Toddler-proofing heavy furniture, speakers etc

Hi

Can anyone recommend a way of attaching bookcases, speakers etc to the wall so they can’t be pulled over?

I really don’t want to have to screw into the furniture as it’s oak, quite nice and I can’t be trusted with power tools.

Are there any industrial sticky type pad sort of things?

Ta

how strong is your toddler!?

Speakers – I use blu tack on the bases to stick mine to the wooden floor better than spikes and very stable.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/BabyDan-Furniture-Straps-Pack-2/dp/B000NUWGFY/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Some tall bookcases actually come with these supplied these days.

But you have to screw them in. After all, of you don’t screw them in how are you going to hold the stuff sufficiently?

Alternatively don’t worry about it – I tried to ignore my in-laws when our two were younger, always saying we should do this, that and the other.

Or you could use something like these nailed to the wall.

screw into the back of it. Worrying about screw holes in the back of furniture will not be on your list of concerns when they discover pens.

Furniture can and does kill climbing toddlers, get that stuff secured properly.

Friends of friends lost twins a decade ago to a falling chest of drawers. 😥

They’ll poke the cones in on speakers, I suggest you get them out the way for your sake.

your toddler(s) or someone else’s? if they’re only a temporary addition to the household you might take a different approach

more here

I bought a play pen sort of thing (actually 2 of them) that could be opened out. I then made 1 long section and a much smaller section to protect things I didn’t want the kids touching (and more usefully, their friends who don’t know not to touch).

speakers in my house are **** – cones -all poked in 👿 remote controls – slobbered (dog doesn’t even live with us anymore), TV looks like a well used etchasketch and everything else is just generally broken.. DONT HAVE KIDS.

Mr Nice – i like your solution.

edit: also needs to be sound-proofed as well.

If it’s tall stuff I used some cheapy metal L shaped brackets, about 3″x3″ from the local hardware place. Worked fine. Got some drawers to fix to the wall which I’ll be doing the same way but internally so the brackets can’t be seen.

My 2 yo has managed to get a maximum score of 5 CDs into the single slot front loading CD player.

Our toddler pushed over an expensive floor mounted speaker. It landed on the hi-fi cabinet and smashed a good chunk out of the side. The whole lot went in the garage after that and now replaced with an integrated soundbar built into the TV stand. Doesn’t sound as good, but certainly more toddler friendly.

Our eldest used to put stiff in the hole in the subwoofer. We spent a LONG time looking for my wife’s camera…

Our eldest used to put stiff in the hole in the subwoofer

Unfortunate spelling error there….

Cage is a great shout – or time machine to go back in time and not have them 🙂

Nice stuff vs kids, kids win!

Err, if it’s heavy oak, could a toddler pull it over?
I don’t think we did anything to any of our furniture, but we did train both Little Darlings to not touch things they shouldn’t. Yes, that does take time and effort, but it also means they’re trained for when you go to shops, and other peoples houses.

we did train both Little Darlings to not touch things they shouldn’t.

Our kids were similarly trained, but I wouldn’t dare to think that anyone with a badly trained kid is a crap parent (although many undoubtedly are).. some kids just won’t take training.

the risk with furniture (bookcases especially) is that it looks like something good to climb up. And it is good to climb until it becomes unbalanced with a child at the top.

I have no kids but I’m looking round my place at all the stuff that will have to be secured/removed once my sister’s kid gets mobile. Currently it’s probably a death trap (if only because damaging my stereo is a capital offence).

despite my kids being told not to and suffering the wrath for doing so, they still climb to the top of the towel rail….

do they go up to the ceiling? If not then attach a strap or something to the top well out of sight.

If it’s not wall mounted already, modern flat screen TVs are perfect for squashing toddlers. You can get kits to tie them (the TV) down to their stands.

Mount the speakers on castors so they’re more difficult to push over? Kids might find it fun to push them around the room though 🙂

You’ve got 2 darleks in your room….

The Daleks are the least of the worries with that decor.

Cheers guys

Mini RRR is only 11 ish months old but already attempting to climb up the bookcase .. It’s heavy but I don’t think it’d take that much to pull it over as it’s on squishy carpet :-/

We do have a baby cage / playpen but only generally stuff him in that when we need to leave the room.

My speakers are tricky in that they’re floor- standers yet about a foot away from a wall .. Wonder if I can attach a chain or something but that in itself is a hazard.

The Daleks are the least of the worries with that decor.

Even the fireplace looks aghast at the shocking lack of colour coordination.. 🙂

I’d expect floorstanders to be much more stable than standmounts. Biggest risk is probably getting the cones poked in. They seem to be irresistible to small (and not so small) fingers.

we haven’t taken any special measure tbh. the only thing that could topple over is a massive bookcase, stuffed with books. if your 18 month year old could pull it over, the sofa would break it’s fall nicely.

If you’ve got plasterboard walls you don’t need power tools to anchor to them.

I’d expect floorstanders to be much more stable than standmounts

Still very easy to topple though if on spikes (the castor idea above is interesting though).

Just had to re fit the curtain rails in our living room. They’d been bent and tearing out of the walls since we caught our youngest literally swinging from the curtains. I suspect our eldest did it too but we never caught her. She has a much better understanding of what will piss her parents off 🙂

You won’t magically get them back to perfect but careful use of the vacuum cleaner can do wonders with those pushed in cones.

I’d expect floorstanders to be much more stable than standmounts. Biggest risk is probably getting the cones poked in. They seem to be irresistible to small (and not so small) fingers.

Do speakers not come with grills these days? They always used to, although the Flat-Earth HiFi brigade sneered at their use because they scattered the sound causing loss of focus, or some such bollocks.