S/O--Do you close your kids' bedroom doors at night?

[Paige]

Closed for fire safety and also because the cat will jump in bed and attack your toes if you leave the door open or cracked.

[heartlikealion]

Everyone is saying fire safety but I mean, what if you need to get in the room to get the child out, isn't that just another step? Especially if the door handle is hot. I would not rely on windows or the child to get themselves out. I guess they could sit there til the fire dept. came but I don't know how long that would take here and our windows are painted shut (not our doing).

 

I could go either way with the door. He's a pretty heavy sleeper so I can open it and check on him without waking him. We're not consistent with the door stuff. If dh isn't up late watching tv then there's less reason for us to close doors.

[OrganicJen]

Well based on my experience the smoke is what kills people long before the flames reach them. A door keeps some of the smoke out to give you more time to get to them and take them out the window.

[MistyMountain]

 

Just out of curiosity, we have cheap contractor grade doors that seem hollow. Do they really provide fire protection? Maybe we need to upgrade our bedroom doors. I know the fire doors in commercial buildings are generally quite heavy duty.

 

Yes even regular doors offer fire protection and it has been studied and proven. Smoke will enter an open room within a minute. The closed door buys precious minutes before the smoke, heat and fumes enter the room. A fire moves fast and you do not have much time to get out if you are awaken at night by fire alarms. They have done lots of studies where they light houses on fire and compare rooms with closed doors and rooms with open doors. There are real cases of people surviving a fire with a closed door while someone else in the house died with an open door. One of the basic tips kids learn is to feel a door to see if there is fire behind it with the back of your hand. If there was no door the fire would have been in the room.

[Laurie4b]

Kids are grown but closed for fire safety when they were younger. 

[nixpix5]

All my kids close their doors. They have never liked sleeping with them open.

[Arcadia]

You people don't have smoke alarms?

Smoke alarms are mandatory in California. Sprinkler systems are mandatory in new condominiums/apartments/duplexes.

[katilac]

Always open. They like them open, I like the air to circulate in the house, and it's the only way they can all listen to a CD or whatever at bedtime, because the player/radio is in our school room, which all the bedroom open into.

 

Also, I now feel really stupid, because I have never been told to close doors for fire safety. And with the way our house is set up, having them closed seems like more of a hazard to me, because I think people would be more likely to get trapped.

 

You should have a specific plan for how everyone gets out of the house, along with a backup plan in case the first route is blocked. And then a place to meet up outside, so no one goes searching for someone who has already escaped! 

 

You can google for information on crafting the best escape plan, and you can also go to your local fire station advice. A lot will depend on layout of house, age of kids, and so on. 

 

Closing doors will generally slow the spread of fire and smoke, and lessens the chance of smoke inhalation while sleeping. However, the single most important factor is working smoke alarms with fresh batteries! One in every bedroom, one outside every bedroom or cluster of bedrooms, one on every level of the house. Interconnected if possible. Change the batteries every time you change your clocks, October and April. Change out the smoke alarms every 10 years - if you aren't sure how old yours are, start changing them, and write the date in Sharpie on the inside cover. 

[mtomom]

My kids have closed doors and always have. This was for fire safety primarily, but also because still awake people are less likely to disturb a sleeping person with a door closed. I have always slept with ours open since we had kids, though, so I could hear if they call out in the night. I always figure a child needing me is less likely than a fire.

Edited October 19, 2017 by mtomom

[amo_mea_filiis.]

Also didn't think of smoke/fire safety.

 

My son doesn't have a door.

 

But, our heating system has no vents or anything. It literally floats around as it sees fit. So if a bedroom door is closed, it'll get really cold really fast.

[elegantlion]

Always closed, also for fire safety. 

 

An entire family died from smoke inhalation just down the street from us a few years ago. The fire put itself out, apparently it broke open the water heater, so the outside of the house was not marred at all and the bodies were not discovered until the next morning when they were missed from school. It was devastating for the community and I was really glad when they finally tore the house down about a year later. 

[OrganicJen]

Always closed, also for fire safety.

