to ask about your child safety bumpf at home?

[cjt110]

Now DS is standing, aswell as crawling, we need to be looking at safety equipping the house. We have heavy fire doors which (so far) he hasnt realised can open. Our kitchen is mainly drawers with a recessed handle so he hasnt figured out how to o-pen them yet. The cupboard with all the cleaning products in has a recessed handle too but I am definitely not leaving that one to chance. We have another cupboard that actually has a handle but is full of casserole dishes etc under the oven. The oven is counter height. Most of our plug sockets are already covered by units etc.

What are the best safety devices you have found and what were the most pointless?

We have door catches I the kitchen and had stair gates.

Don't use plug covers they are more dangerous than not having anything.

I don't think we had anything else? We were given a safety pack by the children's centre but nothing fit so we didn't use them.

Oh, we did fix our TV to the wall as it was on an unsturdy unit before!

DJThree We were considering catches for the drawers and cupboards as well as the stair gate (Do we need to do top and bottom - his bedroom is downstairs so he has no need to be upstairs?) and I did see a tether type thing for the TV too.

our bookcases are fixed to the wall (not just for kids - a full one could kill an elephant!!)

and when they were young we had a stair gate at the top and got rid of the coffee table for a while (saw so many kids with lumps and bumps from coffee-table-meets-head that we thought it was worth getting rid of)

A reminder though - the most important safety device in ANY home is a working, tested fire alarm and a plan for what to do if it goes off.

Somewhere We have already got rid of our coffee table and got some big sturdy units from IKea and installed a child friendly shelf for drinks that arent near him.

Good tip about the fire alarm

Wondering if we are over cautious these days...ten years ago I don't recall anyone having all these things? Except stair gate of course

I was just thinking of a stairgate and a catch, mainly to stop him guzzing cleaning products and smashing my crockery! One for safety, the other for selfish reasons lol.

Bookcases are bolted to walls in this house.

When our DD was small I only put a cupboard lock on the cupboard with the cleaning products and the one with the alcohol (glass bottles = danger!) but all other cupboards and drawers i was happy enough to let her explore, I was never too far away if she found something dangerous.

Stair gate, we only had one on the top but from she could crawl I had taught her to go down things (small steps, off the sofa etc) on her tummy but if you have a daredevil I would go for one on the bottom too.

Fireguard is a must have (bitter experience) and the door wedge things that don't let them slam shut.

The foam pipe insulating covers work well for table edges or hearths and don't cost as much as safety ones.

We tried not to go over board and as they get bigger you can explain why thing are dangerous and they learn pretty quickly

Wondering if we are over cautious these days...ten years ago I don't recall anyone having all these things?

Many, many more children used to die or be injured in accidents in the home - safety equipment has usually been designed to tackle a specific problem that was identified because of so many injuries and accidents taking place in the past.

www.makingthelink.net/sites/default/files/Deaths_0_14_graph_2011.jpg

Stairgate

Tethers (effective ones) to stop wardrobes/chest of drawers toppling.

Move/cushion tables with sharp edges.

Travel cot used as playpen

Other than that, move stuff out of reach. I found catchesa complete pain in the arse, and not necessary (mind you, mine were not all that big on fossicking around in cupboards)

Yarp He hasnt seemed to realise that its a cupboard or drawers (yet) So am not sure if I might wait and see. Our living room is all open plan with the kitchen so we can see what he's doing most of the time.

Stairgate downstairs is a defo as he has no real need to go upstairs - all thats up there is our bedroom and ensuite.

Stair gate at the bottom and on the living room door as a safe place to leave them and now to separate dc1 & 2. We have a log burner so you can see and hear when it is hot so not problem I think radiators would be more of an issue.
Lock on the fridge and freezer as he puts his fingers in the seal and opens them.
Put up a couple of high shelfs for dvd etc and all chemicals.

the log burner must be behind a secure fireguard for years when in use. Yes, they can see it, but kids jump and dance round rooms and don't think. One fall on the logburner...doesn't bear thinking about.

Stair gates top and bottom and we had one on our kitchen door too but took that off now.
Magnetic locks on cupboards, the catches break and they can open them anyway so not much point.
The DT's have never been into pulling stuff out of drawers etc they are more into being mountain goats so i've bolted all furniture to the wall and tv to cabinet.
Safety bumper around fireplace.
Please don't use socket covers, they are not recommended and I wish places would stop bloody selling them.
I don't have a lot of things/ornaments anyway but i'd probably move them if i did.
All blind cords cut and tied up out of the way (even i need a stool to reach them)
Make sure you have a fire/smoke alarm on each level in your house and Carbon Monoxide too if you have gas. We have this really annoying combi one that screams FIRE FIRE at you if you burn the toast

Oh and i made some radiator covers from old fitted cot sheets and some batting. Much much cheaper than a radiator guard. Only used for a short time until they walking and not likely to roll into it.

It's set back a bit and we've used it 6 months with him crawling and walking with no issues he understands when it is lit as he can hear it etc. Its in the kitchen so not really a place they are playing anyway.
Everyone here has them no one has fire guards I don't know anyone that has had n accident.

