How do you handle unexplained "bumps in the night"

Heck I did not have to worry about it with my ex-wife around. Back in bout 74 our house was broken into. Woke me up. Was pulling my 357 out of the drawer when the ex asked me what I was doing.... in a very low voice I said quit, someone's in the house. In a much louder voice she said "Why are you getting the gun out". Again I told her to be quit, that someone was in the house. Once again, but only this time at almost a scream she asked "What are you doing with the gun". Bout this time you could hear the bad guy beating it out of the house. They knocked the back door half off the hinges in their hurry to get out.

Naw, I don't go and investigate. That's what the dogs are for. I'll pick the time and place where I'm going to fight. I won't leave that decission to the Bad Guy. The dogs will tell me where they are at. The bad guy will not know where I am. After all, doesn't everyone like a supprise?



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Richard

The debate is not about guns,
but rather who has the ultimate power to rule,
the People or Government.
RKBA!
 
Some really good suggestions here. I especially like the "I'm armed and I'm pissed off". I think I'll use that one (if you don't mind)? :)

I have two dogs in the house. One is a German Shepard that really HATES strangers (he answers the door with me). And I have a little dog that barks A LOT when she hears something. I let the Shepard search the house and if I don't hear any screaming I go back to sleep once he comes back to our room.

Someone mentioned something good about bedrooms. My house the master bedroom is one side and the other bedrooms are on the other side of the house. I have been thinking of this setup lately now that I have a baby and I don't like it. I am thinking of making the sheppard sleep in her room.
 
FUD, I can almost garuntee that you are rocking her to sleep and then go lay her in her crib. We were told about a plan by my sister who has a Masters in Child development. There is also a book out about it. You have to just take her in and lay her down BEFORE she goes to sleep. I had the same problem with my kid when he would wake up in the night and want to come in bed with us. She will scream her head off when you do this but just say good night and leave the room, we always shut the door and left a night light on for him. Then go in after 5 minutes and calm the child, then lay her down and leave. After you leave she will cry again of course because she knows you have the ability to bring her with you but you are obviously cruel and have decided to continue her torture of being without you. Sounds bad, but I figure that is what my kid was thinking. Wait 10 minuites this time and then go back and do it again, NEVER stay longer than 5 minutes and I liked to make it shorter than that, but calm her then lay her back down and say good-night, then walk out again. She will probably cry again but you and your wife especially (women hate to hear their child cry more than men IMO) will have to be strong and stand up to it. Wait 20 minutes this time and do it again. Each time you double the time between comforting. Each night you do this for like a week and then start waiting for the 10 minute mark before going in for the first time. Each week add 5 minutes to your wait before your first visit after the crying starts. This works, trust me. You are establishing with your child that it is time for bed and that she will be sleeping in her room. She may take it better than others and be fairly easy to break but some children, like mine, take a couple of weeks. It is hard to hear them cry but just remember that you are good parents and this is for her own good. She is fine and not in any physical danger so you are not neglecting her. She just doesn't have Daddy or Mommy and that is just ALL WRONG.

If you want the name of the book e-mail me and I'll get it for you.
 
HukeOKC, you are correct -- we are tricking her into falling asleep. Then we carefully carry her to her bedroom, place her in the crib, turn the monitor on and quitely leave. This worked fine and when she woke up, we rocked her back to sleep. But now she's much bigger (over 30lbs.) and we can't seem to get her back to sleep in her crip a second time without waking her. We'll have to give your suggestions a try but I think that we're gonna wait for Friday night and start doing this over the week-end so that if we have a sleepless night, we don't have to face work the following day. Thanks for the ideas, FUD.
 
Our burglar muncher is a yellow (no pun intended labrador). The problem is that he hasn't convinced me of his credibility. He barks and charges at family when they surprise him (then apologizes profusely when he recognizes them) but often acts pleased and excited to meet strangers. Not to mention that the 90 pound beggar sleeps sounder than anyone in the house!

