making DD's room "safe" for her/"Anchoring" furniture

DEBBIE33CASEY

Did you anchor furniture to the wall, leave it be, or remove it?

When we put DD's room together before she was born I obviously didn't worry about toddler-proofing it. One of the things I remember reading about in my baby books was to anchor large pieces of furniture to the wall.  We have plaster walls which are THE WORST when it comes to drilling into.  They chip and crack like you wouldn't believe when we put holes in previously (for hanging curtain rods, picture frames, etc) and I've gotten to the point where I just use those 3M sticky things for putting pictures on the walls now instead of drilling.

With that being said there is really only one piece of furniture in her room that I'd actually think is capable of tipping if she tried climbing it. As I'm starting to think about replacing DD's crib with a toddler bed I am trying to think of how to toddler proof it when she's in there with the door shut.  I just worry that she'd wake up in the morning, I wouldn't hear her, and then we'd hear a big boom and she'd be under the mini-bookshelf.  We could just take it out of her room but it's a shelving unit that the top two shelves we put things like her diaper wipes, thermometer, etc. So it'd be convenient if we didn't have to remove it, but obviously I'd chose to keep her safe over convenience.

Is anchoring furniture something you did or is it one of those crazily overprotective things that you read about and "should" do but might not actually do it?

Snowbride02

We anchor everything to the wall.  Having a piece of furniture fall on a small child does immediate damage that can happen even if you're in the same room with the kid.  I don't think it's an overprotective thing at all.  If you don't want to anchor it, I'd take it out of the room.

Lizzyie325

It is very important to me and something I really want to do. I was so excited when we moved to make a room safe for DS, and securing the furniture to the wall was an important part of that. Unfortunately we didn't realize that we were moving to a place that has no stores which carry furniture straps. Lowes, Walmart and Home depot all have nothing, and the nearest babies r us is an hour away. We'll be ordering them once we get a p.o box set up. 

  If it gives you peace of mind and lets you relax when your DD is playing, I think its worth it.  

sasa625

DD has a small dollhouse bookshelf and a dresser/hutch in her room... they are anchored to the wall (they have been since we got them). I have worked with a little girl who climbed her parents dresser and ended up tipping it.... they had a tv on it and it fell on her head. She was in the hospital for quite a long time and required speech/language and special education services afterwards. If they had anchored their furniture, it wouldn't have happened.

Our tv is anchored to the wall as well. There are so many things I can't protect DD from, so I will work hard to protect her from what I can!

DEBBIE33CASEY

sasa625:

DD has a small dollhouse bookshelf and a dresser/hutch in her room... they are anchored to the wall (they have been since we got them). I have worked with a little girl who climbed her parents dresser and ended up tipping it.... they had a tv on it and it fell on her head. She was in the hospital for quite a long time and required speech/language and special education services afterwards. If they had anchored their furniture, it wouldn't have happened.

Our tv is anchored to the wall as well. There are so many things I can't protect DD from, so I will work hard to protect her from what I can!

Ugh what a horrible story!  That may have been just enough to convince me to take it out AND anchor the remaining furniture in her room, no matter how much work it will be!  I would hate to have the "if we'd only....." regret.

That makes me feel good to hear that it wasn't just an overprotective thing that I could overlook. But that it's a reasonable and expected thing I should do.  I almost feel foolish having asked the question in the first place now!

m0132

We didn't have anything anchored when DD was in her crib but now that she is in a twin bed we anchored her toy bin organizer and her dresser (its tall and not very wide, so that made me nervous).  We also got a video monitor once we put DD in a bed and that has helped my sanity a TON.  I have only caught her out of bed once playing with her toys but I love knowing that her furniture is secure just in case.  DH thought it was unnecessary but our friends were over one day and were looking at DD's new big girl room and showed him how their LO pulled out all the drawers starting from the bottom up and climbed her way to the top of the dresser.  We don't have our furniture anchored anywhere else in the house, but our floor plan is very open and I can always see her playing and keep all my other doors closed.

bim38106

We have DD1's dresser anchored, as well as some tall bookcases in our bedroom. I don't think it's "overprotective" at all. It's an important thing to do. I'm thankful we did it already because DD1 has recently taken to climbing cabinet/drawer knobs. I've found her on the kitchen island a few times, and she's tried climbing her dresser a few times..she just uses the drawers or the knobs as a ladder.

ohfour

I read a woman's blog who had a big dresser fall on her DS while his older siblings were watching him and she was putting her baby to sleep and he didn't make it. It sounded absolutely terrifying, and she blames herself because the dresser was not anchored. She said it was huge and heavy, and they even messed around with it to make sure it wouldn't tip easily because of the children. I would def. anchor it.

mistywhite400

We anchored everything. We have a small bookcase in her closet for toys and we screwed that directly to the wall using drywall anchors. I would take out the pieces if you don't want to secure them. Better safe than sorry!

melody921

We also have plaster walls, and we anchored anything that could tip -- dresser and bookshelf. Better safe than sorry once LO can move around the room.