When we had our home baby-proofed as Harper became mobile, the company that baby-proofed our home installed a top of door security latch on both our front and garage entry doors. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but over the years I’ve come to realize it’s one of the most important things you have in your home and that every parent should consider installing these as an added security measure when they have young children.
I’ve read a lot of news stories lately about young children that get out of their homes and are either lost or hurt, and some tragically even die from drowning, getting trapped in a hot car, etc. These tragedies are in many cases preventable and there are some simple tools and interventions that can make your home safer when you have young children.
I put together this post because I frequently see this safety concern come up with parents asking for advice on Facebook (such as when a child transitions to a toddler bed and parents have concerns about their child getting out of their room in the middle of the night) and I’ve been recommending this potentially life-saving product for years now. I had no idea these latches even existed until we installed them in our own home – but they could save a child’s life and that in and of itself is worthy of a blog post.
Toddlers and young children learn quickly to unlock and open doors and if you don’t have an alarm system (ours chimes every time a door is opened or closed) your child may be able to get out of your house while you’re trying to prepare dinner, cleaning a room, attending to a sibling, sleeping, etc. I can see how it would be especially easy in a larger home for a child to wander off and get out of a front or back door.
These door guardian latches are inexpensive ($15), easy to install (we did it ourselves) and can save a life. Because they’re so high up on the door, children cannot reach them, so even if they unlock your door, they can’t actually get out of the house (the latch is installed on the inside of your door). I suppose a child could push a chair to the door and spend the time to figure out how the sliding mechanism works, but that may buy enough time to prevent a tragedy.
In addition to its child-security benefits, these latches are made to withstand a high amount of force and double as an added protective measure from home invasions where the perpetrators try to kick-in your door. Editing to add: A reader whose husband has worked in law enforcement for 20 years sent a note that this product doesn’t help with home invasions and that there are better products for door kick-ins made by this brand.
Other safety measures we take at home:
Our security system chimes any time a door is opened or closed – consider installing an alarm system and keep the chime feature on at all times. I know so many people who have home alarms and either don’t use them or disable the door open/close chime. I recommend using these features when you have young kids.
We use these baby gates at the tops of all stair landings and we also currently have one at the bottom of our steps on the first level which we will remove soon (another stair gate option by the same brand here. We’ve used these in both houses and they’re excellent – the baby proofing company we hired uses these same brand gates).
Keep all chemicals/cleaning products in uppers shelves so children cannot reach them.
Use a video baby monitor in your child’s nursery – secure wire so that child is not able to reach it from their crib.
We use these cord safety wraps to secure the cords of our roman shades to the wall.
Secure heavy dressers to wall with wall anchors (options here and here) in rooms where children may be unsupervised.
Do not put TVs and other heavy objects on dressers – secure to wall – you can find some TV wall mount systems here.
We use this grape cutter if we ever give the kids grapes. I’ll never forget reading a tragic Facebook post written by a mother whose toddler passed away from choking on a grape. Experts say they’re the perfect size and shape to block an airway, so it’s important to cut them in half, lengthwise until children are older.
I hope this post is helpful to you – I’d love to hear what tips you have on home safety measures for young children. We certainly aren’t perfect, but we try to do as much as we can. Above all – TALK to your kids about safety. Tell them why something is unsafe if you witness risky behavior. Don’t just say “don’t touch that” or “don’t climb that.” Explain the potential consequences in an age-appropriate way so your children understand why it’s important to listen to safety rules.
I’m not a safety expert by any means – but I do like to share information we’ve learned based on our own experience as parents. Here are some resources for how to keep your kids safe at home, in your vehicle, etc:
CDC Child Injury Prevention Website
Drowning Prevention Information
How to Child Proof Your Home (also here)
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I’ve never heard of this before, but it’s a great idea! We haven’t had any issues (yet) with our kids trying to open the doors, but these would give me some peace of mind. Thanks for sharing!
Hi- this morning when you mentioned this post, this safety item was exactly what I was thinking as a must have. We installed one last summer and it’s something that helps me sleep better at night. We have an above ground pool and I was always worried my boys would wake up early and try to go swimming without us. Great tips!
Thank you for this post! I did a lot of research on safety when my daughter was born, the top door latches are something I thought about, but given at that time she wasn’t even born and it would be awhile until she was able to open a door I easily forgot about them. She is now 3 years old (and she now has a 9 month old baby brother), and I’m glad for this post as a reminder to get them. We have a lot of safety features in our home but this is one that is easily overlooked depending on the children’s ages when you are look at safety features. However looking back now, I would tell my new mommy self, get the latches now, let them become part of your daily routine so when your child is old enough to start opening doors, they are already part of the scenario and not something to add in later.
The house we purchased shortly after having our first came with those door latches already installed. It pretty much sold me on the house lol. You don’t realize how convenient they are until your child becomes mobile. One thing I would add to your list is a carbon monoxide alarm and locks on backyard gates.
Those are fantastic additions – thank you! We have carbon monoxide alarms and we don’t have a back yard but our front yard gate does lock 🙂 Our kids aren’t ever unsupervised but it’s nice to have that option.
This might sound dumb, but can you get in from the outside if it’s locked? For example, if my husband or I are out by ourselves and the other is home with the kids, we lock the door from the garage to the house and the person who is out needs to unlock the door with their key to get in. Would we just not lock the higher child lock from the inside?
When the latch is engaged, then someone from the outside cannot get in. So if you’re home with your kids and want to engage the latch, then when your spouse comes home, you will have to open the latch in order for him to get inside.
We actually have a baby gate at the top of our small flight of stairs that go down to our garage, so the kids can’t get past that anyway and we don’t engage the latch on that door often since we have the gate.
We have something similar on most of our interior doors too! They allow us to lock and unlock from either side but the kids can’t reach.
We also have all cabinets locked. I know many people think it’s safe to put medicine, etc in upper cabinets; however, my children quickly learned how to drag a chair, stool etc and climb up and open upper cabinets. Keep that in mind! We have the magnetic ones that go inside so there’s nothing visible.
Meghan — that’s a good point too! Honestly our downstairs is so small and we never leave our kids unsupervised so we don’t worry as much about locked cabinets right now, but definitely something to think about depending on your household layout and family! We actually had locks on every cabinet in our old house but decided to forgo them this time around and put everything in upper cabinets since we have an open concept home and are always in the same space as the kids when we are down here.
Which company did you hire to baby proof your house? I live in the Houston area. Thank you!
Hi Lisa! I’m sorry but I can’t in good faith recommend the company. I had an awful experience with one of the employees and I won’t promote their business due to that experience. Sorry about that!