Quit Slamming the Door!

Updated on October 09, 2011
J.B. asks from Katy, TX
25 answers

Do your kids do this? Car doors, front door, back door, pantry door, bedroom door..... I don't get it

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J.S.

answers from Hartford on

On the doors in the house, take a washcloth or a towel. Up where you see the open "crack" in the door up top is where you have to drop the towel so that the door is UNABLE to slam. Don't tell them that you're doing this. Just do it when they're not looking. Then when they try to slam the doors the first time, it'll shock them.

They're not allowed to remove those washcloths and towels for a month. I'm telling you, every single door. This should break them of the habit.

3 moms found this helpful

J.W.

answers from St. Louis on

Nah, after they managed to slam them on their fingers enough they decided a more gentle approach was in order.

2 moms found this helpful

K.M.

answers from Boston on

my husband does it! I tell him ( every time he slams the car door ) "Leave it on the hinges will ya?!" .

2 moms found this helpful

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H.D.

answers from Dallas on

No, I can't get my kids to even CLOSE a door. They get out of the car, leave it wide open. They go to the bathroom, leave it wide open. They get a snack out of the pantry, leave it wide open. At least your doors get closed:)

5 moms found this helpful
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T.C.

answers from Colorado Springs on

They're just being thorough. Too bad they aren't thorough with turning off the lights, picking up their dirty clothes, rinsing and loading their dirty dishes, cleaning up their toys...

4 moms found this helpful

L.A.

answers from Austin on

Our daughter slams the car door. She does not even notice it. I mentioned it to her and she is trying.. Part of the problem is our other vehicle is a big pick up truck and you have to close it with a hard push, because it is so heavy.

My mom used to make us go back and do the door closing over again.. "With more care."

4 moms found this helpful
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B.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

Laurie A's mom has the right idea.

When my kids slammed the doors, I'd have them practice opening and closing the door properly. When you are little, you practice printing your ABC''s until you get it right. If they can't close the door properly, they just have to practice until they get it right.

Good luck to you and yours.

3 moms found this helpful

E.A.

answers from Erie on

No amount of "teaching" ever solved this problem for us, and I used that tool judiciously but for some reason it just never "stuck" for slamming doors, they enjoyed it too much or something. It took TWO broken fingers on two different kids, surgery and long recoveries for both, for them to stop it.

They are hilariously careful about it now.

1 mom found this helpful
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R.P.

answers from Cleveland on

i slam doors when im mad NOTHING feels as good as slamming a door

1 mom found this helpful
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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

No not really.
My kids don't slam things.

But I think with young kids, they simply don't have the total control over their motor movements/pressure at which they do things.
A young kid, can't "gauge" things very well. They only know opposites, not in betweens. They know loud/soft, on/off etc.
And slamming doesn't bother them, hence they don't realize it bothers other people.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.S.

answers from Boca Raton on

Off topic, but when I'm mad there's nothing I like better than a very hard and loud door slam.

There's just something so satisfying about it.

No, it's not a great example for my kids so I don't do it often. :)

PS: Sunny - I can relate - I've got one that leaves doors open all over the house.

1 mom found this helpful
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N.J.

answers from Los Angeles on

Uh yes, it drove me so mad that I took all components of the door knob off and then draped a blanket over the top of the door. this 1. alleviates the slamming noise that inevitably woke the sleeping baby, and 2. made it difficult for them to actually shut--I would have to do it for them. Haven't had any problems since. then again they don't seem to slam the car doors or any other door just the bedroom doors.....

1 mom found this helpful
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L.C.

answers from Dover on

Oh, all the time. And not even because they are mad. That's the crazy part. I have literally threatened to take the doors off the hinges just to save the doors, the frames, and my sanity.

The car door is the worst for me. Right now I am driving my husband's honda and they aren't going to be happy until they slammed the little thing through the car and out the other side.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.L.

answers from Des Moines on

I used to do this when I was a kid and to get me to stop, my dad would make me stand there and open and shut the door quietly a certain number of times. Freaking hated doing this! I don't slam doors anymore!!!

1 mom found this helpful

J.✰.

answers from San Antonio on

My 3.5 yr old:
- car door - I tell him to slam it hard (otherwise with his strenght, it doesn't close all the way and the interior light stays on)
- front door - no slamming
- back door - it's a gliding door. he can't slam it.
- bedroom door - we don't have any yet
- pantry door - don't have one of those yet too. When we did, and my son was 2 he would not slam it, but was a stickler for making sure it closed all the way. Couldn't leave it open an inch. He'd have go to close it.
- FRIDGE - I get so upset when he slams it. Often, he thinks he's helping me by closing the fridge door, but often-times the ketchup and bbq sauce on the door rattle hard when he slams the fridge.

Not sure why they slam some but not others .....

As a teenager, I was a big door slammer. Just a way to have 'last say' in an arguement with my parents.

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M.G.

answers from Austin on

YES! Granted, the front door IS a bit hard to shut, but still...no matter how many times I tell her that it shakes the whole house, she still does it. Guess I should just be glad she's actually shutting it and not letting the cats out. :)

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J.T.

answers from Victoria on

yep and i remember my folks saying "dont slam the door" to me also. we had to be taught to be gentle with furniture and doors..well the entire house.

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A.B.

answers from Houston on

When my dad took me to elementary school years ago, he'd roll down the window after I slammed the door and make me reshut it. It would annoy the hell out of me! And him too!

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D.N.

answers from Chicago on

Slamming the door or kicking the door instead of knocking on it or for my older kids, using their key. My sister slams my car door every time. There is no age limit.

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K.B.

answers from Tulsa on

A M. on here had a great idea to put a towel at the top of the door so it could not be slammed close.

A.M.

answers from Kansas City on

We have those cheap ol' doors on the bathroom and laundry room...and my hubs is ALWAYS trying to fix them. I can't wait til we can buy this house from our landlord and change all the cheap stuff over!

My kids either slam the car door or don't shut it all the way...there is no middle ground in the car. I am either saying "not so hard" or "your door is not closed"...

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R.L.

answers from Houston on

Yup! I'm always saying "easy!" Also my 10 year old tend to talk at the top of his voice all the time. Not yelling just loud and we are constantly saying "shhh". I think it's just a kid thing they will grow out of, but it does drive us nuts!

T.C.

answers from Austin on

My son is more likely to forget to close the door(What are you trying to do, air condition the whole outdoors?!) than slam it. But sometimes when we remind him to close it, he gets mad and slams it. This does not work on the sliding door, if you slam it it bounces back open. I tell him he's just creating more work for himself because he has to go back and do it again.

B.C.

answers from Dallas on

Yep! My husband makes them practice opening and closing it for a few mintues so they get the point.

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J.T.

answers from College Station on

This drives me NUTS!!!!!

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