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Original poster

Is THIS unsafe??

40 replies

Hyperquiet · 23/08/2024 09:25

https://www.therange.co.uk/furniture/living-room-furniture/bookcases-and-shelving/bookcases/homcom-kids-bookshelf-with-storage-drawer-bookcase-with-wheels/#8567890

Bought it to cover a quad socket on the wall and Internet wire as they're low down. Because of said socket and wires it won't be tethered to wall.

It will be in living room where baby won't be unsupervised but l suppose as he grows he may climb things?

It is a child's bookcase/storage though.

It is bought now anyway.

Thoughts welcome!

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tribalmango · 23/08/2024 19:17

InTheRainOnATrain · 23/08/2024 19:06

Leaving the safety aspect out it for a moment, it would be really bad manners to let your toddler clamber up the furniture in a friend or relatives house! So you’d hopefully be supervising them closely enough to make sure that didn’t happen and therefore no risk of tipping.

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That's true.
In fact neither of my children were climbers of stuff in the house. They were adventurous and energetic outside, but not particularly fearless.

Regarding friends and relatives, I think there were probably other safety hazards I was more aware of, which meant they weren't left alone.

tribalmango · 23/08/2024 19:18

BertieBotts · 23/08/2024 17:36

Since you used the past tense I'm guessing your children are grown up? I think it is much more well known now. When my DS1 (a teenager) was little I don't think it was common practice, but with the internet here to warn us of every danger I do think modern parents tend to be much more safety conscious. Plus, every piece of Ikea furniture I've bought (which has been loads in the last ~13 years and can't remember previous to that) has come with a wall tethering kit. If you're building it anyway it's just one extra step, doesn't take long. The only reason we haven't bothered in our current flat is because it's solid concrete walls and you need a hammer drill. When we've lived places with normal walls, we did tether tall cupboards/shelves.

I would not be concerned about visiting other people with untethered furniture because I don't tend to leave DC unattended at other people's houses but also, it's only a potential hazard, not a hugely likely one so if they are only spending short stretches of time there, the chances they'll have an accident with a piece of furniture is much lower anyway.

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My children are 15 and 25 so yes, it's a while since I've been caring for small children.

It seems I am turning into one of those "well in my day...." sort of people. I'll need to keep that in check for when/if my sons have their own children.

Sirzy · 23/08/2024 19:20

After DS managed to climb on top of a set of drawers when he was a toddler I wouldn’t risk anything not tethered safely to a wall!

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Original poster
Hyperquiet · 23/08/2024 19:45

BertieBotts · 23/08/2024 17:18

I think a lot of those online "marketplace" things have all the same sellers as amazon, Wish, and ebay - all Chinese dropship products with questionable quality/safety standards and hugely misleading product photos. It's annoying because we are so used to the protections by things like Trading Standards and EU commerce standards that a lot of people don't even consider the fact that dropship companies rarely stick to these things. If they get challenged they just withdraw the product/company and launch it again under a new name because they aren't trading on reputation anyway, they are just trying to be the cheapest option.

In terms of a bookshelf, I think you'll be OK in terms of safety but I am always cautious about buying any kind of toy or safety product from shops like that. For cheap furniture I basically only shop at Ikea now - nobody else does cheap as well as they do.

I didnt realise. I thought The Range was just a normal shop!

OP posts:
BeLilacFinch · 23/08/2024 21:10

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This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines - previously banned poster.

BertieBotts · 23/08/2024 22:34

It is totally misleading. I have noticed Decathlon now do this too.

Singleandproud · 23/08/2024 22:41

La redoute are great for unusual children's furniture and it is often on sale.

BertieBotts · 23/08/2024 22:45

A good clue to when a company has opened up a "third party seller" thing is when you look on their website and it either doesn't give you info about which stores stock the item, or they have an incredibly huge choice of items which would not be possible to fit in a normal sized (or even large retail park) sized shop. That's when you want to look for those little "fulfilled by XYZ" things.

For example, on that website, The Range apparently have a selection of over 1,100 bookcases. The Range is not even a furniture specialist - e.g. Ikea (who specialise in furniture and have gigantic stores) have 357 bookcases (and Ikea list every single colour/variation of an item as a separate product).

They don't let you filter out the "R Marketplace" products but I bet if you filtered those out you would be left with less than 100. Argos, which is closer to The Range than Ikea, and hasn't so far done the 3rd party thing, has 95 bookcases on their website.

beetr00 · 23/08/2024 23:11

I would definitely tether it @Hyperquiet

https://www.therange.co.uk/media/1/1/1673946433_12_4581.jpg

Delphiniumandlupins · 24/08/2024 01:06

That bookcase is the height of about the height of a two year old child.

Grammarnut · 24/08/2024 13:08

Looks stable. What is wrong with a normal bookcase, though? I have never had a bookcase fall on a child btw, not even the ones they had in their bedrooms (so unsupervised).

marylou25 · 24/08/2024 20:07

I have a couple of cube bookshelf things of similar size, both are in front of sockets simply because that is the only spot for them, they are seldom used sockets but anyway also small children around so I have put screw hooks in wall and screw eye on unit, they can then be unhooked on and off as I need but it keeps them from toppling over should a child decide to climb up!

BertieBotts · 25/08/2024 07:44

Depends on the bookcase, I suppose?

If you have a very tall one with lots of books on it, it makes sense to secure it to the wall.

If you have a wide base/short one, then it's probably fine.

salsapasta · 25/08/2024 08:02

spec reads ati tipping device, which will be a strap screwed to unit and wall. Put heavy items in base and lighter items higher to help.

Happyher · 25/08/2024 09:49

If you weigh it down in the bottom drawer with say books and much lighter items on the shelves it’s very unlikely to topple over

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