toddler obsessed with closing doors

amother

Sun, Jun 03 2007, 5:34 pm

my 22 moth old has this obsession of always closing doors around the house and it gets really irritating for a few reasons: 1- he closes the door infront of my 9 month old who gets separation anxiety, besides he can close the door on his finger, head...
2- we want the AC to circulate in the house, and we need the doors open.
We tell him NO, it doesn't help. it doesn't help.- nothing helps. Is this common? any ideas?

Thank you!

amother

Sun, Jun 03 2007, 9:32 pm

I'm also wondering what may cause him to feel that he MUST close the door in which ever room he is in?

amother: That's a good idea, where can I find door wedges or door stoppers?

thanx

mtk24

Sun, Jun 03 2007, 10:01 pm

I have the same problem with my 15 month old. He is always closing doors. I usually take a towel and throw it over the door. (top)
1) The door doesn't close
2) He's safe
Sometimes if I am in my bedroom I take anything I see and throw it over the door. Like a sweater, a nightgown or anything heavy...
It helps!!!

cdawnr

Sun, Jun 03 2007, 10:25 pm

For those wondering why--I htink this is a comon phase kids go through because they feel like they have some control or something. My dd does this (or is just getting over doing this) and gets so frustrated that she has trapped herself in the room!

Nomad

Sun, Jun 03 2007, 10:26 pm

you can probably find them by the nearest hardware store or online like from:

http://hardware.hardwarestore.......aspx

but that idea with the sweater is great!

ChavieK

Sun, Jun 03 2007, 11:12 pm

my 2 yr old does the same. TWhen I hear that muffled scream I know I have to go release him from his selfimposed prison. He also closed the door on my mom when she went to the car to get s/t.

amother

Mon, Jun 04 2007, 11:44 am

I feel better knowing that it's common.
I tried that sweater idea, which helps, but he still manages to close the door not completely. I guess I'll have to get that door stopper.
so he feels that he needs control, starting young. Mad

Tue, Jun 19 2007, 9:16 am

im not sure that its a need for control rather than a curiosity in what happens when I close the door? oh, it slams, oh, look mummy's coming to give me attention.

DS knows how to pull the wedge out from under my door, I like to keep the door open an sometimes even when I ask him to stop he wil go ahead an do it anyway.

Its the same with opening & closing kitchen cabinets, emptying drawers, tipping out toy boxes, sticking keys in locks. children this age are interested in learning how the world around them works. they learn from experience.

it is however, annoying for us adults!

amother

Tue, Jun 19 2007, 9:55 am

While this can be a normal stage for toddlers, at times it can be a sign of something more serious. This alone is not concerning, but when it comes in conjunction with a number of other symptoms, it can be indicative of PDD/autism, even in a very mild form. Some other symptoms can be difficulty following directions, echolalia (repeating what others say or questions asked), other repetetive actions, etc. Often, many of these symptoms come out around the age of 18-24 months.

Here is a link to a great article about autism and treatment:
http://www.spiritmag.org/v1n4/feature.html

Please don't all jump on me - I'm not saying that every child who closes doors or repeats or doesn't listen has autism. I'm saying that when you see a few of these symptoms, it should be checked out. The earlier a child gets intervention, the greater the effectiveness. Many children who received appropriate intervention from under age 3 are highly functioning and mainstreamed in regular schools.

PLEASE READ THE ARTICLE!

amother

Tue, Jun 19 2007, 10:00 am

I'm the previous poster. Sorry, I didn't realize that it doesn't let you read the full article without subscribing. If you think this may pertain to you, you may want to subscribe online, as its a really good and comprehensive article.

BTW, the intervention it discusses is ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) which has been proven to be the most effective treatement by far of children with autism. If anyone is concerned and has any questions, you can post them and I'll try to answer.

I'm not trying to get people unnnecessarily concerned, so if it doesn't pertain to you, please don't get worked up about it.

Thanks and good luck!

shopaholic

Tue, Jun 19 2007, 10:45 am

DS does that too, every so often. We have a long hallway & he'll go down shutting the 3 bedroom doors & the bathroom doors. No reason. he just has fun. Then he goes upstairs to play. I like the towel on top of the door idea.

amother

Sat, Aug 04 2007, 11:06 pm

thanx for all your replies.

about autism, isn't it normal for kids to repeat what others say so they can learn how to speak at this age of 2 yrls?

he closes the door also so that his baby brother can't come in to the room.

Rikola

Wed, Aug 08 2007, 4:28 pm

My son just turned 2 and he does this as well. I think for him it's part of "doing what Mommy does." For doors I need to stay open I use something just like this:

http://www.childsafetystore.co.....or%20^2FWindow%20Safety/272/Door%20Stopper
(copy and paste, if you click it just goes to the website not the product ...)

He was frustrated at first but eventually realized they no longer closed and moved on. But he still loves closing the doors he can.

anonymom

Thu, Jun 05 2008, 8:58 pm

I also have a 22 month old son. He occasionally wants to close doors, but is not obsessed with it. However, he is at a very stubborn stage, and I can totally relate to your frustration. When he decides her wants something a certain way, it can be very trying. (It's also very cute, watching them develop their own ideas and ways of getting what they want. They can be so determined.)

Suggestion: Do you have a dollhouse with doors? Or can you make one out of a shoebox, and let him have toy doors to close. Or some other toy with doors that open.

de_goldy

Thu, Jun 05 2008, 9:55 pm

anonymom - this thread is from a year ago. I doubt OP is still reading.

All these new threads getting revived by new posters, how about you look at the date first!

anonymom

Thu, Jun 05 2008, 11:35 pm

You're takeh right. I had not noticed the date. I assumed it was new because I only look at new threads, unless I'm looking for something specific. So how did I come across this thread today, if the poster before me was last August? Can anyone explain this mystery?

By the way, I am usually annoyed when I see an interesting thread title, read thru the whole thing and then realize it was old and revived by some very bored person with nothing interesting to add.