditto about the safety latch. I put that thing on as soon as we enter the room and my DD is 8 years old. It's the same thing I also put on when we've all turned in for the night. Safety measure.

 

[Jaymie]

I always bring my baby monitor if we're going to have connecting rooms.

 

[Mamapapa]

Sounds like great advise... I like the idea about the baby monitor. And it sounds like my idea of pushing a chair up against the door to block it isn't a good idea since that would just give the child access to the safety latch!

 

[gigi1313]

not to mention, the chair could be a problem if you needed a quick exit (or hotel/emergency personnel needed a quick entrance)... your best bet is to try the monitor, hopefully you won't get too much interference... of course, you could use my solution, take a nap w/him/her!

 

[triplover]

Thanks for all the info....I was thinking of using the baby monitor also!

 

[2ndAmdt]

I have to disagree with just using the safety latch. We stayed at POR 2 years ago at Christmas, when my daughter was 4 1/2 She is on the petite side - she is now 6 1/2, and has only recently reached the 40lb mark so that we can take her out of a child car seat and use a booster seat.

When we first arrived at POR, I made a comment about being concerned that she could get out the door. The trundle bed we requested for her was on the door-side of the room and couldn't be moved. DH insisted that 1) she wasn't tall enough to get the security latch open and 2) she wasn't strong enough to get the heavy door open. She nicely proved him wrong on both counts. And she didn't need a chair for the security latch, she could stretch and do it.

We sat her down and had a nice long talk about not leaving the room without us, which was sufficient for her. I've never been big on baby monitors, so I don't know how that would work, i.e., could she be quiet enough to get out without you knowing. If you don't think a talk is sufficient in this case, I would consider getting a portable door alarm. I used to have one that hung on the handle and was a motion detector - if the door moved, it would go off. Was very comforting when I was traveling on my own, but I can see it working in this case as well.

 

[mickeyjen]

I strongly recommend getting a travel door alarm for the exterior door. They cost about $10 and you can get them at any travel store and I've even seen them in the travel section of either Target or one of the other big box stores... You hang them on the doorknob, and when someone touches the doorknob (from either side, so it is also great for security) it sets off the alarm. There is no way you would miss it if you were only one room away with the door open.
http://www.amazon.com/Personal-Door-Alarm-Austin-House/dp/B0009XTTVY/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=apparel&qid=1196106027&sr=8-4

 

[QueenGoblin]

I think this comes down to temperment. Is she the kind of kid that climbs up on furniture to get to things at home? When she is at home, does she go off and do her own thing when she wakes up? If not, then she probably won't do those things at a hotel either.

My DD has been climbing up on furniture/moving furniture to get doors open etc. for well over a year. So even though she usually looks for me first thing after waking up, I would probably bring along a monitor or alarm if she was going to be sleeping alone in a strange place.