Sounds in the night? I can hardly get him to wake up much less do the search 'for' me!

mk86's naked 45 line reminds me of a deer camp story from a few years ago. There were about 6-8 of us in the Sierra's. Back and horse packed about 7-8 miles from the trucks. The horses were tethered about 40-50 yds from the tents and they began to have a hissy-fit in the middle of the night. Obvious bear situation. Me being the youngest in camp (and I have grandkids!) volunteers to get up and check. The oldest guy in camp (80ish) gets up from the tent on the other end of the tether line and we proceed to check camp via mini-mag light, 1911, and buffalo briefs (it's a tolerable temp in the Sierra's in Sept). Sorry about the visual, but that's what happened and that's where mk86 reminded me of this.

Now as Mr. Harvey would say for the rest of the story. I 'always' keep my Colt in condition 1 when I'm in the mountains. Welllll, hike back out to the truck the next day and begin to unload for the trip home. No round in the chamber! Can you imagine how loud the click would have been? Bear in range of a minimag light and underwear and all? My Dad still hasn't let me live it down.

Rick
 
mrat,

Both of my dogs sleep in my baby's room. I don't make them, they just sleep in there with him. And I leave his door open so the dogs can investigate any noises.

FUD. sleep with earplugs for about three nights.
 
Off topic/kinda. Rebel, have faith in your lab. I thought the same of mine for most of its life. That all change when a drunk showed up at my door. It was about three in the morning and he was banging on the door and yelling "let me in". I thought it was my neighbor's boyfreind so I opened the door. I don't even remember my dog waking up but the next thing I know my Lab had went through the screen-door and was giving the bum a hard time. The guy ran off and the cop's never found him. It was worth the replacement door just to see it. Scary then/funny as h@ll now.

------------------
DUM SPIRO SPERO
While I Breath I Hope
 
JCH...still kinda off topic....:-)
thanks for the vote of conf. He's about 3 now and seems to be doing better than he ever has, just not ... something. Don't get me wrong. Great dog. The few times he has alarmed my first reaction has been to wonder what in the house was making that big dog noise. He started to get into it the other day with a pitbull yearling. Woulda been much more impressive if it hadn't happened right between my feet. But it left no doubt that there was a big dog (not just the 90# on the outside kind) hidin in there somewhere. I'll keep him around, even though I may have to get a Chihuahua to act as alarm.
 
All 3 of my children slept with us until they were around 1 year old, they all were breast fed. The youngest one never had a baby bottle , and none ever had a pacifier touch their lips.

It is only common sense that a child needs
this sense of safety, comfort, and physical
contact.

And no one can do this better than momma.

When you have children, you absolutely have to change your habits, and make the sacrifices. If you are not willing to make sacrifices then you should not have children.

I think most people put there children to sleep in another room so that the child won't interfere with the sex life, to me this is very selfish and cold bahavior.

I believe it has a negative affect on a persons character, and interferes with a childs ability to show emotion and to be
compassionate

It is no wonder that we have so many cold, and shallow individuals running around today.

And for child raising experts, classroom theory, just don't cut it!

Oh yeah!, all 3 of my children are good and productive humans, and I have all the confidence, that they will continue to walk this path for the rest of their lives.
-------------------------------------------

And for bumps in the night, I investigate thoroughly.

Waterdog
 
Since the attack on my wife while she slept, I have had a profesinal Brinks top-of-line security system installed with the 24/7 monitoring center link.

With the situation now being, my oldest likes to crawl in bed with mommy in the middle of the night, so keeping the gun under the pillow is no longer safe. She relyies on the alarm to give her a heads up to remove the gun from the locked gun case next to the bed.

light switch in the hall, right next to the bedroom door lights up the entire east side of the house, then if the shuffle of feet is heard she knows to level her Sig towards that direction, if it were me coming home late, the alarm gets turned off before anything happens anyway.

