Tumble Dryer in Nursery...Should I Worry?

OhioBobcat

DH and I moved into this 2-bed house about 6 weeks ago and have placed our tumble-dryer in what will be the baby's room.

Typically, in England, washers and dryers are kept in the kitchen, however the slot meant for a dryer or dishwasher in our kitchen is way too narrow for our dryer, so we have had to put it upstairs in the spare room. Ultimately, there is no where else for it to go. Space in the UK is a luxury, really, and there is honestly no other room where it would fit.

MIL recently expressed concern to me over the location of the dryer and I assured her the dryer would never be on when the baby is in the room as we will spend most of the time in common areas -- not to mention the first 6 mo. or so, baby will likely sleep in a moses basket in our bedroom with DH and myself.

MIL went on to tell a story of a woman she knows from work who lost a grandchild because they somehow closed themselves in the dryer and suffocated. I assured her our baby is in no immediate danger of this happening and we're hoping to have a bigger place anyway by the time he is mobile enough to be curious about the dryer (not that this couldn't happen to anyone no matter WHERE they kept the dryer, mind you).

My point here in all of this is: should I be overly concerned for the time being? I love my MIL to bits and we get on well. She tends to worry A LOT about many things, but I think she may be going a bit overboard on this one.

mwalliser

I do believe there are special child lock type things that you can get for the dryer... that way even when LO is old enough to be curious then they can't get in the dryer.

JinglesChic

Is the dryer gas or electric? A gas dryer is more dangerous since it can emit carbon monoxide. I would put a detector that is NOT attached to the smoke alarm on the wall mid calf length. It's best if it plugs into an outlet and has a battery back up. Many people have the combo smoke/CO alarms, but smoke rises and CO sinks, so you won't get accurate readings. My DH is a career firemen so I hear issues with this all the time.

12bailey18

I wouldn't worry about it. Like you said, the baby will be in your room the first 6 months anyway. I doubt you would leave your baby in the nursery unattended anyway. In the future, when the baby is able to crawl and is curious, you could always look into safety lock features for the drier door. I don't think there's anything to worry about for a newborn though.?

proudarmywife08

Yes, get a lock for the door on the dryer. This is the only thing that keeps DD out of our washer and dryer (front loaders).

S/Cambio

I also live in the UK for military reasons. Are you guys military? We had to stack our dryer on top of the counter and the washer is below it.. not sure if that is safe or not. Anyways, could you put the dryer maybe into your bedroom and you can keep the door shut so once she starts crawling you won't have to worry. There are also child locks.

We are moving on base because of the limited space in UK homes. We would have no space for anything except the babys room.. no closets either which really sucks. 

 

OhioBobcat

The dryer is electric, thankfully.

And no, we're not military. DH is British and I drew the short stick on where we would live, hehe.

No way to put the dryer on the countertop in the kitchen either, unfortunately, as there are cabinets directly above. Our room is already crowded with a bed and bookshelves that won't fit down in our front room, although this could be an alternative if we are still here when LO is older. 

This place is actually much bigger than where we were living (previously a 1-bed flat), and we really like it...nice area with a back garden. But we are hoping to start looking for a bigger place once we can get some money into savings.

S/Cambio

OhioBobcat:

The dryer is electric, thankfully.

And no, we're not military. DH is British and I drew the short stick on where we would live, hehe.

No way to put the dryer on the countertop in the kitchen either, unfortunately, as there are cabinets directly above. Our room is already crowded with a bed and bookshelves that won't fit down in our front room, although this could be an alternative if we are still here when LO is older. 

This place is actually much bigger than where we were living (previously a 1-bed flat), and we really like it...nice area with a back garden. But we are hoping to start looking for a bigger place once we can get some money into savings.

We have a separate laundry room, the dryer is on top of the counter there lol. That would look funny in the kitchen. I'm not sure how well the washer/dryer combos work but that could be an option. I'm pretty sure you will be fine though if you don't have it on while she is in the room. 

MilesOfSmiles

We have a front-loading washer/dryer in our nursery. They do have a digital lock feature on them, but i'll be purchasing a lock as well when baby starts to get mobile!!

Flyswmer

If you plan to have a bigger place when LO is older and mobile I wouldn't be worried.  But I def. wouldn't leave it in there when he/she is.  We had a recent news story where a little girl and her brother were playing with the dryer and he got locked in there and the daughter turned in on.  By the time she got to her mom and the mom got to him he passed away.  Very sad.