 

An entire family died from smoke inhalation just down the street from us a few years ago. The fire put itself out, apparently it broke open the water heater, so the outside of the house was not marred at all and the bodies were not discovered until the next morning when they were missed from school. It was devastating for the community and I was really glad when they finally tore the house down about a year later.

So sorry, that's terrible. It literally can take only 2 to 3 breaths of the smoke in a house fire to render someone unconscious.

[melmichigan]

Ours are always closed.  When the kids were little I would leave them open until I went to bed, closing them on my way by each night.

[Guest]

I grew up in SoCal and lived there till DS was about 4.  I've always been in the habit of leaving the doors open just a bit, for earthquake safety.  In an earthquake, if/when the house shifts, it can cause the door frame to angle and if the door is shut, there would be no getting it open and the person on the other side would be stuck.

 

It's just a habit now and DS refuses to close his door.  Plus, we have 5 animals that would freak if they couldn't get into each and every room.

[hornblower]

Always open. 

 

For one thing, one of my dogs used to do 'rounds' every night at least once, sometimes more. She would go to each bedroom, sniff at the kids, sniff around a bit, go to the next room, go do a perimeter check in the living areas etc, get a drink of water, come back to my side of the bed, stick her nose close to my face, and then go back to sleep. Daisy is gone now but this was her routine for well over a decade. She looked after us all very well. If a door slammed shut due to a draft, she was quite frantic and usually would want to wake me so I she could show me. (she was too polite to open doors unlike Bear who did open doors but only if he thought there might be a snack in there for him lol....) 

The cat also used to roam, picking and choosing where to sleep and who to cuddle with.  Having open doors to us means more safety, hearing if the kids were sleepwalking or getting up to barf (both things remarkably common with my kids...  :glare: ) 

[Barb_]

This is the guest room door after our fire. Thee second photo is of the kitchen where I am standing to take the photo. The third is of the guest room. Even builder grade doors offer more protection than you would imagine.

 

 

 

[hornblower]

Don't smoke alarms in all rooms and hallways protect just as well? 

[Tammi K]

Closed for fire safety reasons and to keep unwanted family pets out.

 

Now that they are older and even more capable than I am of getting themselves outside in event of a fire, they can do as they choose.

DD keeps hers closed because she doesn't want the cats to eat her rats and snake.  DS usually keeps his open so the cat, which likes to sleep in his room, can get out to use the litter box if needed. 

[MistyMountain]

Don't smoke alarms in all rooms and hallways protect just as well?

Yes smoke alarms are the most important thing but even with alarms fires can engulf extremely fast. I have read lots of accounts with working fire alarms where people barely get out in time. An local apartment building caught fire and some people died and others barely got out in the nick of time. There was fire alarms. Lots of fire stories that go into detail really take people by surprise how fast it movesand how little time there is to get out. I even heard of parents that were charged with arson because people did not believe they would leave children but when forensics got better it was not arson.

Edited October 19, 2017 by MistyMountain

[Sandwalker]

I never heard of the fire safety thing before. Huh....

Me either, but we have always closed doors at night so the kids would sleep better. Or sleep at all, in dd's case.

[SporkUK]

I leave it up to them, generally now they have them closed. I didn't hear about the fire safety issue until a few years back (though our back up plan if a fire cuts off the stairs is one of the kids' bedrooms and they know the fire safety plans for our house) and do try to close the kitchen door now when I do lock-up when my spouse is working at night.

 

As a kid I prefered the door closed but gained an anxious habit of staring at the light around the door thinking it would help me spot people/trouble. As an adult I tried to break the habit by having the door open but would just stare at the shadows in the hall instead. Other than having more people in the house (which still feels counterintuitive to me but it really helped my anxiety), the best thing to actually help which I found by total accident was putting hooks on the door and things on the hook so the line of light was already broken. That plus sometimes sleeping with a small desk light on has done wonders for me and so for my kids I ensure they have a light they can use at night rather than relying on the landing light and an open door. 

[foxbridgeacademy]

When they were little they slept with us.  At around 6 they started sleeping on their own and no I liked them open, same as mine, so I could hear them if they needed me.  Now that they are older they insist on keeping them closed and I concur, otherwise I nag them about their messy rooms.