------------------
"Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property...Horrid mischief would ensue were the law abiding deprived the use of them" --Thomas Paine, 1775

www.2ndamdlvr.org
www.2ndamdlvr.homestead.com/secondamendment.html
 
ChrisMkIV, We too have a Brinks alarm system, which we just recently had installed (see "House Alarms : Added Safety or False Security?" & "Lessons Learned -- Another FUD Story") with different colored lights for different zones (Green -- unarmed; Yellow -- armed; Red -- trouble area). While I don't know if it is their top of the line model, it was a lot more costly than the ones offered by other companies (Sears, AT&T, ADT, etc.). However, as others have pointed out both in this thread and the two others that I made reference to, alarms can fail or be bypassed by someone with experienced. For that reason, I prefer to have a gun in hand when hearing an "unrecognizable" sound when the whole family is in one part of the house and the noise comes from another part of the house.

/*** TOPIC VEER ***/

Waterdog, I'm very well aware that children require sacrifices. My wife and I discussed this at great length before even attempting to have a baby and we both agreed that our child will come first in our lives. I gave up an opportunity for advancement and actually took a demotion because I put in for a transfer to a part of the country where there for no openings for the level that I was at or the new level that I was qualified to be promoted into.

The reason why we moved across country is so that our child could be surrounded by family members as she is growing up. She is watched by aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. Additionally, both my wife and I have worked out arrangements so that we can work from home three days out of the week so our daughter is with at least one of us all of the time. This is hurting me from a career perspective, but I get to see my daughter as she is growing up all day long instead of just in the evenings and on week-ends.

We're trying to get her to sleep in her own bedroom not for selfish reason but because she is over two years old and EVERYBODY keeps telling us that "she should be sleeping in her own crib in her own bedroom." Being first time parents, we do not have any experience in this area of our own to look to.

Our daughter's crib was in our bedroom until she was around 16 months. We had originally planned for her to moved into her own bedroom at the one year mark but our house was delayed in being built and we ended up living with my in-laws for several months so it got pushed back until she was around 16 months. For about half a year, she slept fine in her crib in her bedroom but the past couple of months, it's been getting harder to put her back to sleep and place her back in the crib without waking her.

Are you telling me that it is alright for a 2+ year old to be sleeping with her parents in their bed? I don't know. I'm asking.
lfs.jpg

By the way, since this thread is getting a little long and might be closed due to size considerations, if anyone has any additional parenting advise to offer in regard to this area, please feel free to contact me directly by sending e-mail. As I've always said, "share what you know & learn what you don't" -- that applies to all things and not just firearms.

[This message has been edited by FUD (edited August 17, 2000).]
 
Isn't she precious! Another month or so and I bet she could handle one of those youth .22 rifles.. :D

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God, Guns and Guts made this country a great country!
 
How do I handle unexplained "bumps in the night"? I either tell her, "Not now, Honey, I'm trying to sleep", or I roll over and... :D
 
Got you all beat.
I once cleared a 5 bedroom house with a .303 enfield/bayonet and a CAT.
I'd push the door open and the cat would walk in.
I miss that cat.


------------------
Go Ugly Early.

AD HOMINEM; Helping Morons argue since 1549!!!
 
Like I wrote, my children slept with us for about a year, then they were gradually
coaxed into sleeping in their own beds.

It was not an easy process, with the occasional loss of sleep.

Sometimes when they were sick or frightened they slept with us, it allowed us to monitor the child while sick.

A person who is good at what they do, will always have job advancement oppurtunities presented to them throughout their career.

Raising a child is a one shot deal.

Waterdog

PS
A child that is tired will sleep anywhere, all night long.
 
Waterdog, you are very correct. A job will always be there. If not one, then another but we get only one chance to raise a child which is why my wife and I made the decisions that we did. I don't particularily like living in Florida. Nothing against the state and the gun laws are really great but I can't seem to adjust to this damn hot & humid weather. I grew up in a climate where winter meant snow and sub-freezing temps not temps in the 80's. But the rest of the family is here and our daughter is surrounded by aunts, uncles, cousins, etc., who care about her. What goes around in life comes around -- our parents sacraficed for us and now it our turn.

