We live in a small top floor of a house. As much as we’d love to live in something more spacious, this place meets our financial needs right now. And really, we have a roof over our heads and a button that produces heat in the winter. What more do we need?

My biggest problem with our house, though, is that everyone hears everything that everyone else is doing. This includes the closing of doors. I have lost count of the number of times I’ve told one of the girls, “CLOSE THE DOOR QUIETLY!” Doors still get slammed, though—and babies get woken up.

In addition to the noise our doors make, my one-year-old son has a new hobby of closing doors and locking himself in rooms. He thinks this is the greatest thing, until he cannot get out of the room he just locked himself in. There’s also the issue of fingers getting pinched in doors, which is too painful and too common of an occurrence.

Here, then, are a few solutions to the finger-pinching and door-slamming problems.

1. PATRULL Finger Guard for Doors, $4 for 3-pack, IKEA
We stopped at IKEA on our way through Calgary earlier this week. As we were searching for our planned purchases (someone got a big boy bed!), I happened to see these door stoppers and picked up a couple immediately. They are easy to attach: simply push on to the door.

2. Safety 1st Finger Pinch Guard, $5, amazon.ca
If you don’t live near an IKEA, these thingers will do the trick.

3. Door Stop Finger Pinch Guard, $7 for 4-pack, amazon.ca
These colourful little animals are a little more exciting than the plain versions. The four-pack includes a ladybug, a bear, a tiger and an otter.

4. Latchy Catchy, US$10, etsy.com
The Latchy Catchy is perfect for noisy baby-waking doors. It is made of durable fabric and elastic straps. It conveniently fits all door shapes and sizes, and is thick enough to keep the door tightly closed.

Jen Wilson is a married mother of three super-awesome children—two girls and a boy—who range in age from 1-11. She enjoys photography, organizing, reading, TV, and sarcasm. She drinks her coffee black and dreams of one day owning a dishwasher. You can also find her on her blog, Hey Mrs. Wilson, where she has been writing about life in Saskatchewan since 2004. Follow Jen on Twitter @heymrswilson