10mo keeps opening kitchen cupboards

[Superchop]

After a quick search on mumsnet I've seen the general view of mumsnetters is quite relaxed about baby proofing. I agree with the points raised and would love to not do anything however we live in a studio flat with a very curious baby who has started opening cupboards and drawers. Got fingers stuck a few times and hasn't learnt his lesson. So we unfortunately are resorting to catches. Does anyone have good recommendations for cheap baby locks for standard kitchen units and drawers don't want to waste money on useless ones. Stair gate is not an option.

Tia

In my experience it's worth having one or two cupboards that your child can go in - in our house it was the plastic boxes cupboard and the baking tray/tins cupboard and then lock all the others. We used www.safetots.co.uk/Safety-Essentials/Babyproof-Locks-&-Latches/Internal-Cupboard-Locks/c1_893_15/p4737/Dreambaby-Spring-Latches-3-Pack/product_info.html?osCsid=3421dq7oucf34k13tdi3t9ast6
which work well on our doors. If he is getting fingers trapped then can you somehow make it safe, so they can still get in the 'play' cupboard e.g padding. They lose interest eventually if they are allowed to go in some cupboards as much as they like.

May not be what your looking for ... But I resorted to ultra cheap child proofing kit from pound land, string and duct tape

The more expensive ones seemed to prevent me getting in rather than a child, so I tied and taped lower cupboards and drawers with the fragile stuff and let them loose on the Tupperware cupboard and tins.

I found these really good:

lindam safety.latch

Sorry link fail:

www.tesco.com/direct/lindam-xtra-guard-multi-purpose-latch/714-3394.prd

We took all the handles off our with the exception of the tupperware cupboard which we gave ds access to.

Duct tape here too.

Ds had his own cupboard that he kept random things in but the rest were taped

I've child proofed the whole kitchen, he would drive me crazy otherwise as ds doesn't stop opening cupboards and pulling everything out.

I must be an awful parent because I just cleared all the bottom cupboards of dangerous stuff and let them get on with it and accepted that they might get their finger stuck a couple of times and would learn not to do it again. ... and also accepted that most of the plastic pots would be all over the floor most of the day until bedtime when I'd tidy up again!

Are they sticking out handles? If so, big elastic bands might do the job.

Fairylea, if you are an awful parent I am too, because that is exactly what I did

I think many are relaxed because there is nothing you could do to stop them. I bought some catches for the undersink one where I stored cleaning products but DD figured it out not long after we installed it. Basically a door that can be semi open is fun toy. If you ask my opinions about catches and locks, get ones that are physically impossible for someone without enough strength to open. Like a stair gate kind of of thing. Those where you push the catch can be done by little inquisitive fingers.

In the end what we did is swap the cleaning products to the top shelves. Under the sink is home to the breakfast cereals and pasta. I just leave safe stuff for DD to rampage. And catching fingers in drawers is not going to hurt her really. She caught her hand far home with her own drawers (it is the ikea children furniture).

Once she found out all the kitchen cupboards have are boring stuff she stopped looking.

Basically what fairylea says

These are the most dangerous drawers in the entire house
www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/S99017742/

Doesn't look it does it? What DD did was opening then with the big wide 'handle' and the close them with her hand(s) on the rim outside the handle bit. And she slams them in too. And the cue crying about her hands hurting. She loved opening them because it's her clothes in the top two and her toys in the bottom big one. She learned eventually to close them without catching her fingers, but took quite a while.

Thankyou for your replies. Taking off the handles would be a great idea. But they seem very difficult to get off. Due to the size of the kitchen it's difficult to swap child friendly things to the bottom. However he has taken a big liking to 'his' cupboard which has snacks that he manages to open and share with the dog :(. Just have to move the eggs and live like fairylea.

Lindam locks for the other cupboards I think. Hope the stage is a quick one

I also have the ikea furniture it's in an awakward position where he can't open the drawers thankfully :)

I'm also like fairylea. Dd is a Houdini and worked out catches in minutes, ds2 not so much but I hate my one safety catch on the cleaning cabinet under the sink, as he likes to test it by banging non stop.