To ask what makes you feel safe?

[GroEgg2000]

DP is away tonight for the first time since moving home. Our old home had good security features and was a bungalow so I could see our front door from the bedroom and in a quiet area. We have since moved to a house with our bedroom (that we share with our 6 month old) at the back of the house, furthest from the door and no way of seeing it. We also have a back door here.

It probably sounds silly but I find this a lot more scary than previous nights alone. It's only the second one since having our first DC and the first one in a while and in the new house.

So, what do you all do to keep/feel safe? I've got DC next to me, the doors locked and all windows except in the bedroom shut. Light on in the hallway and we don't have pets to warn me. Sorry if I sound pathetic, I just can't seem to stop worrying!

I have tried falling asleep with my cat which usually works but I m in the house on my own for the first time in ages and the lock on the back door isnt working so i have left lights on and wedged a chair under it. Very unlikely anyone could get in as our garden s enclosed and has no access to the street but i felt safer last night when ds was sleeping downstairs (he s a big lad but in reality could sleep through a nuclear war so wouldn't be much use).
What's making me feel safer is the sky is getting lighter and dawn will be breaking soon.
I m not usually so pathetic honest!

I live in a huge block of flats on a huge estate so I generally feel safe because we have security guards, loads of cameras and live in a country with very little burglary. Also live on the 10th floor so very hard to break in.

Also, I have a dog that howls madly when someone comes into the house.

I generally feel safe.

I would be SOL bc I'm single & live alone. But I have an alarm and a gun by my bed. Because someone DID try to break in once but the door and window they tried to get in were locked. Alarm installed and gun bought that week. And yes, I know how to use it. And yes, I WOULD use it.

Guns wouldn’t make me feel safe at all, would you actually be prepared to shoot someone?

Big Maremma guardian dog. Plus a porch light at the front of the house. Nobody's getting near the house because of the dog though...and he's terrifying when he sees someone he doesn't know close to the gate or garden. All teeth and tallness.

I'm neurotic about safety and am paranoid about being broken into. I have security cameras front, back and inside. Sensor lighting outside. I have great external doors and windows. I have locks on a couple of internal doors. I used to have a big dog and am about to get another. I sleep pretty easy with all this!

I live in a large house with five doors (front and back plus three sets of French doors). Someone would have to climb over a few fences to get into the back garden.
I feel safe because it’s quite a prominent house on a fairly busy street. Also have two dogs.
Also I love my house and feel it protects us!

In all seriousness? The fact that I'm pretty certain that the bloke two floors above me is a Russian mobster. He has a "discrete" guy hanging around the lobby at all times, and I'm pretty sure that guy is armed.

OTOH, it's also what makes me feel least secure at the very same time.

Basically: I doubt any garden variety burgler would dare - but the likelihood of a bunch of Putin's henchmen turning up Bond style, while still low, is certainly higher than with my other neighbours - all doctors, lawyers, engineers, corporate managers.

My dogs. They are small and very alert and bark at anything. So if I hear a noise at night and they Don't bark at it, they I know it's not anything.

Guns wouldn’t make me feel safe at all, would you actually be prepared to shoot someone?

Yes we are. We chose a shotgun because the shot is short range and won’t go through walls. It’s also easy to aim when your in a stressful situation.

Also the sound of loading it is very distinctive, and will terrify any intruder.

Make sure all locked up and secure..I also keep the landing light on and sleep with a knife in my drawer/under the bed..is that weird?! Yes probably-I hate being alone overnight..plus I have a dog

I'm not sure if anyone else has mentioned this - I was never bothered in the slightest by being alone at night but since having my DC I do have the occasional twinge of "what the fuck would I do if THIS happened". Is that where your anxiety comes from, I wonder? Interesting that not being able to see your door is causing you worry; that would bother me more, I think, as I'd always be watching it!

FWIW I double-check locks, close downstairs curtains and leave a small lamp on in the living room. My DC is still sleeping in our room due to it being a tiny property, and I think that makes me feel slightly safer, knowing we're in the same room.

Yes I'd be prepared to shoot and I'd follow thru. Otherwise it's more dangerous for me. My goal would be to aim at center mass and keep shooting.

@MirriVan

My fear at night is not related to whether I'm alone or not. It happens either way. I dont know whether that is the case for everyone on this thread.

I moved to a city suburb, nice area, from a quiet village two years ago. My village house had movement-sensitive outside lights and I didn't feel the need for anything else.

Where I am now, there are more random callers, and I have serious mobility difficulties. I've bought a video doorbell to see who's at the front door, answer by phone (or an Alexa device if I ever get one) to tell a courier not to rush off, or ignore the caller altogether.

After a recent experience due entirely to my carelessness but no harm done, I'm replacing the two outside lights with floodlight security video cameras.

I had to smile at the references to 'Ring doorbell' upthread. Two weeks ago I would have wondered quite what that meant in this context, now I know because my doorbell is that brand - Ring. The two cameras will be the same. Amazon's annual prime sale is on 15/16 July so I've put what I want on my wish list, and am scanning the daily deals just in case.