What can you do with an escape artist toddler.?

Question

My son is almost 3 and has aquired a new skill escaping. He has already gone out the front door twice once while I was in the bathroom the other time the door creeked and woke me up at 3 am. I put a chain up at the very top and he has already gottten through that one once. This morning I woke up at 7 and he had already broken 3 of the cabinet locks (yes the child proof ones) and dumped an entire can of formula (i have a 4 month old) all over the place. I can't be awake 24 hours a day and he sometimes wakes up before me and this kinda stuff happenes. Its just me and 3 kids right now my husband has been deployed since sept 10. Heeeeeeeelp! I'm running out of ideas and I am sooooooooooooooo frustrated.

There is a deadbolt out of reach but he will find anything to use to climb up and unlock it. Before i go to bed I stack all of my dining room chairs hide his steps for the bath room (he has it to brush his teeth) Last night I forgot one chair and woke up to powdered formula all over. As for all the dangerous stuff its all in the highest shelves, with real strong locks all the lower cabinets just have food in them. I am so tired of finding food all over the kitchen. goin a little crazy here

tried the doornob covers he broke them. let me put it this way he is 3 and is the same height as his 6 year old sister they where the same size clothes. He is stock tall and very strong. I don't know why i even tried the nob covers he already BROKE the medal chain.

tried gates he knows how to open them.

Answer 1

The First Years makes an "unclimbable" swing gate that has smooth plexiglass panels instead of the bars or mesh you find on standard gates. You can pressure or hardware mount it.

My son is 24 months and has been able to climb every gate we've owned except for this one. We now have one hardware mounted at his bedroom door because he's made a habit of climbing out of his crib in the wee hours of the morning and making a catastrophic mess of the house.

We take all the chairs, stools, tall toys, etc. out of his room at bedtime so he can't use anything to boost himself over the gate (he's also tall-- just turned 2 and is often mistaken for a 4 year old). So far, this gate has been able to keep him in his room and curb the chaos a little.

As for the cabinet locks, we're not allowed to put any screw holes in our cabinets since we rent. I only keep unbreakable harmless items in the lower cabinets. I've also been tying the kitchen chairs together under the table to keep my son from using them to climb onto the countertops. I have one of those adhesive buckles on the refrigerator and that seems to work pretty well.

Also, I use a metal tension bar in the back sliding door to keep my son from going outside and a deadbolt and alarm on the front door.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

I have a couple of very tall gates. I have had a bunch of three year old lately, today and yesterday and neither of them could get out. One of them was trying quite hard. I worked at an autistic teenagers house and the parents locked all the doors with a key. The hardware was double sided with locks on both sides. They had a special spot for them right by the door. The home security systems have alrarms for windows and doors. I like this idea the best, but you would have to be able to afford it. Plus it won't keep him in, it will just let you know when he has escaped. Everyone is right. This is a very dangerous situation. He could be kidnapped or hit by a car! As for the cabinets, if possible, don't put anything dangerous or messy in the lower cabinets for the time being. It may help to sit down and talk to him and tell him what could happen. I remember hearing over the summer about a three year old that escaped and drowned in the neighbors pool! So sad! He'll get over his Hudini act, but in the mean time you have to be diligent.

Answer 3

For the exterior doors I would invest in a double sided keyed deadbolt...This way he will not be able to unlock it without the keys.
There are portable alarms you can buy at target walmart etc that use a sticky to place on a door and door frame that when they are opened sets off an alarm. They run about $20 for a 4 pack. I would place one of those on the cabinet and possibly one on his bedroom door.
Another option that most people will throw a fit over is possibly using a chain on his bedroom door on your side of it at night so he can't pull a houdini in the middle of the night. The problem with that is it will interfere with his potty training.
Maybe also consider for the things he can't seem to help getting into ( formula) getting a locking cabinet.
You unfortunately have your hands full and I'm sure alot of this is just him acting out over a new baby in the house and daddy being deployed. It does sound like normal 3 yr old drama.

Answer 4

The door needs to be deadbolted high enough to where he can't reach it because THAT is a serious serious issue that you need to take care of right away. He could wander out and into traffic.
As for the cabinets, make sure that there is nothing that could harm him in any way in the lower cabinets and find out if you can buy anything stronger than the plastic cabinet locks.
I hope that there are consequences to him for getting into these cabinets also...like time outs etc.
You could also buy an alarm that will tell you when he leaves his room (or enters the kitchen for example...they have great motion detector alarms now that aren't very expensive,

Answer 5

I hate to tell you this, but it's time to teach him not to get into stuff like that. It's going to be much more difficult that locking everything away, but ultimately more effective.

Make a big deal out of what is his stuff (no one else can touch it without his permission) and what is your stuff (no one else can touch it without your permission.) Expect him to respect your things and respect his. Allow him to help with chores, but set limits to when and how much. If he breaks the rules, he can sit in a time-out for three minutes, then clean up the mess he made.

You might also want to consider putting a bell on his door before you go to sleep at night. Or one of those cheap door/window alarms that you can turn on and off. That way you'll wake up as soon as he leaves his room in the morning.

It might also be wise to put a plastic knob cover on the front door so he can't escape while you have your pants down.

Good luck and much sympathy!

Answer 6

here is an idea put locks on the doors that you need a key to unlock from the inside. u keep the key and he can't open the door. try something with a lock and key for the cabinets too

Answer 7

I definately agree with katiebugs advice.

I don't know where you live but over here we can get an alarm that designed for sheds and dorm rooms. It's relatively inexpensive (I think ours was around £20) and once set will sound LOUDLY if the front door is opened. I don't know about your downstairs set up either, but you could always buy a few for different rooms. Just make sure he doesn't know the code.

Ours looks like this: http://direct.tesco.com/pi/Product/4/100-6734f.jpg

But you can also get ones like this:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/images/full/qs39.jpg

Hope that helps a bit!

Answer 8

Have you tried the knob covers? My son is 3 and can't get them open yet. If you own your home you can get knobs to screw into the cupboards and you can get the sliding latches to put around them. They are hard enough for adults to get open. You can get another baby monitor and keep the receiver close to you so you can hear him getting up. Attach a bell on the top of his bedroom door so it wakes you up. I would also attach one to the front and any other outside doors.

Answer 9

lol Tie him to the bed like the mom did in Mommy Dearest. It worked for her. It kinda sounds like youre raising the next houdini.

Answer 10

i'm with sam. . .tie the kid down! i had to handle that once but luckily i could run faster than the boy i was babysitting = )