# Do you sleep with your bedroom door closed? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 31, 2013, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640 "2013-08-31T06:00:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/61 "2013-09-01T06:32:27Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > a closed door gives a precious few seconds to become more fully awakened to the zombie hordes, enabling you to mount a stronger defense. Since I’m part zombie, this isn’t anything I have to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/62 "2013-09-01T06:58:26Z")
Since I sleep wearing a CPAP mask, I have no worries about being smothered by a cat sleeping on my face. She’ll have to find another way to murder me in my sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/63 "2013-09-01T15:28:29Z")
Closed if I’m running the bedroom air conditioner/heater (same unit). Otherwise I don’t really think about it. If my wife is still up and doing something noisy (watching TV, banging around in the kitchen), I’ll close the door. Otherwise, I don’t think about it. Maybe I’ll close it, maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/64 "2013-09-01T16:11:47Z")
> [@Beelzebubba](#): > > When I was 11 years old, t.wo thieves broke into several houses on my street during the night. One searched for valuables while the other one stood over the owners holding a shotgun inches from their face! My grandparents were among the victims but thankfully they didn’t even wake up during the ordeal. The storm door lock/handle had been broken on our back door, and the wood on the main door had significant damage from a crowbar trying to pry it open, but for some reason they stopped before they got in?? > > When they were finally arrested, both of them had numerous dog bites covering their legs and feet. They were so bad that one had sought treatment and three of the bites required 10+ stitches each. THe other criminal had to be treated immediatley upon arrest for the damage to his right foot. The dog had caused irreparable damage to some of the muscles/tendons and nerves in the foot and it was so severely infected they had to amputate almost 1/3 of it… > > Several days after they were arrested they finally admitted that they were attacked by a German Shepherd while trying to break into a house…the only house on our street that they didn’t break in…ours! And I happened to have the most awesome German Shepherd in the world named WOLF! He may have saved one or all my family’s lives that night thanks to his Cujo impression! > > I began having ‘night terrors’ immediately after the break-ins and would wake up soaked with sweat, heart racing and screaming at the top of my lungs. Sometimes I had nightmares that someone was breaking in the house to kill me but most of the time I didn’t remember dreaming anything. > > In any case, I became the first 12-year old I’ve ever known to take Valium every night (before they had Ambien). I also slept my door closed, locked and sometimes even pushed a bookshelf or nightstand against it for a while. I > > I still sleep with the door closed and locked…and with a loaded Glock 19 tucked between the bed and nightstand, just in case! Not sure if sleeping aids and a nearby loaded gun is a brilliant idea, because of [this](https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=sleeping+pills+sleep+apnea#q=sleeping%20pills%20cause%20sleepwalking). ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/65 "2013-09-01T18:10:41Z")
Funny, I was just thinking about starting this poll. I always sleep with the door open and always have. I can’t sleep behind a closed door because I’m claustrophobic and I always feel that something may be lurking behind it. I even keep my closet door open. ---
**Author:** ![mage-girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@mage-girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mage-girl)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/66 "2013-09-01T21:43:31Z")
Door open. Cats need access. (I know I have allergies and I know they shouldn’t sleep with me but they are just so furry and comforting I can’t stop. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/67 "2013-09-01T23:24:48Z")
Door open so the dogs can wander in and out to take their 50% of the bed real estate. To maintain darkness the bathroom door is closed and there are thick curtains on every other window that could cast light near the bedroom. ---
**Author:** ![catnoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@catnoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catnoe)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/68 "2013-09-03T05:21:57Z")
Unless we have company, the door is open unless one of us goes to bed and the other is staying up. With company the door is mostly closed allowing the cat entry. And the closet doors are open. Hubby is a bit of a freak about locking storm doors even in the middle of the day. Bugs the crap out of me. Growing up, our house was never locked. Turns out, or so Mom tells me, we never had keys to the doors… so when we took trips the house wasn’t locked up! There were however a few half - german shepherds waiting on us to come home. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/69 "2013-09-03T06:06:44Z")
