Probably the biggest impedement to Hayes’ overall safety is our stairs and doors. He can’t get enough of them. The biggest problem is that he’s figure out how to open doors to get to the stairs. It used to be just pinched fingers in the door as he slammed them shut. Now, with this door opening epiphany, we have to deal with him possibly tumbling down the stairs.
Here’s how it normally plays out. Hayes is in the kitchen, which, along with the family room (better known these days as Hayes’ toy room) can be closed off from the rest of the house. We close it off. He runs around, pulls the pots and pans and other stuff out of the cabinets, plays with his toys and makes a lot of noise.
Yesterday, this scenario changed. He opened the door and headed for the stairs. I intercepted him before he could start the climbing… but now the rules have changed. We’ve got to figure out how to how to keep him away from the stair, and our kinda ornate banister is not condusive to gating. Oh well… our last bit of Hayes roaming control has been breeched. Let the games begin.
cameron says:
April 24th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
on one side of the stair opening you have wall right? I’m asking because I don’t know, not to be an ass.
On that side you attach the gate to the wall, on the other side (probably the side that has the latch) attach the latch hardware to a piece of wood that you then just zip tie to the banister. The 12″ or longer kind will do it. Reality is that the gate is really only there to slow them down, very very quickly they figure out how to get around them.
Our gate at the bottom of our stair case isn’t attached at all, we slide it through the banister and across the stairs. It’s basically a psychological barrier, Lucas knows he’s not supposed to go past it, and usually announces something like “Lucas wants to go up” or “waiting for Mama and Papa” when he gets to it.
A bigger worry for us is that he’s worked out how to unlock the deadbolts on both the front and back doors. The front has big concrete step and the side is straight onto the sidewalk on a busy street. FUN!
kristied says:
April 25th, 2006 at 10:32 am
Well, that is scary. My mom’s has stairs and once my son learned how to open doors, we had to put gates up. There are all sorts of different gates. Granted, they eventually ill find a way around/over them (mine hasnt yet), but at least it buys you a few extra minutes. We have to worry now about him escaping the front door and running down to the pond.
Julia says:
April 25th, 2006 at 10:51 am
You can get baby-proof doorknob covers (hard to explain- http://www.onestepahead.com/product/86198/307761/117.html ) for regular round door-knobs and for the lever type. They work pretty well- easy enough for parents, but difficult for kids. the 4-year-old I take care of still hasn’t figured it out (or he just hasn’t bothered trying- Cameron’s right- sometimes a psychological barrier is all it takes!
Eric Sagalyn says:
April 25th, 2006 at 10:53 am
I’ve seen those, problem is, we have those “old fashion” style doors with latches instead of knobs. Hayes just pushes down on the latch and pulls to open the door.
Mary P says:
April 27th, 2006 at 12:34 pm
If your door’s not too ornate and beautiful to sully with a small hole, you can try a hook-and-eye latch, up high. Of course, if someone wants to come through from the other side, there always has to be an adult to open it from the latched side, but since we’re talking about a little one, I’m sure there IS always an adult around.
Zac BabyRoadies says:
April 27th, 2006 at 1:13 pm
We have a Kidco Gateway door gate (for our dog) that is pressure-mounted, menaing it doesn’t screw into the wall anywhere, it just pushes real hard from both sides.
http://www.ferretstore.com/kidcogateway.html
We have it at the bottom of the stairs and just step over it, but there is a pretty complex “push a button and lift at the same time” function to get it to swing open if need be.
Our woodwork is intact and our upstairs is safe from the ravages of a Boston Terrier pup.
Brian says:
May 3rd, 2006 at 1:07 pm
Our almost 1 just figured out how to open the cabinets in the kitchen. Just as we get one barrier erected he throws down another challenge.
Guide For Boston Terrier Breeders and Boston Terrier Training says:
March 19th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Guide For Boston Terrier Breeders and Boston Terrier Training
Yesterday, being New Year\’s Day, dogs and their humans were enjoying the sun and walking around a local lake. We met at least 3 young puppies, one of them a charming Boston Terrier who was so small he was using a cat collar.
dog breeders in mississippi says:
August 11th, 2008 at 9:23 am
dog breeders in mississippi
[…] to stay on the couch or bed watching us. Now she follows me too. I haven’t been able to put her down. I can’t tell who is more clingy.Me or Jolee I had to put her down to go to church yesterday and it just about killed […]