how do you keep toddlers out of rooms?

[lola88]

DS is driving me mad constantly in every room of the house creating chaos, He is very independent so doesn't like to be with me all the time which is fine he can go from the livingroom to his bedroom alone but his new thing is emptying my wardrobe and the hall cupboard of shoes and the worst brushing his teeth which he does by standing on the loo climbing in the sink to get the tooth brush then getting back on the loo blasting the taps and soaking the place!

I have a babygate on the kitchen door but i don't really want one on the bathroom and our room would it be weird to put little bathroom door type locks on the outside of my room the bathroom and hall cupboard? I told my mum this and she looked at me like i was crazy and said i would make the house like a prison and it's cruel to lock him out of rooms

Is it weird to lock him out? I would only lock them when the rooms are empty so i wouldn't lock myself in and will put them at the very top so DC's can't get at them. It just seems like much less hassle than 3 gates in a 2 bed flat. What does everyone else do?

He's 18 months

Anything for an easy life in my book!

At 18 months I would keep in same room tbh. Iv only just started letting youngest at 2.5 stay in one room when im in another.

I just think its safer as they could get up to all sorts. Ie plug in electronicals and put in water/ pull heavy cabinets over by climbing/ get stuck/ suffocate with bags/ get cords or cables around neck!!! ... Or maybe I'm just parinoid

I think you need to really baby proof everywhere - close cupboards etc or just keep doors closed and keep him where you can see him. If he's super adventurous with climbing and moving furniture around etc I wouldn't let him roam free.

At that age I would try to get out and about in parks etc as much as humanly possible as it's hard to keep them entertained and safe in a small home.

can he open the doors himself?
we have a little bolt at the top of our bathroom door (on the outside) for this exact reason, so we just bolt it shut if we're downstairs as DS3 was a nightmare

not sure if you're in a house/flat/bungalow but a stairgate in an appropriate corridor could stop much meddling surely? I had one at the bottom of the stairs, so kids could wander the ground floor but not go up to the bedrooms/bathrooms

Can he open the doors?

We ended up with bolts on top of up stairs doors, because DD1 would wake up quietly, from her nap, go into adult bedrooms and the bathroom and wreaked havoc.

Our downstairs all sort of interconnects so it was much easier to keep an eye on her and you could use a stair gate to keep her out the kitchen while you drained pasta or moved heavy things in and out the oven.

We are in a flat with only one corridor so all 3 gates would in the same little space and TBH i think he will learnt o climb them soon, the place is baby proofed so he's safe it's just the bloody mess!

and yes he can open doors

Change door handles for knobs. Much harder for them to open. Or change the mechanism over so you have to lift the handle to open the door.

ok well in that case I would either:

1)put a gate on the sitting room. you can then keep him in there at least some of the time when you just want a break from the constant mess! or when you're making dinner etc etc

2. put bolts on the tops of all the other doors so that you can lock the ones shut that you don't want him in, leaving him free to explore the rest of the house

We have a stair gate on the living area, and then another one at the bottom of the stairs. He only goes upstairs with one of us, and he's rarely in any room on his own for longer than a minute or two. He's 16mo. We do have a hatch so if I'm in the kitchen I can see him in the living room but can cook without him tripping me up.