To only use the back of the cooker?

[Ritascornershop]

My daughter has a 2 year old and is renting their flat. The back elements don’t work and she’s been there 6 weeks and still hasn’t contacted the landlord about this. It worries me half to death that my grandchild will pull down a pot of hot water or hot oil and be injured. When my kids were under about aged 5 I only used the back of the cooker as it only takes a second for things to go horribly wrong.

She says she’s too busy to make a 2 minute phone call 😵‍💫😑

AIBU to think she should use the back of the cooker and take 2 minutes to ring the landlord?

I always used the front rings with the handles towards the back.

I think you should refrain from pushing your particular anxieties on your daughter. I’m sure she has enough of her own.

Yes, she needs to make that call.

With all the will in the world, it takes 2 seconds to take your eye off the cooker/child and an accident to occur.

Same.

^
This x 100.

You are not being unreasonable, it takes less than a minute for an accident to happen....

Yeah I mean obviously the hob should work properly and she should call to report it but I don’t know that it’s really your business or if you need to be so worried. Does your DD have form for having boiling water on and walking away from the hob whilst the toddler is pottering about? I also only use the back rings when my 2YO is on the prowl so I do get what you mean but maybe your DD has her DC in the highchair or playpen whilst she cooks, perhaps she mostly does oven, microwave or cold meals, or maybe she’s really vigilant and never leaves the hob unattended. Have you witnessed anything that is actually dangerous or do you just not like the idea of it?

I feel it’s sort of my business as it’s my grandchild. If she only fed him junk food, for example, I’d deem that not my business, but this seems too serious to not worry about.

She doesn’t have a microwave, barely uses the oven, does serve some cold food. He’s not in a high chair anymore. It could easily happen if she turned to the left to use the sink for a moment, or reached up into the cupboard for plates.

I just can’t fathom how his safety is not the first thing to deal with on moving in. She didn’t childproof a door till he’d slammed his hand in it (because she was “too busy”).

She is generally a great mum, and is overwhelmed right now (I don’t live in the same city), but her priorities concern me.

I never use the back hobs! I always use front and turn handles to back or sides where they can't be grabbed. My DD is 4 and would have to really stretch and try to reach the handles. No shot she would have got there at 2.

It's not really your business

I should add that I am very sensible: the kettle is well out of reach, etc. But the hob has never been a risk, the kids can't reach the pots in any way and at and they aren't loose around there when cooking anyway.

Sorry, but this isn't your business. It's up to her how she parents her child.

@Hugasauras theres quite a difference in height between a 2 year old girl and a tall for his age boy. He could reach, that’s the point.

She shouldn’t have him near the kitchen when the hob is on. Whether he can reach or not.

I always used the front and turned the handles in.

What happens if you need to use more than two rings at the same time?

But what can you do about it? She knows he can reach if you know he can, so presumably she will make sure that he's not able to do so, surely, just like every parent does and just like the millions of other things we have to make sure our kids don't do.

I don't believe people with kids are routinely only using the back hobs, I've never even known it be a thing until this thread. Sometimes I am using three rings anyway. Supervising kids/turning handles in, sure, that's sensible.

“Data released from the Children’s Burns Trust during Child Safety Week show that in 2018 the number of children injured by spills was over 3229. To bring this figure to life, that’s nearly 9 children a day across the UK. “ From The Children’s Burns Trust

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-8109003/amp/Amanda-Redman-suffered-90-cent-burns-body.html

Amanda Redman at 18 months pulled a hot pan on herself and was then mostly in the hospital till aged 5.

(but she should get it fixed because it's inconvenient to have broken stuff and she's paying for it)

I only use the back hobs if I have to, I just turn the handles to the back as a just incase.

But I don't let my two (5&2) in the kitchen when I am cooking and I wouldn't step away from the hob if they were in the room anyway.

If she's a good mum then I think you should trust her judgement.

It’s open plan, so she can’t keep him out of the kitchen.

There’s nothing I can do about it (but hope the magic of worrying fixes it!).

I have no idea what rings my dd cooks with around dgc, I’ve never asked/noticed.

My dc are all adults but out of habit I still mostly use the two back rings (unless there’s more than two saucepans obviously). But I don’t monitor my adult children’s parenting or cooking habits.

I agree with you actually OP. I always had a baby gate on the kitchen door but if she hasn't then the kitchen needs to be toddler proof.

I have a stairgate across my kitchen door so I just close it when I'm cooking so the toddler can't come in.

Aside from safety and convenience, why is she paying to rent a property with a cooker if it doesn't work? And possibly the landlord will blame her for the non working hob when she leaves.

report it for her, I would.

my preferred gas rings are generally at the front, One very large wok type, one very small simmer style and one medium. The back are two medium one small and generally ignored unless it’s Christmas.

I only ever used the front rings but never left anything there if I wasn’t there myself. Baby proofing things isn’t a substitute for supervision.

I used the reins we used for outdoor walking & attached them to the door - or other immovable object.