Probably not a debate - child safety

Rosie - posted on 08/20/2010

i also don't worry too much about the out of ordinary safety threats. i mean if you think about it, taking your kids in a car is a safety threat. there's only so much we as mothers can do without going crazy, and by then we'd find something else out that can kill our kids.

Sarah - posted on 08/20/2010

I have a stair gate (that actually just broke so it's not much use! lol) and that's it! :)

ME - posted on 08/20/2010

Our kitchen is gated and locked, and all of the cleaning supplies are in secured/locked cabinets. We have outlet covers in all of the outlets, and we keep the toilet seat down, and the bathroom door closed...that's about it. Ours are really little though...we may begin more safety measures as they get a little bigger.

Caitlin - posted on 08/20/2010

I hve minimal safety stuff for the house. The kitchen is gated off completely (all cleaning supplies are in there) because of allergies - I don't want her exploring the wrong foods or something that may have fallen on the floor that's not safe for her. The bathroom door is always closed (actually, she keeps it closed when we forget). we don't have cabinet locks for the cabinets out here, because there is nothing dangerous in them and she knows she's not allowed to play with the doors - pinched fingers have happened a few times, and she learned quickly. We have outlet covers and that's pretty much it. She's not overly devious, she loves to explore, but she knows where she's not allowed to be. We have a stair gate and she's not allowed downstairs at all, because it's under construction..

Louise - posted on 08/20/2010

You could drive yourself nuts if you thought about all the accidents that might happen. We have got the minimal safety equipment in our house, like stair gates on rooms that are not deemed safe like the toilet and stairs etc.we have plug covers on the low sockets and that is about it. The rest we use for common sence. All chemicals are up high and stored in a cupboard, along with first aid kits. My daughter is never left alone in the bath or in the kitchen if she happends to wonder off. If I sat and thought what could happen I would be living in fort knox! I mean you can now buy tumble dryer locks, washing machine locks, chest freezer locks, toilet locks, cupboard locks etc. These were not available when the majority of us were small and we survived! We all want our children to be safe but the media and manufacturers play on parents insecurities to sale these products. Freak accidents will happen no matter what precaustions we take, sad but true.

Krista - posted on 08/20/2010

I haven't really thought of toilet locks...we usually just keep our bathroom doors closed. We have covers for our outlets, a lock for our broom closet (and all of our cleansers are kept on a high shelf inside of the broom closet), and we also put a lock on the oven door and oven drawer, so that he can't open the door when it's hot or roll the drawer open onto his toes. Other than that, I try to not fret too much about little bumps. He likes to climb up on our futon, and has taken a few tumbles, but there is a thick rug right there and the futon is low, so I can't really fret much beyond that...besides, how the heck would I keep him off the futon anyway? We did replace our sharp-cornered coffee table with a storage ottoman, and we obviously gate our stairwell and lock our basement door. Oh, and we got my FIL to build a gate around our huge stone hearth, so that my kid doesn't crack his head open on it.



Our place is pretty kid-friendly, though, so I haven't had to do any more than that.

Amie - posted on 08/20/2010

I don't lock the minivan but I do make sure the E brake (parking brake some might call it) is on hard enough that I need to two hands to take it off.

My husband was working on our van the one day, thought it'd be ok to put our son in the van. It was fine at first because he was right there with him. Then he left him there for a couple seconds to go tweek something in the engine. Our son climbed from the back to the front and went to get down?, not entirely sure honestly, but he ended up pulling the gear shift hard enough it moved into neutral. I walked out of the front door as my husband was standing up to walk back and there goes the van rolling down the driveway. I sprinted faster then my husband did. I hopped in and slammed on the brakes. The van was on the road by this time.

It ended well but it is the first thing I think of. I don't think of locking it because I hate getting into a hot vehicle so the windows are always left down during the day. It's locked at night so if the kids do happen to go out to play before I open the van, it's already locked.

I think I just talked in a circle but I think it made sense. LOL

We don't use locks on our cupboards. Our cleaning supplies are kept in a closet the kids can't reach though, hell half the time I'm on tip toes to reach it. I'll get a stool sometimes but I don't like chancing that. I know if the little ones see me doing it they'd be at it like nobody's business.

I've never owned a glass table or end table, I refuse to. Though our dining table right now has rounded edges. Our next one might not. The one I've picked out doesn't have rounded edges, still trying to convince the hubby though.

