If someone broke in, middle of the night,is it better for bedroom doors to be open or closed? Kids and adults?

[Anonymous]

Just a question for anyone who has pondered this or sadly, experienced it. What was best?

[Anonymous]

What’s your plan for run, hide, fight? There is no one size fits all response. But it sounds like you’ve experienced some really serious trauma to be asking this question. Personally I’d be working on my middle of the night fire plan before this.

[Anonymous]

Generally doors closed is recommended to prevent fires from spreading, right? But safety wise I don’t know that a shut door would stop much. A locked door would slow things down slightly. I would talk to local police about safety in your area. Or a locksmith. Our locksmith said don’t be the easy target. Neighbors on both sides of you have iron bars on their back window and back door? You get iron bars. Don’t be the easy target. (Capitol Hill)

[Anonymous]

Op here. I recently saw one of the morning shows or online where someone experienced this and they mentioned calling their children to one bedroom while dialing 9-1-1. That was always their safety plan to get the kids into one bedroom. If you keep all of your doors closed, how does that work?

[Anonymous]

Get a big dog like a lab.

[Anonymous]

Fire more likely than robbery. Shut bedroom doors. Get dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I recently saw one of the morning shows or online where someone experienced this and they mentioned calling their children to one bedroom while dialing 9-1-1. That was always their safety plan to get the kids into one bedroom. If you keep all of your doors closed, how does that work?

I don’t see how sleeping w your bedroom doors closed would make it harder for your kids to get into one bedroom? It takes like .5 seconds to open a door.

My plan (and yes, unfortunately, I have experienced a break in before…middle of the night) is to get everyone in my room which has a locking door, lock the door and dial 9-1-1. While on phone w 9-1-1, push/drag dresser in front of door as extra barrier. When we had a break in, we did all of the above and the police arrived within minutes and the person breaking in was easily caught/subdued so as scary as it was, I think we had the best outcome possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I recently saw one of the morning shows or online where someone experienced this and they mentioned calling their children to one bedroom while dialing 9-1-1. That was always their safety plan to get the kids into one bedroom. If you keep all of your doors closed, how does that work?

I don’t see how sleeping w your bedroom doors closed would make it harder for your kids to get into one bedroom? It takes like .5 seconds to open a door.

My plan (and yes, unfortunately, I have experienced a break in before…middle of the night) is to get everyone in my room which has a locking door, lock the door and dial 9-1-1. While on phone w 9-1-1, push/drag dresser in front of door as extra barrier. When we had a break in, we did all of the above and the police arrived within minutes and the person breaking in was easily caught/subdued so as scary as it was, I think we had the best outcome possible.

Op here. I’m so sorry that has happened to you. Reasoning being with the open or closed - It seems as if having opened doors would allow the children to hear you calling out faster than opening each door depending on the distance between bedrooms, no?

[Anonymous]

Generally doors closed is recommended to prevent fires from spreading, right?

Right. And fire is much more likely than the home invasion break-in you’re imagining.

[Anonymous]

I like to sleep with my bedroom door locked. I then slide my bed four feet so it blocks the door. On the other side of my bed is a heavy dresser. I make sure I have a phone with me. This makes me feel safer. Like it would take a while for someone to get in. And I have an alarm system

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Generally doors closed is recommended to prevent fires from spreading, right? But safety wise I don’t know that a shut door would stop much. A locked door would slow things down slightly. I would talk to local police about safety in your area. Or a locksmith. Our locksmith said don’t be the easy target. Neighbors on both sides of you have iron bars on their back window and back door? You get iron bars. Don’t be the easy target. (Capitol Hill)

Iron bars on doors and windows are a serious fire hazard. This is horrible advice coming from someone that says BS in order to get you to gain a profit.

[Anonymous]

I don’t see why it would matter in a break-in situation. What are you going to do in that situation anyway, realistically? We sleep with doors closed due to fire recommendation.

Can you get a large noisy dog? Ours flips her sh!t at noises overnight (annoying at times but doesn’t happen often). If reports are to be believed, that is usually enough of a deterrent for burglars to take off or move on to someone else’s house. Usually it is a crime of opportunity as opposed to targeted at you or your specific house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I recently saw one of the morning shows or online where someone experienced this and they mentioned calling their children to one bedroom while dialing 9-1-1. That was always their safety plan to get the kids into one bedroom. If you keep all of your doors closed, how does that work?

I don’t see how sleeping w your bedroom doors closed would make it harder for your kids to get into one bedroom? It takes like .5 seconds to open a door.

My plan (and yes, unfortunately, I have experienced a break in before…middle of the night) is to get everyone in my room which has a locking door, lock the door and dial 9-1-1. While on phone w 9-1-1, push/drag dresser in front of door as extra barrier. When we had a break in, we did all of the above and the police arrived within minutes and the person breaking in was easily caught/subdued so as scary as it was, I think we had the best outcome possible.

Op here. I’m so sorry that has happened to you. Reasoning being with the open or closed - It seems as if having opened doors would allow the children to hear you calling out faster than opening each door depending on the distance between bedrooms, no?

I’m not trying to scare you or anything, but honestly what does it matter? The burglar will either be deterred by the presence of humans or he won’t. It makes no difference if you are all in the same room in 1min or 3min. The police would not arrive for awhile.

[Anonymous]

Cameras, motion sensor lights, phone with 911 on speed dials, guns (real or fake), Alexa set to call 911, iron bars or motion sensors on widows. Dead bolts on doors. Fake siren maker.

That being said, don't keep unnecessary valuables at home and don't worry about these things. Most things we fear never happen, letting fear run our lives is no way to live. If something happens, you'll deal with it then, can't dedicate your whole life to it.

[Anonymous]

Small time burglars and thieves tend to be more scared than homeowners so just keep your cool.