We keep our bedroom door closed most of the time: 1. Otherwise the dog would come in, and she is not allowed in this room.\ 2. It’s safer in case of a fire. 3. The air flow is such in our house that to keep our bedroom door open, when the A/C comes on, requires a doorstop. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/70 "2013-09-03T06:54:20Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I live alone… And… Yes… No real reason, I guess, but it’s how I was brought up. > > I close the bathroom door when I’m relieving myself: same reason. Just habit. > > In my mind, the “natural state” of a door is “closed.” One opens doors only for the purpose of passing through, and one closes them again behind. A law of nature. > > (Like the toilet paper going over the roll…) See except for the external doors, I’m the opposite. When I was a kid the bedroom door was shut, as a teen I shut it myself for privacy. As an adult I always prefer it open, particularly when my kids were young, now I just prefer it open. Several years back there was an incident where I woke up to find someone standing over me while I was in bed. I jerked up to a sitting position and copped a couple of shots to the head with a claw hammer which I partially deflected with my arm, then got up and took off bleeding and groggy after WTF had just attacked me. That sort of messed with my head for a while, I started getting fanatical about locking the house and windows up and put locks on my bedroom window, but life’s too short to spend like that. So it took probably 12 months but I can happily go to sleep again with the bedroom door open, and the back door to the house wide open in summer if I choose. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/71 "2013-09-03T13:06:35Z")
I usually sleep with my door closed because my dogs, who know they aren’t allowed in the bedroom, will whine at my every movement in the morning to try to get me to come out to play. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/72 "2013-09-03T13:51:49Z")
It depends on the time of the year. In the hot nights of the summer, we have the room AC on, so both doors (yes we have two doors to the bedroom) are closed. Most of the rest of the year they are open. I can’t stand sleeping when it’s too hot, so our house gets pretty cold in the winter and I like it that way - snuggled in a blanket, with cool air around us. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/73 "2013-09-03T15:36:50Z")
With three cats in residence, there’s no such thing as a closed door. While I always lock the front and back doors to the residence, everything else is open. Otherwise I’d have unhappy cats. All three sleep with me nightly. It’s a king-size bed. Plenty of room for all. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/74 "2013-09-03T15:55:59Z")
I live alone and sleep with the door open because I don’t want it to get stuffy and I want to be able to hear what else is going on inside the house (preferably nothing.) ---
**Author:** ![FrancisCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b4bc9f/32.png) [@FrancisCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrancisCastle)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/75 "2013-09-03T16:08:51Z")
Closed. Keeps the dogs and a wandering toddler in. It’s never locked though, unless we are in there doing something the kids wouldn’t want to see. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/76 "2013-09-03T17:04:46Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > The only doors I ever close are closet doors, doors to the outside, and doors to the basement and attic. Most of these are to keep the cats from going where they’re not allowed. You just know that if those cats ever got into your dungeon, they’d be the doms, and you and your SO would be their subs, even more than you already are. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/77 "2013-09-03T17:13:05Z")
From the time I had my own room as a kid, right up through college and in my first apartment, I slept with my bedroom door closed. As others stated, I don’t know why; it is just what I’d always done. Since cohabiting with and marrying my wife, however, we’ve always slept with the bedroom doors open. Again, not sure why. I don’t know that I’ve ever thought about it. It’s just something we do. ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/78 "2013-09-03T17:58:19Z")
I sleep with my door closed so I can keep myself closed off from the ex. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/79 "2013-09-03T18:22:25Z")
The door is closed because I sleep with my dog and if she’s allowed to wander she will go looking for paper to eat. Her favorite is toilet paper. She gnaws on the roll from the side. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640/80 "2013-09-03T20:08:57Z")
The firemen visited my school when I was about 7 and told us to always sleep with the door closed because otherwise you might die in a house fire. I have slept with the door closed ever since. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-sleep-with-your-bedroom-door-closed/667640.md?page=5)