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Housekeeping

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Original poster

locks on kids bedroom doors

20 replies

ErnestTheBavarian · 09/05/2010 06:53

Getting new internal doors. The standard doors all come with a lock and key. Bathroom/toilet doors come with lock that you turn from the inside but is possible to open from outside if necessary.

So am torn re kids' rooms. Obv. with the standard door I can just remove the key so they can't lock it, but when kids are older, don't they generally like to have a lock? DO most people let older kids lock their rooms? I remember as a kids begging my mum for a lock as had much trouble w. sister, though actually cannot remember if she allowed it.

When they were older would you allow them to lock their rooms? Or as a compromise get a bathroom door type lock on, so they can lock it when they're inside but we could still open it if necessary.

Or are locks on internal doors other than bathroom total no no?

OP posts:

whomovedmychocolate · 09/05/2010 07:15

Very dangerous - if the house is on fire do you want to be the one who can't get to your child because they've locked themselves in and then passed out?

MamaG · 09/05/2010 07:18

I would never EVER let my dc have a lock on their bedroom door

I used to wedge a chair underneath the door handle when I wanted to smoke snog unsuitable boys have some privacy - my dad wold have gone MAD if he'd known

nooka · 09/05/2010 07:19

I can't see why you would ever want locks on internal doors. I don't really like them on bathroom doors except now when the children bring umpteen friends over. We had a bolt on ours until one of the children locked themselves in and panicked. They are too old for that now, but I don't really want them to lock the door on me in temper either.

PrettyCandles · 09/05/2010 07:24

I would prefer not to have locks on children's doors, but instead to teach them to respect each other's privacy. And to demonstrate that you parents respect their privacy, too. Which means, as they get older, no barging in on them and treating doors that are shut or only sligtly ajar as a signal for privacy.

I'm surprised that you can only find internal doors with locks - all the modern houses that I have seen have no locks on internal doors. I have seen children's doors with bathroom locks, but while I think that's fine with younger dc it seems to send a statement of mistrust to older dc.

admylin · 09/05/2010 11:50

In our last place I left the keys in all the doors and had a few scenes where one dc went in a strop and locked themselves in their room, not responding etc so I took them out.

I don't think locked doors are good. Wouldn't have them again.

booyhoo · 09/05/2010 13:00

when we were small my sister bought a latch type lock and screwed it onto her door and doorframe using my dad's screwdriver all without my parents knowing. she was 8. mum reckons she used her birthday money for it and cannot believ how devious she was. fortunatley she wasn't a master craftsman and i was always able to open the latch with a kitchen knife whenever i wanted to read her diary .

fwiw i would never put a lock on any internal doors apart from toilet.

loka · 09/05/2010 13:01

My DD1 (11) has a lock on her bedroom door as she has autistic younger brother who would go in and wreck her stuff.So its to keep him out and give my DD some privacy.I dont like doing that but thats life.
We also have locks on our bathroom and kitchen door and keep them locked at all times but I dont think we have a choice.

loka · 09/05/2010 13:02

LadyLapsang · 09/05/2010 13:07

The only door we sometimes lock is the bathroom. None of the bedrooms including ours have locks. If someones bedroom door is shut you knock and wait to be allowed to enter. Obviously this does not apply to very young children but by the time children are entering secondary I don't think you should be barging in, we all need our privacy.

peachybums · 09/05/2010 14:24

OMG i would never allow kids to have a lock on their door! It just seems if they want one they have something to hide. I would never walk in without knocking though as i do think they need some privacy. I just feel its my house not a prison. Forunatly i havent had the question asked anyway but this maybe because DS is so lazy he likes me cleaning his room and a lock would stop this haha!!

chesgirlNOTgriffins · 09/05/2010 15:21

My teenager has a small bolt on the outside of his door, high up, so his little brothers cant get in.

TBH this is more for their safety than his privicy. God only knows what they could get their hands on in there

I wouldnt have a lock with a key though. I wouldnt have one on my door so I wouldnt allow it on anyone else's.

potoftea · 09/05/2010 15:36

It may be a long way in the future for you, but where locks on doors become really useful is when your teenagers have a party.

I've locked the doors of the bedrooms when my dc had birthday parties where I gave them the house for a few hours. Found on returning that ds had been begged for the key to our room as friends wanted to use ensuite as the queue for toilet was long.

Really glad I'd hidden the keys!

Original poster

ErnestTheBavarian · 09/05/2010 19:35

here it is the norm for internal doors to have keys. Obv I don't want them to be able to lock their door with a key, which is why I was wondering about getting wc locks, but I guess I'm projecting my horror sister relationship onto my kids. Potoftea makes good point re being able to lock doors for eg party (though yes, a while off) .

OK I stick to the standard but hide the keys, thanks for input.

OP posts:

cyb · 09/05/2010 19:38

No to locks on doors. I had one on my door when I was a kid...dont know why...and I got up to ALLSORTS

IMoveTheStars · 09/05/2010 19:43

I had a lock on my door when I was a teen - used to lock it to stop my sister stealing all my clothes. Never had the need to lock in from the inside...

lilmissmummy · 09/05/2010 19:46

I wouldnt put locks on my childrens rooms however when my sister and I were teenagers we had bolt locks on the outside of our rooms to stop small foster children stealing our stuff!

wannaBe · 09/05/2010 20:17

I am paranoid about locks on doors especially bathrooms.

We grew up in south africa and there it is the norm for doors to have locks - even the bathrooms had locks with keys as opposed to the ones you can open from the outside.

When I was eleven my dad had some kind of fit while in the bath - we only knew because he shouted out (he doesn't remember doing so). Anyway the door was locked, and the only way my mum could get in was to smash it down with an axe.

seeker · 09/05/2010 20:22

I wouldn't have locks on doors - BUT one of the worst "crimes" in our family is going into someone else's bedroom without permission - and that goes for grown-ups going into children's bedrooms too. And they are allowed to refuse permission without being questioned. I feel very strongly about this.

LinzerTorte · 10/05/2010 05:16

All our internal doors have locks - I have to admit I didn't think twice about it when we bought the house; internal locks are standard here too. I suppose we could have paid extra to have some different doors that didn't have locks (we just took the standard doors) if we'd wanted to, but we stuck with the standard doors as the costs were high enough already...

The only door we lock is the small store room upstairs (but not all the time) as we keep presents for the DC in there, plus DH locks the cellar door whenever we go away (not sure why...). Otherwise, we never use any of the locks (apart from the bathroom one) and keep the keys well up out of the DC's reach. We've never had a problem, though I suppose it may become more of an issue when the DC get older and want to lock their doors - but that's just something we'll have to deal with when it comes up. I'd actually forgotten we could lock all the doors until I read your post.

jamaisjedors · 10/05/2010 14:08

God I WANT a lock on our bedroom door, partly for the "friends over" situation where I don't want a load of 5 yr olds jumping on my bed or trying on my jewellry.

And also to get a little notice from little people bursting in while we are [ahem] shagging!

Am pestering DH to get a lock put on or I will do it myself.

I also remember how humiliating it was as a teenager to not be able to lock my door when I was getting changed etc.

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