Just pondering again...Practical difference btw a gate and a catch on a sleep-room

[lisbet]

I think I may have too much time on my hands whilst I wait to start work but it's occurred to me that rather than have a safety gate to keep napping mindees safely in a room/ away from stairs, the same safety could be achieved by having a little hook on the door frame out of toddlers' reach, that could hold the door ajar and stop children from wandering out/ cat from wandering in. The gap would mean I could hear them if they called out/ cried (in addition to monitor and regular physical checks!) and it would probably be quicker to open than a gate in case of emergency evacuation, BUT somehow it seems worse to 'lock' them in in this way than it does by using a gate...

Any thoughts on this?

[Helen79]

I've never used a gate on a room where babies are sleeping, maybe I should be?! If they're in a travel cot then I use a monitor and leave the door open. Once they can climb out of the cot or are too big for one then they sleep downstairs on mats where i can see them. If they sleep in a pushchair then they sleep downstairs. I've never had a problem as most mindees have napped at the same time or I've never had one who sleeps on a mat who sleeps at different times.

I'm not sure why but I wouldn't like the idea of a catch either and if I needed to would prefer to use a gate. Cats always get put in the kitchen at nap time to stop them from waking the children up.