Not to disparage your brother -- or you -- but replacing door locks is almost literally child's play. No, seriously. Next time you're by a hardware store or Home Depot equivalent, go in and look at their lock kits. They come with instructions and oftentimes tools to do the job. It's dead easy.
A little home improvement done with your own hands will do wonders to ease your nerves about all this, believe me.
As for securing the window, the only good method to stop window-based breakins -- short of getting a dog, as noted -- is to put bars on the window that are too close together for anybody except Reed Richards to squeeze through. Those should be mounted by a pro, or at least an experienced DIYer, because they need to be mounted in studs, and properly, to have any purpose. I have seen improperly-mounted bars dangling comically by one corner and the window behind them gaping open.
Bar kits often lower the 'street appeal' of a house, and if you rent they're probably out of the question anyway (if you rent, check with your landlord immediately, as you'll need to make sure he has a key to those new locks), so they're not an optimal solution. But they'll stop burglars cold at the windows, and if your doors are the only other point of entry and they're secured well, you're as safe as you can get.
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
A little home improvement done with your own hands will do wonders to ease your nerves about all this, believe me.
As for securing the window, the only good method to stop window-based breakins -- short of getting a dog, as noted -- is to put bars on the window that are too close together for anybody except Reed Richards to squeeze through. Those should be mounted by a pro, or at least an experienced DIYer, because they need to be mounted in studs, and properly, to have any purpose. I have seen improperly-mounted bars dangling comically by one corner and the window behind them gaping open.
Bar kits often lower the 'street appeal' of a house, and if you rent they're probably out of the question anyway (if you rent, check with your landlord immediately, as you'll need to make sure he has a key to those new locks), so they're not an optimal solution. But they'll stop burglars cold at the windows, and if your doors are the only other point of entry and they're secured well, you're as safe as you can get.
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs