New ways to cause new havoc! Doors.

[FrightfullyPoshFloss]

When did your child figure out how they opened? Just would like to settle a row (mild mild mild, want to prove that I am right really) with DP, please!

ds already does it and he is 8 months!
obviously he can't do it if it is shut properly... but knows he has to push it

Ah, God! No I mean, full on, reaching up for handle, pulling it down and weedling their way out/in of where they are not supposed to be!

ds knows how they open, but hasn't managed to get the handle more than halfway down yet, he's 16 months. My friend's son is 2 weeks younger and has been opening doors for about 3 weeks now (so since before 15 months old). We both have press down type handles, not knobs like a Victorian house.

ahh well in that case generally as soon as they can reach it!

I should add that my ds is quite short and the handles are quite high, so he has to stand on tiptoe to reach them.

As soon as thaey are tall enough to reach them.

A handy tip.....get door knobsnot handles beuase it takes them aggggges to work those out

DS is tall. So it is a height thing rather than a genius baby thing then!! Will tell DP with glee, thank you!

My ds could do this at about 15 months by standing on the arm of the settee and reaching over. He has always been a bit of a monkey. dd, now 16 months, does not have his climbing skills and is too short to reach the handle.

God DS must be really tall. He was on the 91st centile, so I suppose there is my answer, but he is 11 months at the moment. I'm over 5'8 though and DP is 5'11, so it must be mainly my fault!

Maybe your door handles are just lower?

Ahh, good ploy. Never my fault. Never my fault. Blame the door handles!

Turn your door handles the other way up so you have to lift them to open them. Fools them for ages apparently. Can't be bothered to do it myself

Wow, thats a good one. Will consider it if possible (in rented flat so don't want to wreck the place!). Thanks for that.

My ds2 is 17 months and can do this - think he's been doing it pretty much from walking ... so from around 15 months? Hell of a shock that I can't pen him in anymore!

What's worse is that he's having a go at trying to get through the stairgates now (although failing, thank god!)

Oh, and I asked dh to turn the handles over and he said that because they weren't equidistant (top and bottom) that he'd have to drill all new holes or something? Is that right or is he just being lazy?

Hi DD2 figured this out at about 15 months and regularly lets herself out in the front garden - caught her heading for the road last week so doors stays locked now

We can't do it with our doors There are no obvious place where they are screwed in, and can't go tearing up the place. Life only stands to get harder, dosen't it?

about 10 months we think

An alternative would be to put a little lock (like a toilet door lock) high up on the door.

Unfortunately, the high up lock only works if you haven't got older children who also need to come and go as they please

DD2 gave dh and I the shock of our lives last weekend, we went to get some stuff out of the car, closed the back door on our way out. DD saw us from her bedroom window and waved to us. In next to no time she was stood beside us, she'd climbed down the stairs, opened the back door, opened the garden gate and crossed the road!!