VIDEO: Terrifying Proof you Need to Anchor Furniture to the Wall
As a new mom, what was the first thing you childproofed? The electrical sockets? the cabinet under your kitchen sink?
What about anchoring your furniture to the walls?
That’s usually one of the last things parents think of but this a new video by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission shows just how dangerous it can be to leave heavy furniture unsecured. They say “On average, one child dies every two weeks when a TV, furniture or appliance falls onto him or her.”
That’s a terrifying statistic.
With one new crawler in our house (and a second one who can’t wait to follow her twin’s lead) this hit home for me. We moved recently and haven’t quite put ourselves back together again yet but newly mobile babies are moving some tasks to the top of the to-do list.
I’ve known a few parents who have had a close call with top-heavy furniture. After the scare with my daughter over the summer, I know firsthand that you can never be too careful.
Watching this video sent me running to Amazon to order some of the KidCo Anti-Tip Furniture Straps I’ve been meaning to buy.
The good news is securing your furniture to the wall isn’t hard to do. Furniture straps are cheap and take only minutes to install.
Go room by room in your house and look for furniture that is tall or likely to tip over. Wiggle it a bit. If there’s even a chance it could come over then it needs to be secured to the wall. Until furniture is secured, keep younger kids out of the room using a baby gate.
Keep dresser drawers pushed in (at least as best as you can when you have kids who like to open things) so they can’t be used to climb on.
Pay attention to furniture with heavy objects placed on top of them, like a TV. We have our TV mounted to the wall to eliminate the risk of it being pulled over. Consider bookshelves loaded with books or heavy decorative items that make furniture top-heavy. TVs can be secured either dressers or the wall with a simple strap.
Don’t put anything too appealing on top of heavy furniture. My toddler is very strong willed. I’ve had to watch this with her. Anytime I have to take away a toy or other object and put it out of her reach, I make sure and avoid tall furniture because I know as soon as I turn my back she’ll try and climb it.
