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The Pit Parenting Thread

do you see anything wrong with putting one of those knob covers on the door so she can't open it in the middle of the night? i honestly think it is riskier to give her free reign of the house than it is to have her unable to leave her room. we have a smoke detector in her room. her room is adjacent to ours so we would get to it within a couple of seconds of the alarm going off.

That's what we use, actually. My 3-year old's door is right next to some stairs, so I'm worried he'd walk out, not pay attention, take a left, and fall down the stairs. We are also adjacent to his room and have the smoke detectors right there, so I don't really think it's much of an issue. My son's a notoriously heavy sleeper too (8p-8a with a 2.5 hour nap in the afternoon, errry day), so I don't think he'd realize there was a fire before we could get to him anyway.
 
That's what we use, actually. My 3-year old's door is right next to some stairs, so I'm worried he'd walk out, not pay attention, take a left, and fall down the stairs. We are also adjacent to his room and have the smoke detectors right there, so I don't really think it's much of an issue. My son's a notoriously heavy sleeper too (8p-8a with a 2.5 hour nap in the afternoon, errry day), so I don't think he'd realize there was a fire before we could get to him anyway.

jelly? yeah i'm jelly.
 
jelly? yeah i'm jelly.

Yeah dude, and that nap coincides perfectly with the nap for my 4-month old. It's pretty much the greatest thing ever. To be fair though, he didn't sleep through the night until he was 9 months old, so it's only fair we get the good end of it now.
 
do you see anything wrong with putting one of those knob covers on the door so she can't open it in the middle of the night? i honestly think it is riskier to give her free reign of the house than it is to have her unable to leave her room. we have a smoke detector in her room. her room is adjacent to ours so we would get to it within a couple of seconds of the alarm going off.

We bought one of those retractable mesh gate things - and close every other door on the 2nd floor and pull the gate across. We leave his door cracked so he can get out or do whatever - usually this means 3 in the morning visits to our bedroom, but my son hates sleeping and I live in an old ass house that has lots of scary crap. And bugs. So it makes me feel better.
 
my 3 year old son had reflux so bad when he was an infant that he could only fall asleep if he were in an upright position. The moment you layed him down we would immediatelyl start screaming. For the first 2 or 3 months of his life until we finally figured out his reflux meds, he slept on our chests with us sitting up on the couch. god it was awful. I used to look at the calendar and think things like "well, he is another day older which means he is closer to being another week older and that means he is closer to being another month older!" I couldn't even celebrate Ish Smith's game winner in the NCAA tourney because I was holding him asleep and didn't dare move or speak so as not to wake him. By 9 months old though, he was sleeping much better and he is a champ sleeper now and will even sleep in until 9AM sometimes. I do not miss those days at all. Hang it there, it eventually does get better!
 
do you see anything wrong with putting one of those knob covers on the door so she can't open it in the middle of the night? i honestly think it is riskier to give her free reign of the house than it is to have her unable to leave her room. we have a smoke detector in her room. her room is adjacent to ours so we would get to it within a couple of seconds of the alarm going off.

We put those on when he was 2 1/2, he figured them out in about 2 days. He will be 3 this weekend, and he can open those doors faster than I can. He jumps, grabs with both hands and squeezes, and then his body weight twists the knob around as he comes down and opens the door.
 
We tried that too. One type he figured out how to open. The other that he couldn't open he piled up stuffed animals and other toys to climb on to get over it. The kid is like Houdini, so now we just lock him in from the outside until he falls asleep if it is a night when he is not being cooperative.
 
We put those on when he was 2 1/2, he figured them out in about 2 days. He will be 3 this weekend, and he can open those doors faster than I can. He jumps, grabs with both hands and squeezes, and then his body weight twists the knob around as he comes down and opens the door.

Ok, frame of reference for those who don't quite get how tall my little one is. He's 19 months and has been able to stand flat footed and open doors for about 2 months now.
 
finally got this sleeping thing figured back out. 3 straight nights of almost perfect sleep. i credit introducing her to banana popsicles. she effing loves these things.
 
What books do you guys read to your kids? My 4-month old gets the "Goodnight Moon" treatment at bedtime.

For my 3 year old, he has recently gotten hooked on "Goodnight Goodnight Construction site" and he loves the shit out of "If I give my pig a pancake", etc books. I've been trying to find some good chapter book to read to him at night. Currently doing "Fantastic Mr. Fox," but it's not really ideal. Any suggestions?
 
oh, and chapter books- i loved frog and toad. are those chapter books? i think they are... there's also the adventures of winnie the pooh (the real one, not the crappy disney books). berenstein bears are awesome, too, but maybe still too old for a 3 yr old?

(i'm just remembering things/stories i loved. i have no kids.)
 
the eric carle books

Ha, I usually can tell when my son wakes up when I can hear him "reading" brown bear brown bear what do you see? It's such a weak book, but damn if he doesn't love it.

ETA: re: the chapter book suggestions. We have the real Pooh book and he does like it, but didn't really want to re-read it yet. Great suggestion though.

3 is a good age for Berenstain books. My son really enjoys them.
 
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I was probably older than 3, but my dad read me and my sister Treasure Island and the Narnia series when we were young. I read Narnia in middle school for class and again in high school, and got more from it each time, but it was entertaining as a young child too.

We loved the Babar books, but those aren't chapter ones.
 
do you see anything wrong with putting one of those knob covers on the door so she can't open it in the middle of the night? i honestly think it is riskier to give her free reign of the house than it is to have her unable to leave her room. we have a smoke detector in her room. her room is adjacent to ours so we would get to it within a couple of seconds of the alarm going off.

A "knob cover" is a good suggestion for anyone who does not want to be a parent period.
 
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