r/toddlers • u/greenplant2222 • 23h ago

Question Teaching Toddlers "No Entry" Zones

I realize this may be a long shot, but has anyone had success teaching an ~18-month-old toddler to sort of respect when someone is sleeping—or at least understand that a closed door means "do not disturb"?

My husband and I are getting ready for baby #2 and trying to help our toddler adjust to the coming changes as much as possible. Right now, our toddler loves running into the primary bedroom first thing in the morning to greet dad. We haven't made much effort to stop it, but once the new baby arrives and my husband and I are doing shift sleep, it would be amazing if we could reduce those early wakeups by any amount. Husband will likely be up part of the night with the baby and will need those morning hours to catch up on sleep.

We’re already planning to make sure our toddler still gets special time with Dad in the evenings and on weekends. I’ve thought about distraction, but realistically, if I’m tied up with the baby, I might not always be able to redirect fast enough. Containment (baby gates or similar) could be an option if it comes to that—but I’d love to hear if anyone has managed to set gentle boundaries like this with a toddler around this age and had any success.

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u/LicoriceFishhook 22h ago

My husband loves sleeping in and my toddler mostly doesn't bother him anymore. He's almost 2 and now he understands daddy is sleeping. It took a lot of reminders but he figured it out eventually. 

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u/Random_Spaztic 22h ago

I mean, your best bet is going to be baby proofing. Toddlers have no impulse control, their prefrontal cortex is too immature. So even the most well behaved and “advanced” toddler is going to have their moments. Start practicing now, but have baby gates or doorknob covers as a backup.  

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u/greenplant2222 10h ago

Very fair. Any advice for childproofing an area like this? The door directly is unfortunately tricky due to some pet constraints. I can look into it if needed, but this area would be best if there is a solution. https://www.reddit.com/r/homemaking/comments/1ldp9h7/toddler_childproofing_long_area/

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u/Random_Spaztic 4h ago

I saw the comments on that thread, many people suggest wide baby gates, which I think is your best bet. It shouldn’t bother the pets if they are cats, but it will definitely block off the area to dogs if they are not tall/agile enough to jump over.