Daughter screams and crys when door is shut??

Brittany - posted on 02/21/2012

I leave the door open until my daughter either closes it herself or when I go to bed. I let her know why the door has to be closed at night. For us it is our cat, as well as it is a fire hazard to keep it open (fire can then spread very quickly from one room to the next).



I also gave my daughter a push light. That way she had a tiny light that she could turn off and on. My daughter doesn't like night lights.

Tiffany - posted on 02/21/2012

Probably just started to realise there is something to "fear" in the dark. Mine went through this too, around the same time. She's 3.5 now, and she asks me to close the door again (as long as her blinds are open so she can get some light from the street).

Go along with it. Explain that IF the door stays open, she is NOT to leave her room, or it will be closed again. (It'll be a good motivator to stay in her bed). If that fails (which it should not) put a small baby gate in the doorway. Might deter her.

Kristy - posted on 02/18/2012

Maybe starting to get afraid of the dark. My daughter did around this age, so we got her a night light and left her door open. To keep your daughter from geting up and rummaging through stuff at night buy a baby gate and put it on her doorway, that way door is open and she cant get out tog o through stuff.

Joy - posted on 02/17/2012

Heather's suggestion won't work for us, but it could for you. (We teach our daughter there are monsters. Cuz there are real ones like kidnappers, bullies, etc. and we're planning to teach her how to deal with them when she needs to.)



If she does leave her room to rummage around, maybe try to direct her curiosity to things that are safer than others? Or have something that will wake you up when she leaves her room?

Heather - posted on 02/17/2012

Get a night light. Sounds like she's afraid of the dark, and monsters. Time to buy one, or two nightlights. Let her pick them out. It is so worth the money. Then purchase some books on monsters, and explain to her that they aren't real.

Joy - posted on 02/17/2012

Maybe her imagination's taking off? Maybe she saw something in a book, TV or another kid told her to be scared of something - or its developing on its own. I think its normal for children to develop & deal with different fears around 2 years old and up. My daughter's also 2 1/2, but we've been telling her for awhile that Mom & Dad are monster hunters and know how to help her when she is scared of something... Unfortunately, this has the backfired situation of her crawling into bed with us almost every night for 'protection.' That might not be something you want either.



Is it the dark she's afraid of or is it that the door's shut and she feels isolated from the rest of the family? Or maybe its a bit of claustrophobia -in which case, I'd suggest an open window as the weather permits. If its the dark, there's the taking the flashlight to bed idea.

Moriah - posted on 02/17/2012

she does have a night light in her room and i can close the door after she is sleeping but she has to be in a deep sleep or else she wakes up and just flipps out, she has her favorite 2 stuffies in there along with her favorite blanket, i just dont know why it would change basically over night? we would like to get a baby gate but she is very smart for her age and she would find a way to crawl over it, :(

Amy - posted on 02/17/2012

Does she have a night light in there, could she be afraid of the dark? Have you tried closing the door once she's fallen asleep? My husband and I didn't close doors we used a baby gate across my sons door to keep him in his room.