Precautions in Severe Weather

I've grown-up in Texas with tornadic weather during Spring and Summer all my life. I remember as a child that on nights when there was a tornado watch or warning, the 3 of us kids would be placed in beds on the floor in the hallway of our home. It was the safest place in our 1-story home, away from glass windows and loose objects.

My dear friend's entire neighborhood block was hit by a tornado in Farmers Branch when I was in 2nd grade and many were injured and the homes were torn apart.

With all that said, now as an adult, I continue to be cautious during severe weather and especially like tonight with a tornado watch. I would definitely bring your child downstairs on these type of nights. I have a 3 year old whose bedroom is upstairs and our Master bedroom is down too. So, I'll be bringing her down tonight as well.

It's good to be cautious in severe weather or other types of disaster issues. Your instincts are good. Hope this reinforcement helps. Take care. Many Blessings - L.

I don't consider myself a paranoid person, but I do this sometimes as well. I usually keep my eye on the weather, and if I'm staying up late enough for it to pass, then I leave him in his room... if it looks like it is going to be severe into the night, then I bring him in with us. It's definitely better to be safe than sorry!

I used to participate in a program called Parents as Teachers thru the school district back when my daughter was a baby. They've since disbanded because their funding was cut, but it was an excellent program and I learned so much about parenting thru them. One thing I learned was from a fireman who came to talk to the parents at one of our meetings about fire safety, of course. During his presentation, I explained to him about how I had been letting my daughter co-sleep with us in our room (in her own bed) because our secondary bedrooms were on the second floor and the master was on the first floor. I told him I was just paranoid but he said that if it was him, he would keep his child on the first floor with him until they were at least 6 years old. He explained that if there was a fire, particularly in the middle of the night, there would be a very good chance that I wouldn't have time to get up the stairs and get my child down to safety before I was overtaken by smoke or flames. And depending on where the fire started, I might not be able to get to the baby at all. Needless to say, my daughter co-slept in our room until she was 5 1/2 and my 2 year old will probably do the same. The same goes for bad weather. My daughter is asleep downstairs with us tonight because of the tornado watch. I feel that it's always better to be safe than sorry in any situation.

Yep, I sure do bring them to be closer to me. I will admit that I am a little bit of a nervous person, I tend to plan for lots of things in my mind that other people may not be concerned with, but I prefer to be safe not sorry. My thought is, if I ever have the thought cross my mind, and I dont do it, and then something happened that I could have prevented, I dont know if I could live with myself. But, again, I am a bit paranoid! For sure though, I would bring the baby, or all 3 of my kids, in my room if I had the kids upstairs. Be safe, and good luck! ~A.~

I'm so thankful all our rooms are on the second floor. I'd be a basket case every night (even without tornado warnings) if I was downstairs and my kid's were upstairs.
I'm very paranoid too though :)
I would definitely get them closer to me if I were on one floor of the house and my kids were on a different level.
A.

I don't have an upstairs and down stairs but during bad weather the kids get a treat of sleeping in living room, like a camp out with mom and dad. This way they are in easy grabbing and no worries of if they've moved to another bed or on couch. This way I know where they are. Two of my fears are fires and tornados. Some call me over reactive but atleast I know with 4 kids it will be faster to have them all in one room. It is what makes you feel better. And it isn't every night that severe weather happens.