[Carrie12345]

Everyone is saying fire safety but I mean, what if you need to get in the room to get the child out, isn't that just another step? Especially if the door handle is hot. I would not rely on windows or the child to get themselves out. I guess they could sit there til the fire dept. came but I don't know how long that would take here and our windows are painted shut (not our doing).

 

I could go either way with the door. He's a pretty heavy sleeper so I can open it and check on him without waking him. We're not consistent with the door stuff. If dh isn't up late watching tv then there's less reason for us to close doors.

 

In that case, the door is the least of your trouble in a fire.  Get those windows cut loose and run fire drills.  Look up your fire department's average response time.  Sitting and waiting for the fire department isn't a reasonable option.  Especially not compared to opening a door. Especially not when kids are taught NOT to open a hot door.  That's what lets the air circulate and the fire breathe. If the door is hot, you don't want to go on the other side of it.

 

(I actually closed my doors last night. I was yelling at myself in my head all day yesterday!)

[lailasmum]

My kids have their doors closed, I have mine open an inch or so so the cat can hook it open and come and go as she wants. She's incredibly noisy if she can't go exactly where she wants at night. My preference would be for a closed door and complete darkness and when we get pets in the future I probably won't let them in bedrooms at night, I've learnt my lesson. Our house is cold upstairs because we don't heat it at night and don't have any heating up stairs anyway. Just whatever rises. We all prefer it that way unless it's an unusually cold winter. My son's bedroom gets very cold but he runs very hot so it suits him.

Edited October 19, 2017 by lailasmum

[Rachel]

This is the guest room door after our fire. Thee second photo is of the kitchen where I am standing to take the photo. The third is of the guest room. Even builder grade doors offer more protection than you would imagine.

 

I'm convinced, doors closed from now on.

[maize]

We have three bedrooms in a cluster (with a bathroom) at the end of a hallway. I like open bedroom doors but the fire issue makes me think maybe I should install a door that would block off the hallway.

[luuknam]

I never heard of the fire safety thing before.  Huh....

 

Me neither. 

 

Everyone is saying fire safety but I mean, what if you need to get in the room to get the child out, isn't that just another step? Especially if the door handle is hot. I would not rely on windows or the child to get themselves out. I guess they could sit there til the fire dept. came but I don't know how long that would take here and our windows are painted shut (not our doing).

 

One thing I teach my kids is that if necessary they should break the window to get out (doesn't matter which room they're in - if necessary, just break a window and get out). Their bedroom window does open, but there is no way that they could get it open (it's one of those (heavy) windows that you need to push up on to open, and it actually falls shut unless you prop something under it... they absolutely should not try to open it, just break it). Obviously, with super young kids that won't work (I wouldn't really try to explain to a 2yo how to break a window to get out), but 4 and up or so, I would. Which reminds me, time to do our annual mandatory fire safety lesson.

 

Change the batteries every time you change your clocks, October and April. 

 

 

Totally misread that as "change the batteries every time you change your socks"...  :lol:

 

ETA: thus far, it depended on whether the kids wanted the door open or closed... youngest tends to want it ajar. Though I'd sometimes close it once they're asleep, to cause less noise disturbance for them. Guess I'll make it a habit to close it after they're asleep. 

Edited October 19, 2017 by luuknam

[Carrie12345]

This is the guest room door after our fire. Thee second photo is of the kitchen where I am standing to take the photo. The third is of the guest room. Even builder grade doors offer more protection than you would imagine.

 

 

I'm sorry that you've experienced it, but thank you for sharing.

[shawthorne44]

I close DD's door because we go to bed after her and I wake up before her.   I don't want her to wake up until it is time.  

[mommyoffive]

I have never heard of the door closed for fire.  Never.   You would think that it would be something that fire departments would want to educate people on. 

 

 

I prefer doors closed, but the kids like them open.    So they are open. 

