Do you/would you leave a window open in your child's room at night?

nicolita14w · May 2011

Now that it's getting hotter outside, DH thinks I am insane for not wanting to leave windows open in the kids' rooms at night while we sleep. We live in what I think is a fairly safe area, but it makes me so anxious that someone could sneak in and kidnap them without us hearing it.

Am I the only one that's this paranoid?

chocolatechip06 · May 2011

I would not in our current apartment because we are on the ground floor-if we were in a house with the bedrooms on the upper level I might keep them open during the day but probably not at night-I'm paranoid also.

sliz · May 2011

Never. The chance of someone breaking in is slim but it has happened enough times for me to not risk it.

pamela-matt · May 2011

I would not if the bedrooms are on the ground floor. I would not leave mine open if i were on the ground floor

RoxBride · May 2011

I don't, but not because of fear of someone breaking in, I worry about mobile LO getting to the window. Her window is on the second story. We run the attic fan to cool down the house and that helps keep it cool in there, plus a ceiling fan. When it gets super hot, the AC will be on.

amberleeb · May 2011

I would never leave it open at night way to paranoid!

nicolita14w · May 2011

Thanks, ladies! I'm glad to see so many of you feel the same way as me.

LisaandBryan · May 2011

I wouldn't because I would be worried they would somehow fall through the screens or something. They manage to get in a lot of troule so nothing they do would surprise me.

desabean · May 2011

Well, if G's room was on the main floor, I might feel that way.

She is upstairs and we had her window open for a few nights when it first got warm, but honestly on that side of the house the cars get pretty loud pretty early in the morning so I think it was waking her up earlier. So we try not to.

If we had a main floor bedroom I would definitely have her windows hooked up to the alarm system.

WhiteysWifey · May 2011

We do, but her window is designed with a special lock that keeps the window from being opened more than 3" and it works whether someone tries to open the top or bottom. No one can get in and no one can get out.

dana316 · May 2011

Never, ever, ever in a million years would I leave a window open in any room of my house while I was sleeping. Never.

That's why we have air conditioning.

ALY1981 · May 2011

Ok, I feel like a horrible parent because I leave his window open. Our bedrooms are on the second floor. I would never ever leave any windows open on the first floor, esp his. Being on the second floor, it never caused concern for me...until now!

cjsbdl · May 2011

No. I grew up in the country and now live in the city and I wouldn't do it either place. But I'm super paranoid about such things.

kme930 · May 2011

I wouldn't either - fear of break-ins, babies falling out, etc. Nope. I agree with you!

mel72 · May 2011

I grew up in a very rich town (we were not rich) and I can remember rarely locking the doors at night and never locking our cars either. A few yrs ago we had a brutal home invasion and the mom and two daughters were tortured and killed while the father was beaten in the basement. It was less than a mile from my mom's house. I still have trouble sleeping and every noise wakes me. We haven't turned on the a/c yet but will soon. I keep the windows open until I go to bed and also run a fan. We also have the locking ones that can't be opened more than a few inches but even those I'm too paranoid to use.

BeccaLandes · May 2011

I guess I am the odd woman out- it honestly had not occurred to me to NOT leave a window open. We sleep with our windows open every night that it is cool enough to do so. I prefer the fresh air, and it is so much less expensive than air conditioning. We do live in a safe, suburban area, but I grew up without a/c and with open windows, so to me that is just normal. I guess break-ins/kidnappings are not the top of my worry list (I have other things that cause me anxiety, though!).

cmw&tdm · May 2011

No way. I can't imagine ever leaving a window open in any room in my house at night. We live in a safe area, but it's just a risk I don't want to take.

LIAngel · May 2011

First floor windows no I wouldn't leave open. Second floor windows- I would. Of course now it is blazing hot here, so we have the a/c on, but when the weather is cool enough we open the bedroom windows.

ela81 · May 2011

If it was on the ground floor, no. I would go as far to say I don't think I ever would. Isabel's room is upstairs....I'm not sure right now (safety reasons, even w/ screen), when she gets a little older, yes.

jenwill · May 2011

RoxBride:
I don't, but not because of fear of someone breaking in, I worry about mobile LO getting to the window.

Ditto this. I think about this before I think about someone breaking in. My friend's LO at 3 years old was able to open windows, then windows with safety devices, etc. He figured them all out. At one point she caught him (during the winter) with the window open, snow in the room, and him saying "snow mommy snow". They finally had to just get an alarm so that if the window opened it went off. Nonetheless, I don't want to risk her falling out of our 2nd story window!

dusk42 · May 2011

We sometimes have the second floor windows open at night, but they are double-hung and I only open the top part. She'd have to get 5 feet off the ground to get to the screen, and once she is out of the crib, the rest of the furniture will be secured to the walls. I grew up without air conditioning, so it seems normal to me to save energy and get the dead air out of the house when the windows can be open.

browneyedgrl4282 · May 2011

Never no matter what floor of the house they are in! I knew a family how had their 3 year old son fall out of the window and sadly he did not survive. Plus, with my kids allergies it isn't a good idea either!

oooCarrieB · May 2011

Our LO's room is on the first floor, but is more like floor and a half because of the foundation and the window is really high- bungalow type window, about 10 feet off the ground. I am leaning towards leaving it slightly open possibly because of how high it is off the ground. I keep all the other normal height windows closed at night.