We had a stairgate in one house to use where there was no kitchen door and the rubber bumper stuff on a granite hearth in another. Otherwise we used words such as 'no' and 'be careful'. Explained which cupboards were safe and which weren't - helps to have one with food tins in that they can came along and play havoc with as then less interested in others.

If you protect everything it's harder for them to learn that some things aren't safe and they should be thinking about what they're doing.

DS crawled fast by 7mths and walking at 11mths so was active and into everything. No accidents ever and has a good sense of risk assessment I think.

Best to judge your own child and keep an eye out but teach as you go and explain why and how you do stuff to them.

I'm a childminder so the place has to be child proof!
TV sits on a cabinet and is tethered to the wall so it can't be pulled down. Have child cupboard locks on cupboards and drawers in kitchen and bathrooms. No chemicals except hand wash is out in bathrooms or kitchen. Stair gates on top and bottom of stairs. Portable stair gate which I use as I need, to block off a room. Corner protectors are rubbish, the little ones take them off. I don't use socket protectors. Locks on back gate and windows. Buffer thing on the doors (which are fire doors) to stop little fingers getting trapped. Think that is it!

Basket we may well try your technique. We have an Ikea unit in the lounge which has 8 tubs in... one of which has his toys in, one has his nappy material etc anf the other drawers have like our stuff for our fish tank etc and he seems to know he is allowed to pull out his toy one and to some degree the nappy one but he doesnt touch the other ones. We might do well to teach him whats ok and whats not.

I've got a cupboard lock where the cleaning suff is kept and stair gates at the top and bottom.

I did have socket covers through out the house but after reading about the dangers of them on here and seeing DS trying to pull them out and put them back in I've ditched them. He hasn't gone near the sockets since.

I've suddenly got very freaked out about the heavy units we have and need to get them bolted to the walls. Especially after reading the comments on this thread - mmediately after reading about IKEA issuing bolts after the death of two children (we also have those set of drawers) ????

Oh, and I've chopped the cords on every set of blinds in the house.

We moved in and every single room including the conservatory had hideous dangerous metal Venetian blinds. We're slowly working our way round the house getting them replaced.

Stair gates at the top are supposedly more dangerous than not having any.

We have one on his room and used to have one bottom of stairs - if the door allowed i would have put one on the kitchen too.

I put corner covers on the marble hearth but i don't really think they were worth it.

Put a deadbolt on the porch door to stop him getting to the front door.

Hid the sharp knives under the cutlery drawer.

That's it

Really essential is proper tethers, and not just on tall bookcases. Drawers and low shelves are also very dangerous, particularly to children that are beginning to pull themselves up to stand. A friends child pulled an ikea chest of drawers on herself, luckily she was in the room and the child wasn't seriously hurt, but children have been killed by this. Fire guards if you have a fire, obviously.
Definitely get a TV tether. Many a child has been seriously injured by a flatscreen falling on them.

Stair gates, because you can't watch them all the time. Some people do without them, and I could have done with my sensible eldest. The small one is a bloody menace though

We don't let them in the kitchen at all, in our case it's just simpler to gate off the door. Again, I could watch them every moment, and say no, etc etc, but I don't have eyes in the back of my head and on 4 hours sleep it's better for me to have a gate up. The eldest did as he was told, the youngest gets a gleeful expression and starts throwing things out of the cupboard if she's told no . As they get older the gate will come off.

Tie up blind cords, and make sure there are no long loops on bags etc that they can get caught in.

Those door foam things are useful, children love to play around with doors and they help prevent broken fingers and lost nails.

I'm fairly laid back tbh but made a commitment to being vigilant and teaching them to be safe around the home rather than making the house safe for them in every way iyswim. The fundamental basics I of course sorted out. So chemicals are up on a high shelf above my head height, in the cupboard under the stairs. Large pieces of furniture like bookcases are bolted to the wall. There are catches on a couple of the kitchen cupboards where there are breakables. The log burner had a surround permanently attached until very recently (decorating and we haven't replaced it as we aren't using it atm and with our youngest being 4, we might just leave it open for now).

I have never used a stairgate but should clarify that we live in a small cottage which has a door at the bottom of the stairs. Nearly 4yo DS still can't reach the catch. If he was upstairs, he was supervised. He was taught how to go downstairs from the point of crawling and encouraged to do so several times a day so that it was second nature to do it carefully.

No socket covers (dangerous) and no locks on the toilet or fridge. Both out of bounds unless they were needed. Taught from a young age that they do not play in the bathroom or go in the fridge without asking.

Oh the only other thing is a limiter on the bathroom hot tap which prevents scalding water coming from it.

I think you just have to find the balance between teaching them safety and ensuring their safety. Most people have different thresholds for risks and with different room layouts, different access to different rooms, different furniture etc, individual families need to make unique decisions. I live in a tiny house so it's easier for me to manage what the children are doing and where they're doing it.

Oh yes, blind cords. Absolutely make sure they are out of the way. Ours are attached to the wall AND have a safety thing on them so that if you put any weight on them at all, they come apart.

IMO, the latches on kitchen cupboards are a nuisance and unnecessary, as the child should never be in the kitchen unsupervised. Keep the door closed. I used the same policy with the stairs, although that depends on the house layout.

Further Our kitchen and living room is open plan - no door to close