[Serenade]

I've always closed my kids' doors.  This started when they were babies. One kid slept best if there were no external noises, which is part of the reason he got booted from the parental bedroom, lol.   With that kid, you could never walk into his room, and be the tooth fairy, or check up on him, because he would always wake up.  And I guess we closed doors with the second child just because we always did with the first.  Although the second child is a deep sleeper and could probably sleep with the door open and with noise.   Even as babies, both of my kids were loud criers, so there were no worries about not hearing them cry.

[maize]

This is the guest room door after our fire. Thee second photo is of the kitchen where I am standing to take the photo. The third is of the guest room. Even builder grade doors offer more protection than you would imagine.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for sharing your experience, I am so glad no one was hurt in your fire.

 

Do you know how it started?

Edited October 19, 2017 by maize

[Annie G]

I never heard that sleeping with doors closed was recommended for fire safety.  How could i have spent a bajillion hours on the internet over the last couple of decades and not learned that? 

 

I always thought open doors would give my kids a better chance to hear a smoke alarm, especially one of the downstairs ones since they sleep upstairs.  I'm not at all sure they'd hear one going off in the basement. Glad we never had to find that out, though. 

 

Oddly enough, now dh and I sleep with our door shut and the two adult kids still at home do too. But when they were little, it was open doors all around!

 

[Elizabeth86]

I leave the door open until they can open the door on their own or if they were in cribs. No need really as their bedroom is close to us and I can hear a pin drop and wake up. And for the most part we cosleep when they are small, so for the most part we keep the door shutm

[Elizabeth86]

Also, I never knew you were supposed to keep doors closed for fire safety. Thanks.

[QueenCat]

All of our bedroom doors are closed at night, for fire safety and privacy reasons. Even when the kids were babies, as we could hear them on the baby monitors. 

[Paige]

I have never heard of the door closed for fire.  Never.   You would think that it would be something that fire departments would want to educate people on. 

 

 

I prefer doors closed, but the kids like them open.    So they are open. 

 

I didn't learn this as a child on my fire station trips or on the videos I watched, but on a tour with a homeschool group to a fire station a few years ago. I think they are publicizing it and trying to get the word out, but that fire safety talks are missing the appropriate audiences. They are almost always targeted at children. If my kids had gone to the fire station without me on a PS field trip when they were in lower elementary, I doubt they would have told me to shut the bedroom doors. They need to reach out to adults when they have new information.

 

I did learn to always check the door as a child, and if I had thought about it, that would have implied a door needed to be there and closed, but I don't recall that being explicitly taught and I didn't think twice about it. 

[73349]

Don't smoke alarms in all rooms and hallways protect just as well? 

We want the smoke alarm going off and waking people before the parent is breathing in smoke. Working alarms in more locations + closed parent bedroom door will give us the best odds.

 

 

I never heard that sleeping with doors closed was recommended for fire safety.  How could i have spent a bajillion hours on the internet over the last couple of decades and not learned that? 

 

I always thought open doors would give my kids a better chance to hear a smoke alarm, especially one of the downstairs ones since they sleep upstairs.  I'm not at all sure they'd hear one going off in the basement. Glad we never had to find that out, though. 

 

Oddly enough, now dh and I sleep with our door shut and the two adult kids still at home do too. But when they were little, it was open doors all around!

Kids often do not hear and respond correctly to fire alarms if they're asleep. Plan to have to wake them.

 

 

Barb, thanks for your pictures. DS says he will let me close his door at night starting tonight.

 

ABC story in which firefighters promote closing doors: http://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/closing-bedroom-door-night-save-life-fire/story?id=50573063

[Barb_]

We want the smoke alarm going off and waking people before the parent is breathing in smoke. Working alarms in more locations + closed parent bedroom door will give us the best odds.

 

 

Kids often do not hear and respond correctly to fire alarms if they're asleep. Plan to have to wake them.

 

 

Barb, thanks for your pictures. DS says he will let me close his door at night starting tonight.

