So sad

[malphy]

a 3yr old girl in my area died overnight in the snow. She figured out how to unlock and unlatch her front door and wandered out in only her diaper and a t-shirt.

The family dog started barking at 3 am and the mom found the door ajar but didn't think to check the baby (i mean who would think a 3yr old could undo both latches).

I am sick. The poor baby.


Eta-apparently she had gotten out once before. So WHY fgs didn't you check her bed??? They will never be able to forgive themselves. I feel so sorry but also a bit angry because of the new info.

[StantonHyde]

I know somebody else who had this happen. Makes you want to put latches up high on the door if you have a child who tests the door and/or wanders around at night. Sometimes you just can't foresee things. So sad.

[veronica]

I got chills reading this as DH and I were just discussing the washing machine incident as well. As a parent now, I totally can understand how these terrible things can happen.

May the little angel watch over her family forever.

[KrisM]

How terribly sad. We need higher latches on our doors, too.

[Rainbows&Roses]

That is devastating.

When my DD was that age, we installed a very tall chain lock that we only use at night and when I take a shower. I read too many horror stories. We also have a house alarm which I still set when I am taking a shower.

[Melaine]

This is so sad and scary. I just posted today that my girls locked me out of the house, but fortunately I had the keys. I am going to get DH to install a chain lock ASAP so the opposite doesn't happen....

Prayers for that family.

[kellij]

My kids can open all of our doors. We had my brother put those locks that are like chain locks on the top off all of our doors. It's awesome. It really irritated my son at first. We call them "Coley locks" because my brother's name is Cole and my kids saw him put them on the door. I didn't think of the middle of the night, but I was worried about them running out the front into the road or down the street in the middle of the day.

I wonder if that little girl was sleep walking, it's weird she'd go out in the middle of the night and then not try to come back in.

[Mamma2004]

I am heartsick for that family and hope the sweet little girl did not suffer.

Prayers go out to all of them. It makes me want to go wake DS just to hold him again tonight!

[DrSally]

OMG That just makes me so sad.

ETA: High chain locks are a great idea. The other thing I worry about is DS walking out the back door into the garage/driveway. Also, another use for the house alarm (I didn't think to turn it on when I'm in the shower). I wonder about the possiblity of sleepwalking too. My brother went outside once while sleepwalking as a child. Another reason we moms have to keep one ear open all night.

[shawnandangel]

Prayers to that little girls family.

[lizajane]

OMG That just makes me so sad.

ETA: High chain locks are a great idea. Also, another use for the house alarm (I didn't think to turn it on when I'm in the shower). I wonder about the possiblity of sleepwalking too. My brother went outside once while sleepwalking as a child. Another reason we moms have to keep one ear open all night.

great idea about using the alarm for alarm owners. my younger son can't unlock the door... yet... but he can climb up and undo anything up high. there is no "too high" in my house.

another tip- i found window locks that look like the regular ones, but that have a LOCK and KEY. as you all know, dylan can get out the window... so clearly, i bought these window locks to keep him in.

[Jenn850]

DD can't roll over yet let alone get out of the house, but my God, I never thought about it! I am going to put up high locks and use them for showers etc... thank you. Wow I am just heart sick for that little girl,s soul and for her family. Prayers for them.

[JTsMom]

How tragic. Poor, poor baby.

DS learned how to unlock our front door at a very young age, and bolted out. Thank goodness I saw him do it and was right behind him! There is no way a driver would see that little of a baby wandering into a stree alone!

That day we went and bought a chain lock. Too scary to mess around with!

[vejemom]

If you don't have an alarm system, you can buy inexpensive contacts for individual doors at most home improvement places. They'll ring if the door is opened.

Seriously, that is my worst nightmare. I think our big dog would probably bark and/or follow DD#1 out of the house, but I still worry. Prayers for that poor family!

[secchick]

I guess I never thought about it because our front doors and the doors to the attic are all keyed deadbolts and we keep the key on a hook that is well out of children's reach. Theoretically, they could stand on a chair, take the key, and move the chair over by the door, but by the time they have the manual dexterity to unlock the door with the key, they will be many years older. We also have an alarm system that beeps when a door is opened, although we don't set it if we are home during the day, we set it after dinner when we go upstairs for baths. I suppose though, that a child could undo the lock on the door to the back steps, but they would only be able to go to the fenced yard, and couldn't reach a latch on a gate. Thank goodness we live in the South where 355 nights out of the year a child wouldn't freeze to death.

It is so scary to think about how these things happen so easily and how hard it is to eliminate the pssibility that it could happen to you. My prayers are with the family.

[tmonroe]

I heard about this on the news last night. I feel so badly for the little girl but if the news report was accurate I find the story very suspicious. What parent wakes up to find their house door ajar and doesn't go check on their child or children to make sure everything is oaky?

[malphy]

I heard about this on the news last night. I feel so badly for the little girl but if the news report was accurate I find the story very suspicious. What parent wakes up to find their house door ajar and doesn't go check on their child or children to make sure everything is oaky?

Yeah, I heard that later too. I don't think it is suspicious as much as an oversight.

With that said. I did find my front door ajar one day and got a bat ans searched every inch of the house. I wanted to make sure that there was nobody hiding, my cats weren't missing, etc. (it was before i had dd).

If it was just a dumb mistake at 3am the price they have paid is way too high.

It is just so sad. It has been so cold the past few nights. I hope she went quickly and just kind of went to sleep.

gonna cry now.

[MartiesMom2B]

I have double cylinder locks too and an alarm system that we put on at night. I was happy to get double cylinder locks when Martie was two and could figure how to open doors.

[DietCokeLover]

My heart breaks hearing about that. That poor baby. I can't even begin to imagine the grief and guilt the family must be experiencing, and I hope I never have to.

[heatherlynn]

This is so sad. This and the washer incident are just so tragic. We have the chain locks up high and I lock the other bathroom door when I'm in the shower when my 2 youngest are home alone with me. I also refuse to get a front loader washer because I could totally see my kids playing hide and seek in it. My dryer that I got last year also has the controls high in the back and not in front.

[clc053103]

another tip for house alarm owners- when the alarm is not activated you should still be able to set it to "chime". This makes the alarm beep whenever the door (or a window) is opened. I always know if DS opens a door, and it also lets me know when DH comes home so he doesn't startle me (like when we are in the basement playroom and Iw ouldn't otherwise hear his entrance).

[tmonroe]

Yeah, I heard that later too. I don't think it is suspicious as much as an oversight.

With that said. I did find my front door ajar one day and got a bat ans searched every inch of the house. I wanted to make sure that there was nobody hiding, my cats weren't missing, etc. (it was before i had dd).

If it was just a dumb mistake at 3am the price they have paid is way too high.

It is just so sad. It has been so cold the past few nights. I hope she went quickly and just kind of went to sleep.

gonna cry now.

thanks for giving me a different perspective. it is a very sad situation for baby and parents.