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Babyproofing - WWYD

kreeper611kreeper611 member
in Houston Babies

Cooper has this thing about the outlets.  He loves to pull the outlet covers out of the plugs (you know, the child safety ones!!)  I catch him playing with them because it takes a minute to get them out and I fuss, tell him no, and move him away.  He usually goes back and I end up putting the covers away.  He's not really tried to stick something into the outlet - he just likes to put the plug covers in his mouth and then back into the outlet.  Wet from drool, so that's why I just take them away.

Well, last night J caught him pulling on the actual plate that covers the outlet.  He pulled it far enough away from the wall that he could have gotten his hand behind it.  There is only one screw holding it to the wall and I guess because of the age of the sheetrock the whole thing is a little lose.  J fussed at him big time and moved him away, but C went right back over there and did it again.  That time he got his hand popped.  I know he was shocked, but J said he was pretty scared by the whole thing because - hello - he could have electrocuted himself!

At this point, we could replace the plates with metal ones that one bend, or should we just be on top of Cooper keeping him away?  I don't want to replace every one in the house, probably just the ones in the living room - but that's still a good $100 when it is said and done.  I guess I could put tape over it for the time being...

WWYD?  He's not 3, so I know he's not old enough to understand "this will hurt you" but I really want him to know that he's know supposed to play with the freaking plugs.

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Re: Babyproofing - WWYD

  • michellebellemichellebelle

    I think the hand popping is actually good.  Pain = stop doing it.  Sometimes that is necessary for his safety!

    Are these outlets that you can afford to just put a solid cover over, so it is less interesting?  Maybe he is an engineer in the making and wants to figure out how it works.  But if there is a plate over the whole thing it just becomes boring.

    image

    Just an idea - the plain white ones are a lot cheaper than new switchplates!

     

    "If you can't say something nice, shut the hell up!"
    - Paula Deen to 104.1 KRBE's Producer Eric 9/17/2011
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  • TexasSmithTexasSmith
    Have you tried various brands of the outlet covers? I have found that some brands pretty much fall out on their own, whereas some are nearly impossible for even me to get out. I think it's the Parents brand that stays in the best -- I have literally had to use a flat head screwdriver to pry them out of the outlet.
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  • kreeper611kreeper611 member
    imagemichellebelle:

    I think the hand popping is actually good.  Pain = stop doing it.  Sometimes that is necessary for his safety!

    Are these outlets that you can afford to just put a solid cover over, so it is less interesting?  Maybe he is an engineer in the making and wants to figure out how it works.  But if there is a plate over the whole thing it just becomes boring.

    image

    Just an idea - the plain white ones are a lot cheaper than new switchplates!

     

    MB I don't think that would work.  The screw that holds it to the outlet is in the center.  But I'll have to take a look at it and see.  We could do without it for a while, since we only use those for Christmas lights and charging the laptop.  We would just have to charge the laptop other places.

    Funny thing is, he only goes to these two certain outlets when there are about 4 others he can see any time.  He only cares about these two.

    TxSmith - I need to look into other plug covers.  However it really wouldn't solve the issue we had last night as that was the whole plate cover he messed with.

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  • jen5-03jen5-03 member

    I have some of these swivel outlet covers. It replaces the outlet plate and seems pretty sturdy. It's really easy to plug things in. They were pricier than I wanted to spend to do the whole house in them, but I have them around the house in outlets where I plug the vaccuum in so I don't have to mess with the little plastic plug thingies. The only drawback is that because the swivel part is slightly recessed from the front of the plate, you can not plug in anything with a box on it like a cell phone charger. Some laptop cords are just slightly larger than normal and are a tight fit too, but they do go in. I got them from BRU.

    My next choice would be a piece of white duct tape.

    - Jena
    image
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  • Suzi-G-Suzi-G- member
    Have you taken the outlet cover off and looked to see why it's not securely attached?  Is the whole electrical box loose or is the cover just coming off?  If it's just the cover then chances are it's a stripped screw, the screw goes into a metal fitting on the electrical box, not into sheetrock.  You may be able to fix the problem just by replacing the screw. 
    My big boy is bounding towards 4! Baby brother coming in October!
      image
    Hipster dog is not impressed.
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