 

ABC story in which firefighters promote closing doors: http://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/closing-bedroom-door-night-save-life-fire/story?id=50573063

I would also like to point out the pattern of damage on the bedroom door. Remember how they always say to hit the floor and army crawl to escape fire? Most of the incineration and soot was above waist high. You can see it on the door--at the bottom the paint is still white. Halfway up the soot starts and then the blistering a little higher and then actual holes in the drywall. Fire creates its power own weather patterns. The fire started in the refrigerator and the wooden IKEA filing cabinet on the floor about six feet away came out intact with a bunch of papers in it (including my house plans and appliance books that proved very helpful when proving loss). The photo below is of my son's lego bin. The top looks like a drip candle but the bottom two bins we salvaged and washed and in soapy water. He's still using them.

 

[OrganicJen]

 

I have never heard of the door closed for fire. Never. You would think that it would be something that fire departments would want to educate people on.

 

That's so strange because I've heard it over and over again. Growing up firefighters came to our school every year and told us about it, and when we take our kids to the fire station they talk about it to them every time. Plus, of course, it saved my life when I was in a fire. Just a thin hollow core interior door, the cheapest kind, kept the smoke out just long enough for my family to get me out the window. The smoke and fire spread and engulf everything in just a couple of minutes...by the time the smoke alarms rendered me fully awake and I knew what was happening it was clear I would have died from breathing the smoke if my door was open. It only takes 2-3 breaths of smoke in a house fire, it's toxic.

[OrganicJen]

I didn't learn this as a child on my fire station trips or on the videos I watched, but on a tour with a homeschool group to a fire station a few years ago. I think they are publicizing it and trying to get the word out, but that fire safety talks are missing the appropriate audiences. They are almost always targeted at children. If my kids had gone to the fire station without me on a PS field trip when they were in lower elementary, I doubt they would have told me to shut the bedroom doors. They need to reach out to adults when they have new information.

 

I did learn to always check the door as a child, and if I had thought about it, that would have implied a door needed to be there and closed, but I don't recall that being explicitly taught and I didn't think twice about it.

That's a good point not all kids will go home and spread the word. I was weird and went home and forced my family to do fire drills and told them everything when I came home from the fire fighter visits lol. Most kids probably wouldn't.

[Barb_]

Thank you for sharing your experience, I am so glad no one was hurt in your fire.

Do you know how it started?

Yes, one of my grown kids accidentally started it. We were out of state for the summer and she went to check on the house in June. Roaches had come up from the sewer and nested in the sink drain in the bathroom off the guest room downstairs. When she opened the door, roaches were everywhere and one flew at her head. She was pretty rattled so after setting off bug bombs and closing up the house she accidentally cut the breakers to the refrigerator. I usually cut non-essential breakers and have them marked, but she just cut them all and left.

 

In August she came back again to check on the house and found it reeked like dead people. The feeezer had thawed and rotted all summer in 115+ degree heat. she and her boyfriend got to work trying to clean it up. They set scented candles all over the downstairs in an attempt to combat the stench. After a few hours they decided to take a break and shower off the smell and go have a late breakfast. The bf was hanging out in an upstairs bedroom and dd was in the shower when they smelled the smoke. The smoke alarms didn't go off. The power had been cut all summer and the batteries probably wore themselves out chirping.

 

The fire Marshall pieced together what happened. The kid put out most of the candles when they went upstairs to get dressed, but left a few burning on the counter, stove, and on the tile floor in front of the fridge. The candle on the floor ignited the methane inside the refrigerator. The plastic melted and then the insulation caught fire. He said the fire was burning inside the fridge for close to a half hour before the cabinets caught fire. Once the wood began to burn they smelled the fire and were able to get out of the house.

 

They contained the kitchen-family room fire, but after the trucks left the attic insulation, which apparently had smoldering hot spots that I think they should have caught, burst into flame and started a second fire in the attic that took care of the upstairs. It was a day that just kept getting worse, lol.

[rainbowmama]

In theory, closed. In reality, I have a kid who gets up most nights and joins me in bed, leaving his door and mine open. 

[OrganicJen]

Yes, one of my grown kids accidentally started it. We were out of state for the summer and she went to check on the house in June. Roaches had come up from the sewer and nested in the sink drain in the bathroom off the guest room downstairs. When she opened the door, roaches were everywhere and one flew at her head. She was pretty rattled so after setting off bug bombs and closing up the house she accidentally cut the breakers to the refrigerator. I usually cut non-essential breakers and have them marked, but she just cut them all and left.

 

In August she came back again to check on the house and found it reeked like dead people. The feeezer had thawed and rotted all summer in 115+ degree heat. she and her boyfriend got to work trying to clean it up. They set scented candles all over the downstairs in an attempt to combat the stench. After a few hours they decided to take a break and shower off the smell and go have a late breakfast. The bf was hanging out in an upstairs bedroom and dd was in the shower when they smelled the smoke. The smoke alarms didn't go off. The power had been cut all summer and the batteries probably wore themselves out chirping.

 

The fire Marshall pieced together what happened. The kid put out most of the candles when they went upstairs to get dressed, but left a few burning on the counter, stove, and on the tile floor in front of the fridge. The candle on the floor ignited the methane inside the refrigerator. The plastic melted and then the insulation caught fire. He said the fire was burning inside the fridge for close to a half hour before the cabinets caught fire. Once the wood began to burn they smelled the fire and were able to get out of the house.

 

They contained the kitchen-family room fire, but after the trucks left the attic insulation, which apparently had smoldering hot spots that I think they should have caught, burst into flame and started a second fire in the attic that took care of the upstairs. It was a day that just kept getting worse, lol.

Wow that is such an unusual series of events.

[mytwomonkeys]

Yes. They like them closed or the cats will torture them.

[QueenCat]

I never heard that sleeping with doors closed was recommended for fire safety.  How could i have spent a bajillion hours on the internet over the last couple of decades and not learned that? 

 

I always thought open doors would give my kids a better chance to hear a smoke alarm, especially one of the downstairs ones since they sleep upstairs.  I'm not at all sure they'd hear one going off in the basement. Glad we never had to find that out, though. 

 

Oddly enough, now dh and I sleep with our door shut and the two adult kids still at home do too. But when they were little, it was open doors all around!

 

I learned it during fire safety programs at school, in the 1970s. My children learned it in school in the 1990s. Our smoke alarms are very loud. And they are connected, so if one goes off, the others go off too. Everyone will hear them. 

[Barb_]

Wow that is such an unusual series of events.

It was a bizarre day.

[Rosika]

I've never heard of closed doors for fire safety. That's good information to know!

 

But we sleep with doors open. It's what I grew up with - windows open, doors opened to help air pass through the home. I have one kid who sleeps with a closed door on warmer nights due to sleeping nude. This child's bedroom has an en suite bathroom. When the kids were younger I'd shut the bedroom doors if i was staying up late to watch t.v. or to work, but I'd still always open them before retiring to bed. 

[scoutingmom]

I've never heard of closed doors for fire safety. That's good information to know!

 

But we sleep with doors open. It's what I grew up with - windows open, doors opened to help air pass through the home. I have one kid who sleeps with a closed door on warmer nights due to sleeping nude. This child's bedroom has an en suite bathroom. When the kids were younger I'd shut the bedroom doors if i was staying up late to watch t.v. or to work, but I'd still always open them before retiring to bed.

I have heard the shut the doors for fire safety, including a video that showed 2 identical (fake, ie fire station practice type house) with video cameras and thermometers etc, that get set on fire in an identical manner in the living room. (I think by an ash tray with hot ashes dumped into a bin with paper...), and showing the differences in the fires and the final damage to the various bedrooms. The differences were huge.

 

Years later I was on another fire station tour and talked to a firefighter on this. They are no longer emphasising the shut the door thing, especially with kids. Because.... if the fire starts IN the bedroom (smoking in bed for adults, for example, or a child playing with matches or a faulty space heater.... whatever) - the end results for the occupant of THAT bedroom are much more likely to be lethal if the door is closed. The smoke detectors are usually in the hallway, and the smoke doesn't get to them in time in a bedroom fire if the door is closed.

 

So, it depends on the location of fire alarms, and the location of the ignition of the fire on whether door closed or door open is overall better.

[kewb]

 

We have 2 types smoke detectors. Ionization is for the fast flame fire. Photoelectric is for the smoldering fire.

 

It is important to check your batteries.

 

Fire safety or not, I am not sleeping with the door closed.