Guest homesteadma Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 We have gotten custody of a baby girl and it is necessary for my dd 12 to share her room with her. The problem as you can guess, the 2 yr old sees everything as fair game! Won't stay out of anything! We're trying to toddler proof the room, but not having a lot of success. Anyone have any ideas that might help us out? I'm having a really hard time helping dd find places to put her "valuables" that are out of reach. TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 This may not be popular--but I would not let the toddler be alone or have access to the room unless she was sleeping. If the toddler is waking up and destroying things then I'd try to find a way to put up a room divider (a series of toddler gates that link) to help contain her until she can be supervised. In high school I had to share my room with my cousin's toddler-- he did break a few of my valuables-- before I learned to store them in my closet, remove EVERYTHING from the top of my dresser and book shelves, and I installed child proof latches on my dresser drawers and the closet door. My room was VERY clean that summer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'smom Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Maybe dd12 could keep her stuff in the closet and put a child-proof lock on the door? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in FL Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 This may not be popular--but I would not let the toddler be alone or have access to the room unless she was sleeping. This is what I'd suggest as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 This is what I'd suggest as well. Same here. Also, I'd get the older girl some kind of locking cabinet. A lot of toddlers can get past those child latches, but I've yet to see a 2-year-old pick a lock. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Another option is to put shelves well above the 2 yo's reach but w/in the 12 yo's...though drawer and cupboard locks and a childproof knob on the closet door are also likely to be helpful, along with keeping the 2 yo out of the room during the day. I've tried to start DD thinking about what to do about her stuff once this new baby is mobile...I envision a pretty significant rearrangement of things like our cubby shelves in the school room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I would put the baby in my room. Dd serial needs to do some proofing, bc it's just a short matter of time until the toddler can open doors, push chairs to shelves and such. None of the suggestions given so far would keep my just turned two year old girl out of trouble. She has learned what she can and can't do so it's not much of an issue for us. But she's had two years of learning the house rules with us to reach that point.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 We had a similiar problem. When little DD got mobile, she was into EVERYTHING - especially older DD's things. We bought older DD a trunk and put a combination lock on it. Worked like a charm! I also put a hook on the closet doors high enough so that older DD and I could open it, but younger DD was thwarted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I would put the baby in my room. This is likely not an option for the OP. I know in my mom's state (TX) foster children can't share a bedroom of an unrelated adult (including the foster parents) past 1 year old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I would not let the toddler be alone or have access to the room unless she was sleeping. That was my first thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Just a reminder, secure any dresser so it can't come down on the toddler... when they crawl in the bottom drawer or try to climb on top of the dresser... and pull down whatever is there.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest homesteadma Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 We have only been allowing 2 yr old to sleep in the rm with dd. However, she has now learned to walk her crib across the room against dd's bed and vaults over onto her bed and she comes running out of the room yelling, "I'm FWEEEE!" with a most pleased look on her face. :) We have her 7 month old brother sleeping in our room since he was born, which is why we had to move her in with dd 12. They are here to stay. We have 4 bedrms which we thought was enough, however you just never know when you might get "Blessed" with raising a couple more! They sure have made life more exciting! I definitely want to lock up the closet and get a trunk with a lock for dd. The shelves sound like a great idea too. Thank you all for your good advice. Oldest ds will be moving into his own house this next year, so we have an empty bedrm coming, it'll just be a little while. I thought of getting the bookcase out of the room and replacing it with one of those tall cabinets with doors that we can lock, after reading your suggestions! Thank you!! I knew you ladies would come up with some great ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bird Girl Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I would get a crib tent for a two-year old. I do not want anyone with the judgment of a two-year old tooling around the house at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rootsnwings Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Would your two olders mind sharing a room & letting the two youngers have a bedroom to themselves? We had ds(10) & ds(3.5) "sharing a room" until just last month. We turned the baby's nursery into a room for ds(10) since the baby had never once slept a night in there and he is REALLY at the age where he needs his own space. I have ds(3.5)'s bed in my bedroom, with his bed at the foot of our bed, and dd(1) sleeps with me. This really works out great and frees up "the big room" to house all their clothes and toys. Now my oldest has his own room and we have a huge family closet disguised as a playroom! WOOT! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd293 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Could you get dd12 a loft bed and arrange shelving and cupboards way-up-high? If this is a temporary arrangement and not practical, I agree about limiting the little one's access to the room. Neither of my children really had a room of their own when they were that age - dd had a room which was used to store toys (she never actually played there, but in the living space) and ds's room housed his changing table but was otherwise just a spare room for guests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2denj Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 (edited) My dd 4 is in our bedroom. Our room is much bigger. We bought her furniture to match our room. My middle dd was 10 when the baby was born. She begged for her to be in her room. I did not put her in there. I knew that in a couple of years her feelings would change. They did. I agree, that if you have no other choice, I would probably keep the baby out except for bedtime. This would be for her safety as well as the 12 yr olds sanity. =) Edited February 12, 2011 by mom2denj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 We have only been allowing 2 yr old to sleep in the rm with dd. However, she has now learned to walk her crib across the room against dd's bed and vaults over onto her bed and she comes running out of the room yelling, "I'm FWEEEE!" with a most pleased look on her face. :) Can the crib be hooked to the wall with the same safety latches that are used for bookcases, dressers, and so forth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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