Every parents nightmare

[speedymama]

Unbeknown to me, my 26 month old DT1 can now open the front door when it is unlocked. Last week, I left both boys in the hallway whilst I dashed upstairs to get something. The front door was unlocked. As I closed the bedroom window, I heard voices outside and when I looked, both boys were scurrying up the road. I dashed as quickly as I could downstairs and when I reached the front door, I saw my neigbour rushing to get them. They had got to the end of the road and were about to step into it (as I'm writing this, I'm shaking). I ran and grabbed them and thanked my neighbour profusely for being so alert and attentive.
I could not chastise them because I was just relieved that they had not been knocked over by a car or kidnapped. Ultimately, it was my fault for leaving them when it was unsafe to do so and I will never, ever do that again. I just cannot stop thinking about what might have happened and so work today has been unproductive. My DH, DM and DPIL are horrified too and I just feel so guilty.

Thanks for listening. Must go now to pick DTS up from nursery.

My son can get the key and unlock the door - we have found a high shelf!

Don't be too hard on yourself; nothing happened and now you know not to trust them!!!

the exact same thing happened to me with ds. Apart from he was half naked and was pushing his buggy up the road. Cue me, horrified looking at my ds naked bottom wiggling up the road I thank my lucky stars that nothing happened to him but unfortunately sometimes kids actually do something before you realise they can. You also have to remember that it could have just of easily happened when they were in the care of your dh etc... and therefore if they are not they should be supporting you through this

Don't be too hard on yourself, you would never have left them if you thought any harm would have come of it, and that is more important than anything.

Have a cup of tea (or a bottle of red ) and calm down a bit, this really doesn't make you the worst parent in the world!

DS1 escaped when he was about 18 months old and I was 5 months pregnant with DS2. He got out through the side gate which had been left unlocked by builders. To be fair, they had been scrupulously careful prior to this and I suspect had not thought about it as it was their last day.

I had left DS1 in the conservatory, satisfied he was safe. Went to get something from upstairs and, when I came down, he was no longer there. I went into the garden to look for him and noticed immediately that the side gate was open. Opposite our side gate was the entrance to our neighbour's back garden or he could have just gone up the drive and into the road. I chose to check the road first as it leads onto a very busy A road. I got to the end of our drive and saw him a good way up the road heading towards the main road. I ran after him, tripped and fell. Fortunately, I managed to twist myself so that I landed on my hip rather than my bump. DS1 thought this was funny and just took off running up the road.

I did manage to catch him and get home again safely. I felt incredibly sick and couldn't work out whether this was due to the fall or because of what might have happened. I contacted DH who came home because I didn't think I was fit enough to look after DS1.

DS1 is now 12 and still has no sense when it comes to roads .

Put it down to experience. At least it was one which didn't have a horrid outcome and you will know now what they are capable of.

Our front door is quite easy to open,we have a small forcourt,then the road.It's not a main road but has lots of parked cars and could be very dangerous.
My boys(now 7yo),could open the front door from about 18 months old.We have a large bolt at the very top of the door,which I used to push across when ever we were in the house.Even if I just answered the door to someone,who was only coming in for a minute.
It's a good habit to get into,you get a few odd looks off the gas man,so I always used to explain that the boys would escape if I didn't.

When we moved house (6months ago) My ds now two realised he could open the door one day whilst i was on the loo as luck would have it my neighbour was out in the street chatting and managed to get him before anything happened but it is very scarey and i now am almost obsessive about locking our front door

The other day I found a small child in my backyard, she had escaped from a neighbouring garden and was playing with ds toys. I took her back where I don't think au pair even missed her!

I don't feel so negligent now that I have read your replies. I gave the boys an extra hug at bedtime because I still feel guilty but I will put it down to experience. DH has been very forgiving, considering. From now on, I will assume the worse and take the necessary precautions. Its funny, I use to have a stressful senior management role before I decided to downsize in order to work part-time. That job was a breeze compared to this parenting lark. The hardest part I find with parenting is not the disciplining, feeding, sleeping etc, it is the constant guilt trips about my parenting skills. It is emotionally draining.

Thanks again for listening and understanding.

Ds scaped once when he was 2. He opened the street door and slammed it behind him. Luckily the HA hadn't fixed our front gate at the time so DS was unable to open it and head for the road. We bought a bolt and fitted it to the street door that same day!