...to remind you about the risks involved with blind cords?

[CocoPopsAddict]

Neighbours of my parents lost their two-year-old daughter a couple of days ago. She was alone in her cot and somehow became entangled, and by the time they realised it was too late. Those of you in London may have seen it in the Evening Standard.

A few people saw the mother come running out of the house screaming with her daughter over her shoulder; the whole thing sounds absolutely horrific. I have a 2yo DS and it makes my blood run cold to think of it.

Please replace the cords with curtains, or you can get blinds without cords (I've heard), or just tie the cords up out of the way!

I know most of you probably know, but there are a number of deaths in young children from this cause, and the numbers have gone up over the last couple of years.

We had a narrow and very lucky escape with DS2.

YANBU. I really wanted to put something like this on my Facebook today too but couldn't work out how to phrase it without sounding icky. Well said Coco. Can't believe we are still losing children to such a simple thing.

I know a lovely couple who lost their first ds to this. Having lost a child myself since to a different cause, I can say that it's the most dreadful, awful feeling in the world. Cut the things off, it's not worth it.

Maybe being stupid, but how are they bad? You mean because the child gets them around their neck or do they swallow them?

Is it all blinds or just roller blinds (i.e. ones with looped cords)?

whois Children like to explore and they like to put things around their necks. So you need to assess danger by looking for things that children can reach and which may become dangerous. Blind cords are one of these things, long strings which hang within easy reach which, until you have children, are seemingly innocuous.

Another thing little children like to do is climb inside and on top of furniture and can be easily hurt or crushed by falling drawers, TVs etc.

Poor little baby and so dreadfully sorry for the parents.

Ikea blinds come with a thing you put on the wall to wrap the cord around. In case anyone needs to replace some. And they are fairly cheap in price but well made.

Yes you can buy blind cord clips on ebay. Ones that allow you to wrap cord around it or clip to the wall. In our rooms I have fixed a hook to the wall out of reach and wind the cord around it.

Yanbu, fof lost a child playing with long blind cords.

YANBU - we're in a short term rental at the moment and have tied all the chords up way out of DDs reach.

Such a danger - tie them up out of reach or clip them to the wall.

I got some blinds a while ago and the company fastened the cords to the wall with a thing that still turns it but keeps it out of the way.

We moved into a house that had blinds in every room when ds1 (17) was a year old. We couldn't afford to replace them so we cut them off. They looked pretty silly but was worth it for peace of mind.

Thank you for reminding us, CocoPopsAddict. I am going to ask DH to make all our cords shorter when he gets home from work this evening.

I've tied dd's blind cord way up high with blue tack and masking tape. We can't remove them as we rent. Is that enough? What else could I do to make it safer?

www.rospa.com/HomeSafety/Info/blind-cord-safety.pdf

Some info here about how to make blinds safe.

www.rospa.com/HomeSafety/Info/blind-cord-safety.pdf

Some info here about how to make blinds safe.

Link clickable now . < I learnt a new skill this morning >

Thanks dysfunctionalme, that makes sense (unfortunately)

loveyouforever there are cord shorteners you can buy online where you wind the cord round them. You don't need to drill into the wall or anything.

I have cord cleats but as an interim I just bought a stick on hook and stuck it high on wall and wound cord round it. Another short term solution is to clip them up with a clothes peg.

www.amazon.co.uk/Clippasafe-Ltd-CL870-Drawcord-Shorteners/dp/B000T7JIRU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351756788&sr=8-1

Thanks for the reminder. DS is 2 and I am obsessive about this (having had cats my whole life, obviously losing a cat is nowhere near the same thing but blind cords also pose a risk to them) and notice that DP sometimes does't loop the cord up out of the way. It gives me the horrors. I will remind him and threaten to take the bloody blind down.

I have a 2yo DD and the thought of what that poor mother & father must have fine through is heartbreaking.

So easy to overlook the small things, thanks for the reminder OP.

*been

I have blinds in the house (rented) Whenever DS is in the cot the blinds are down which means the cord is out of reach. Do you guys think I should cut them off or will they be alright?

I just cut the cords really short and glue beads to the cut bits so that they don't come out.

I'm so sorry for this lady's loss.

Or pin them up above the curtain pole or above the window.