3 Tips to Childproof Your Internal Doors

Children are into everything. Curiosity is in their nature. Getting into things is how they learn. This learning can be dangerous. Babies, toddlers and small children need to be kept from certain areas for their own safety. A closed internal door is no deterrent for the most curious and determined child. The doors themselves present a hazard for little fingers and hands. 

Markers

A locked door suddenly becomes a canvas for a child left alone with a bucket of crayons for a few seconds. This is less dangerous for children, but it needs to be cleaned up. 

Pick washable finishes for doors. No one wants little Johnny’s toddler doodles still on display when he brings his first girlfriend home. Washable finishes make wiping away artwork and dirt easier. Children are going to draw in places they shouldn’t. As they become older, they can help with the clean up until they learn that doors aren’t their canvas. 

Safety

A child’s safety is one of the most important things to any parent. Shutting and locking the internal doors is the easiest way to prevent accidents, but it isn’t always practical. 

Safety or stair gates can be fitted to most doorframes. They keep a child confined to one room until they learn how to open or climb over it. If travelling or if fitting a gate to a doorframe isn’t possible, pressure gates can be purchased. These are portable and no screws are involved. However, they aren’t as strong as a fitted gate. 

Children copy their caregivers. It is one of many ways in which they learn. If they witness a caregiver locking a door, they will try and eventually succeed in doing so. Always make sure to have a spare key. No wants to saw through a door or try to pick a lock because children have locked themselves in. 

It isn’t always possible to upgrade glazing to shatterproof glass. Most internal door glazing is safe, but if you are staying somewhere unfamiliar overnight and your child hasn’t learned that slamming doors is inappropriate, masking tape can provide cheap and instant shatter-proofing. Tape it over the glass in a crisscross pattern. If cracks start to appear, glass won’t rain on the little one. Always check to make sure that glass is secure in the frame. 

The Biggest Risk

The biggest risk doors present to children are shutting their little fingers and hands between the door and the frame. Internal Doors that are open most of the time, such as for the living room, can be jammed open. Foam made specifically to keep a door open can be purchased. It doesn’t damage the door in any way and can be placed out of the child’s reach so it can’t be removed. It stops the door from slamming shut. In the event of a fire, it can be pulled down quickly. 

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