We did use baby gates for as long as possible. We still use them now even though they all know how to get over/around them. We use them sparingly enough though that if it's up, they know they can't go in there.

I'm more paranoid about other people around my kids then I am about them getting hurt at home. Most of our house is set up to be kid friendly and what's not, they know the rules. Our youngest is still learning but she's fairly easy and not much of a trouble maker. Which is a nice breeze after the two hurricanes that came before her. LOL

Stifler's - posted on 08/19/2010

I don't believe in overtly childproofing the house or wrapping my kid in cotton wool. What happens when you go to someone else's place and they've never encountered coffee tables and stuff? I just keep doors closed and chemicals out of bottom shelves in cupboards and don't leave stuff around on the floor that he could eat.

Sharon - posted on 08/19/2010

OMG Erin - that poor baby. poor poor baby. awww...

shit - so the doors to microwaves should be removed too when they are about to be disposed of.

You know? My husbands penchant for blowing shit up with various firearms is looking more and more practical .. generally by the time their target practice is over the item no longer looks like what it used to. never mind doors opening or closing.

Although they've never blown up a microwave, frankly - I've never looked into it but I wonder if its environmentally friendly to do so?

::: sigh ::: I don't know how these people go on living after such tragedies. I never would have thought of the microwave as a parent.

Erin - posted on 08/19/2010

Here's a story that I stumbled across a few weeks ago.

Sharon - posted on 08/19/2010

I forgot about that - we bolted or chained everything to the wall too.

book cases, tv/entertainment center, christmas tree. We had a big 4ft by 3ft heavy framed mirror - my husband took it down, JIC it should fall... ugh.

Side story - when my oldest was about a year old I woke up to find him climbing the shelves in the pantry. I was soooo quiet - I didn't want to startle him and cause him to fall. So I snuck up on him and when I got halfway across the room, he gasped and slid down. He giggled quietly to himself and pulled open the bag of cookies he had just pilfered. Brat. I scooped him up and saw he had a scratch on his chest down to his belly. I looked it over - it barely broke the skin, not even any blood!

Like I said - he's 15 now and HAS A SCAR!!!!!!! Its the weirdest freaking thing. My family doesn't scar easily, esp not keloid scars. He definitely has a thin line keloid type scar running down his chest.

Charlene - posted on 08/19/2010

We have plugs for our sockets, cabinet locks for select cupboard and we have a toilet lock. We have a small two bedroom apartment, so we usually just let her play in the living room and keep the other doors closed. We're getting a product for our tub that you paint on and when it dries, the tub becomes non-slip.

We don't have a coffee table anymore, because she climbs and we have our small bookshelf bolted to the wall. When we open our patio door, even if we keep the screen door closed, we put a gate in front of it to make sure she doesn't get out through it. (We live on the third floor of an apartment building)

I sweep every morning before I let her play, because her father has a habit of laying on the couch and loosing his change.

I don't think I am being too protective, but I do know people that go the extreme.

Julie - posted on 08/19/2010

I think that horrible, seemingly unpredictable things happen to otherwise good families. This story makes me sad and almost ill for their grandfather.

I'm sure the sheriff's office knew right where to look, but they see way more missing children. I cannot imagine the grief the grandfather must be feeling.

I think there is a balance between childproofing one's home and property and keeping their child(ren) in an over-protective bubble. It might be hard to get the perfect balance, but I am not sure all preventable tragedies will be realized before something awful happens.

This reminds me of back when all those old refrigerators were tossed/made illegal because they couldn't be opened from the inside. ... or even how electric car widows must go down, not up when pushed b/c children got strangled. Hopefully, designers of anything will keep child safety in mind, but parents still must maintain the responsibility of keeping the little ones safe.

Ultimately, it IS the grandfather's fault the girls died, but we all know how quickly/quietly little ones can get into trouble. Is it then the parent's fault, then for not checking his home for safety before leaving the girls? I think it is really a horrible tragedy, albeit a preventable one.

Ugh, will stop rambling now.

Good Day! - posted on 08/19/2010

There will always be freak accidents, even in the "safest" homes. I think a certain amount of common sense is a must. Don't leave kitchen knives where the toddler can reach them, lock away chemicals, watch them in the bathtub, cover electrical sockets. But I've never thought of half the stuff you mentioned here. Toilet and fridge locks? I guess you can't be too safe, and maybe I don't worry enough?