You sound like a very good man and your children are lucky to have you for a father.
 
FUD--thanks for the topic. How to respond to bumps in the night has been on my mind lately. To explain, before I was married, I'd investigate "bumps" (unexplained noises that might signal a threat) by carefully going from room to room with my big S&W N-frame in hand, held close to the body, trigger finger pressed against the side of the trigger guard. I'd look for anything amiss, check windows and doors, scan hiding places, etc. I didn't hear a lot of "bumps," but when they did occur, I figured better safe than sorry. Besides, since I was living alone, any noise at night had to come either from something or from someone other than myself.

However, after my marriage, I checked out a strange noise once with gun in hand and found that this response shocked my wife. I don't mean that she's anti-gun or anti-self-defense (she's a gunowner herself). But she firmly believes in the protective power of God and had never figured on an armed response. I believe in God's goodness, too, but I also think that God expects us to contribute some to our own safety and well-being. So, to lie there and wonder about the cause of the noise seems to leave too much to chance.

I guess that my wife and I need to talk this topic through. It could even be on her mind as well, due to her conern about the increasing boldness of the rapists in our gun-hating corner of the world.



[This message has been edited by jimmy (edited August 18, 2000).]
 
Waterdog, what you are referring to is called a "family bed". You are right, there is nothing wrong with it. The method I explained is something that usually only has to be used by parents who made the mistake of putting the child to sleep before placing them in the crib, then the child awakes expecting to see Mommy or Daddy and they are gone so they cry to get them back. As you well know crying is their only way to communicate. I can't help but feel accused of being some creep of a parent that all I want is for the loud mouth kid to sleep in his own room so that I can get some "action". You couldn't be more wrong. Many children grow up sleeping in their own rooms and they too grow up to be healthy adults. It is simply a matter of choice. We decided that my son would sleep in his own bed just because we figured that's where he would normally sleep so he should get used to it. If there is a storm or he is scared because of a bad dream or whatever, we have no problem letting him come sleep with us. When he's sick, we don't even bother putting him in his room, he just stays with us. You and yours took a different approach to it and that's fine, but if you plan on accusing parents of being too worried about themselves instead of their children, you better be ready for some kind of argument. The method I explained has already been done for years and has had NO ill effects to the child. If it was just a "theory" then we wouldn't have used it. As it is, after trying it, my son sleeps better and longer in his own bed than with us.
 
Jimmy, I initially had the same problem with my spouse ... it's okay to have a gun for protection but you shouldn't take it out or use it ... I quickly changed that attitude by being very blunt with her making her understand that I was the first line of defense for our family, if I wasn't around or if something happened to me in the process, that responsibility fell on her shoulders. She has taken ownership of my Browning BDA380 (a 14-rounder) and has become pretty good with it -- I would rather have her back me up with a .380ACP that she can hit the center of mass with than with a 9mm where she'll only wing somebody. I'm working on having her get her CWL and to carry in public. I have a NAA Guardian that would be perfect for her. I would rather have her carry my Kahr MK9 but, again, a hit with a .32 will do more damage than a miss with a 9mm.
 
After my divorce I rented out the extra bedroom to a freid name Mike. He often made trips out of town for work. 2 Days after He left for a 5 day trip. It 3am and someone is in the house. I took my pistol out of the night stand, clicked off the saftey after making sure my finger was out of the trigger gard, and got behind cover. Then yelled hey Mike. He yells back what, I said just checking. put the gun up and went back to sleep. When I talked to him the next day I found out the trip was cancled and the last two nights were spent at his girlfreinds.
I now have a family again and 2 dogs, one with big teeth and one with good ears.

Best Regards,
Sam
 
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