Rightly concerned about wardrobe toppling over?

[Willow33]

We have no proper wardrobes - only one 'temporary' two year old canvas one.
I haven't the budget yet for fitted wardrobes but I am concerned that if I get freestanding ones, they could topple over. We have two little dc.
So how do you ensure they are secure? Or am I right to be concerned?

They're usually pretty heavy and bottom heavy - I don't think they are intrinsically hazardous. I suppose you could always drill holes in the back and fix them to the wall if you are worried.

Toppling wardrobes are not that common but it's important to make sure they're stable.
Make sure the floor they stand on is level, which it will be unless you live in a weirdly ancient house with sloping floors.
Make sure they're not top heavy: don't put lots of heavy stuff on the top and a few lightweight things on the bottom.
Keep a close eye on your toddler if he/she is a climber.
If you're really worried you can buy straps and anchor the wardrobe to the wall.
Honestly, it'll be fine .

IME the unstable ones are the flatpack ones with two doors and a hanging rail and top shelf. With both the doors open, an uneven floor, they are very unstable and should really be strapped to the wall. My DS pulled one over on himself accidently at the age of 4 in a holiday let. He was saved by the shelves of crap on the wall at a right angle to the wardrobe.

No idea, but our bookshelves are anchored by a little L shaped bracket or bit of strapping (ikea!) at the top. Completely invisible from normal eye level and costs about £1.

I actually had everything tipping backwards when I had little ones, so a small piece of wood under the front legs, made them much more stable on our old wobbly floors. I never attached them to the wall though, they were too heavy to fall.

Slightly off topic - I had a freestanding fridge which I also had tipping backwards - I never had to moan at anyone for not shutting the door properly cos it shut itself!

You can buy furniture ties that attach to the wall. We put coasters under the foot to tip it back slightly

Thanks. Can anyone recommend some good wardrobes then?

Ikea pax

All about the IKEA pax. Also they come with wall attachments. Which wouldn't stop it toppling if it was too heavy and yanked, I imagine, but provide a bit of extra stability.

Anything other than the Pax - it was left my last flat by the previous owners and it was a PITA. It could have been their assembling of it but drawers got jammed and shelves fell off their fittings.

I think that would be the previous owners assembly tbh! We have a set of PAX which have moved house with us, been in 3 different rooms in this house and have now had the original doors removed and replaced with a set of sliding doors. They're rock solid, very stable and still great (they must be 8 years old now.)

The older wire baskets were a bit stiff but the wooden drawers they have now are great, and none of our shelves have budged either.

We have all bookcases, chests of drawers and cabinets fixed to walls with the brackets that Bimbly mentions. I'm not a huge childproofer but this seems an easy precaution to take, along with cleats for blind cords and locks on medicine cabinets and that sort of thing.

Another vote for the PAX. Brilliant things when assembled correctly! You can also get wall anchors for them.

Please use the wall anchors! Kids can be such climbers. I climbed on top of mine as a child and nearly brought the whole thing down. If there had been another child there, playing on the floor, they could have had serious crush injuries (at the very least) and I could have been hurt myself. It's very little bother for peace of mind.

Another vote for pax. We have had them in our last two houses and they are brilliant. I think your issues are probably to do with the assembly tbh.

Not had time to read all the thread but you can buy straps in mother care that attach to wall with screws and have clips that go on the wardrobe I have them on a bookcase in lounge which I know would have toppled over a few times over the years.