[MamaChinch]

As a follow up to Dixie's poison control post...
I watched yesterday as my just-turned-three-year-old reached under the child proof lock on the bathroom cabinet, pulled it down to unlock it and opened the cabinet! She did this all while explaining to me she needed to get another roll of toilet paper because one of the other bathrooms was out, and within about 2 seconds! (luckily that's what she was getting)
She totally looked like she had done that before, and did it without any effort and without really paying attention to what she was doing...she just did it. Yikes-a-rooney!!
I have put all the "dangerous" items even way back in the cabinets so she couldn't "reach in". But now I guess she knows how to open them!
Pay attention to your locks and see if your child could at all get them open!! I watched a 15 month old figure out the lock once, too! It was boy and he was into everything, so watch out!!!

[momraine]

I will never forget the first time I found one of the outlet plug things in my son's mouth. I had to get the kind of outlet covers that you screw on. My mother in law never could figure out how to plug things in with those, LOL.

[MamaChinch]

Oh, outlet plugs, how scary! Delaney did the same thing when we first came home, she was acutally more interested in the plugs, when I removed them all, she never bothered with the outlets themselves!
Yes, the screw-in kind is much better! (My mom can BARELY turn the TV off and on!!!)

[angelkisses0102]

Reminds me of the first time I put the door knob cover on Alex's bedroom door...he walked over...looked at it...played with it for less than one minute and proceeded to open the door. Me...I couldn't figure it out...so we took them off since they were only effective for me!

[Archive]

Maybe look into totlocks. They are magnetic locks that work great. They are very easy to use but can only be opened with the magnetic totlock.

[qs mom]

My son wasn't quite 3 when I brought him home. He couldn't get the door open, very, very, very quietly grabbed a stool and undid the lock.

And it doesn't get any better as they get older! It took my son about a day and a half to figure out the code to the keyless entry on my new van! He was about 5!

[amyfk]

Wow, smart ingenious kids. My kid never did that.
For those of you who have busted unchildproof locks I think I would put a call into the company and let them know that their locks arent kidproof.
Amy K, NJ

[Ebadge90]

My son not only took the "child proof" door knob cover off the door knob in his bedroom, but he has also taken the hindge pin out of the hindge on the inside of his bedroom door.

[MamaChinch]

OMG!! Too funny, you guys!!! I caught Delaney using a book once, to unlock the garage door, shortly after we came home!

[mcanvasback]

OMG that is the funniest thing I have ever seen! That gleeful self satisfied look! Too precious.
She is really something - we are all going to say "we knew Delaney when". That girl is destined for something huge!!!

[emjay]

We used to call Danny "Houdini", and DH said he's destined to become a product tester - he can figure out ANY child-proof device and can take things apart.

Love the pic of Delaney the imp...when Danny was just shy of 2 he pushed a cooler in front of the back door to unlock it, and ran out into the yard of our house (with the driveway gate open on a busy road)! I found him before anything horrible could happen, but I was a wreck. And the police showed up - a utility crew across the street saw Danny without an adult and called. I thought that was great, even though I had him inside by then. And DH said it surely won't be the last time the police show up as a result of something Danny does!

[GCS]

We had one of these moments a few weeks after we came home. Big Boy, then 3 years 3 months, got a broom to knock the latch off the front door (installed at 6 feet so we could reach but he could not), then unlocked the bolt and walked outside in his socks. He had seen the neighbors had a bike outside and he wanted to get a closer look at it. It was January and there was snow on the ground.

We were in bed, whispering to ourselves that we were so lucky the kids were still asleep at 7am. We hear the door bell ring and I see a neighbor girl from down the street. Big Boy is holding her hand and crying. Turns out he forgot which house was ours and was walking up and down our street trying to figure out where he lived. She recognized him from our Christmas card. The broom was standing next to the door and the latch and bolt were undone. We heard nothing.

We had chimes installed on our doors the next day and 3 years later I still use these. I can't imagine what would have happened if he wasn't recognized. Since it was winter we were not outside a lot and most of the neighbors would not have known him. He spoke very little english.

I just about had a heart attack right then and there.
Just one little story of our boy. We've had many more since!

[ddahl]

Good information and a good reminder! Thanks for this thread! We also have latches up towards the top of the door. Just yesterday DS asked me why we had these baby locks. I just smiled.... I really hope DS is blessed with a family of all boy children and maybe 1 little girl someday.... Ah the laughs!

[momraine]

One thing to realize is that some of our kids who have had, lets say colorful lives, have had to learn to think creatively as a survival skill, even very young. For those who spent time in a home where there was abuse and neglect, they probably had to learn how to find food very early. In the orphanage, even good ones, there is competition for food, for toys, for attention so they have to get creative. Though honestly my older bio son was pretty good at getting through child proof things, LOL so a lot is also personality. My older son was super curious and so nothing was going to stop him from seeing what was on the other side of that door, my second son was much more laid back, he usually didn't try. My daughter didn't try too much, but my younger son the day I met him in the orphanage for the first time he had a pocket full of screws. I was told he had stolen a screwdriver and removed outlet covers from the wall, taken another child's bed apart and they were not sure what else. The screws in his pocket (about 15-20) were the ones they had not figured out what they went to so they let him keep them, figuring they would deal with it later. (they were doing some big fund raiser festival that day, plus we were comeing to meet him) Anyway, he has taken apart every single toy we gave him. Once when our vacuum cleaner died, I was going to toss it, but first I gave it to him with a screwdriver and he had a blast. (and yes, firstborn soon joined him and they spent hours together taking that things apart into a million peices) Oh and yes, this child has only one arm and no legs. LOL. So much depends on your child's personality and level of curiosity.