It seems nearly all cookers have their controls at a convenient height for toddlers. So how does everybody cope?

[TooTickyDoves]

?

Ours is electric so it's a bit easier than Gas. We can shut the door on the kitchen when cooking so keeping DS out. We have taken to switching the electric off on the cooker switch when not in use since DS turned a ring on and we didn't realise until he had completely blackened a steel hob cover. I did wonder what the smell was!

Our gas cooker controls have a safety cut-out - they don't work if the lid is closed on the coooker.

We can't shut the door on the kitchen and the power switch is in an awkward place. My mum has offered to buy us a new cooker but am having trouble finding a toddler-safe one. I thought they'd be plentiful!

we turn ours off at the wall a lot

i worry about this

our buttons are at the front and v sensitive to touch, then the ceramic hob lights up bright red - asking to be touched

you can get safety things that cover the knobs but they don't fit ours.

We had the same problem in our old home (fitted kitchen pre children.) In this place we got a hob that has the controls on the top similar sort of thing

You just be utterly humourless about it and make it a very clear rule that they don't touch the oven ever. Use the 'no' sign (put your hand up like 'halt') to help get the message through and 'hot hot hot' and bodily remove them from the area each time they try. It's hard work to begin with but the message gets through eventually. Our gas ignition button was the most fun (click click click) when we moved house and inherited a gas oven but now DS (22m) only goes for it to show me he's really pissed off with me about something else.

We need to get a freestanding one. I wonder if there are any with controls on the hob. The ones with backs seem to have virtually died out. Oh, and it has to be electric 'cos there's no gas in the village.

I wish!

Ds has not yet figured out he can turn it on but he does use it as an alternative to the toy box?

Baby gate from dining room to kitchen, they don't get in if the cooker is on.

Ours is dual fuel, so it stays switched off unless we need the oven or grill, and it has a lid which stays down when it's not in use so the gas can't be switched on.

Hmm problem is, it would bisect a much-needed cupboard.

My DSs don't go in the kitchen.

we have a 'roller blind' type gate across the entrance to the kitchen. 'Big Cook, Little Cook' is also quite good at reinforcing the 'hot, hot, hot' message. You have my sympathies. We went on holiday to a completely open plan kitchen/lounge appartment when DS was about 22 months. We ended up using all the furniture to baracade off ther kitchen end of the room.

Teach them to cook.

No honest. The sooner they learn what a cooker is REALLY for the less they want to fiddle with it. Ditto knives.

Not to say that I'd encourage kids to play with a cooker or sharp knives unattended. But mine just don't seem to be bothered these days.

as said below, big cook little cook hot hot hot is good. my dd however didnt quite get it and used to say it while touching the oven (not while it was on thankfully!) ihad real trouble finding a stairgate that fitted as we'r in a new build and its a dodgy large archway. but the search was worth it and we now have a stairgate. she does know shes not to touch as well but with a new baby in the house i cant watch her 24/7 and i felt this was the safest option.

if anyone could tell me how to get her to stop touchign the controls on the washing machien (she can reach it through the gate) i would be grateful, we boiled a load last week!

We have to switch ours of at the mains after dd1 set the smoke alarm off by turning the grill on and she managed to cook some spuds i left on the hob

I agree with my near namesake - just be firm and make the cooker and oven a complete no-go zone.

JoJo bebe has some plastics guards that you can buy

I don't allow my DS unsupervised kitchen access and they soon learn not to touch

We were convinced our oven had died, we crawled round on the floor checking fuses and swearing, spent about 10 days with only the hob and microwave...until I spotted ds gently stroking the dials...and grabbed the dusty user manual from the drawer and worked out that ds had changed it so the timer was on "needs to be set, manually, everytime you want to use the oven" rather than just "go ahead, do what you want"....[amused frustration]. Thank god we hadn't got round to calling out a repair man

I let DS touch the oven if it isn't hot. That way, when it is hot, and I say & sign 'hot', he knows not to touch. I did let him touch it once when it was getting hot, and he pulled his hand away bloody quickly. That reinforced the 'hot' message. You have to be careful with this though - a friend of mine tried it with her DS and the oven was too hot, and his reflexes were fast enough to pull away before he was burnt.

The knobs are a work in progress though. I say no very very firmly and send him out of the kitchen. If he doesn't go, I bodily remove him to the living room. He doesn't like that, so he's fiddling with them less often. I think the message is getting through.

I think NOELallie's idea is the best for the long-term. When did you start? DS is nearly 18 months and although he's very interested in watching me cook, I'm not sure he has the skills yet to join in.

Dd2 helps me cook sometimes - she is 17m. Obviously no knives yet though, and it can be quite chaotic.
The reason I was asking about toddler-height knobs is that we need to replace our cooker and it is surprisingly hard to find one with eye-level controls. So most people must be coping somehow....