Once you’ve anchored the dresser to the wall, you’ll also want to baby-proof the drawers as well, and this is where you have a few options. Dresser safetyĭressers become quite heavy once you have the drawers filled with clothes and other items and therefore it’s important to anchor them to the wall. It’s the extra weight on one side that causes the furniture to tip but with a little time and elbow grease, you can prevent this. Bookshelves have a variety of shelves at different heights to grab onto, they’re also the perfect ladder in the eyes of little ones. Because they don’t know yet what’s solid or wobbly, this can be scary. Toddlers and children are often expert climbers and they’ll even use the drawer pulls or knobs to scale furniture like a rock climber.īabies who are transitioning from crawling to walking will grab onto anything within reach to pull themselves up to their knees or standing. I’ve even shut my finger in my dresser drawer as an adult. With a dresser, not only can drawers be opened and used as climbing steps to get to the top, but there’s also the drawers opening and closing that could pinch or break a finger. Anchoring your furniture takes a little time but is easy enough to do even if you’re not especially handy with a drill or screwdriver. I also wanted my home to be safe for when friends and family visited with their little ones. Anchoring our heavy furniture pieces to the wall helped eliminate some worry. It added a whole other worry to parenting as I couldn’t let him out of my sight for even a split second. I have two sons and my second was definitely the climber. Because they are typically large, heavy pieces of furniture, they can potentially cause serious injury to anyone if they were to fall, especially a child. This may well be the case in a typical scenario, but if you have a little one who loves to climb, bookshelves and dressers can be quite dangerous.
When I think of dressers and bookshelves, I generally think of a sturdy piece of furniture and imagine it wouldn’t topple forward so easily.
Why do I need to baby-proof dressers and bookshelves? Many toddlers are curious and love to climb, and you can remove the worry of one of your home dressers or bookshelves tipping over with a few easy steps.
Today I’m talking about why and how you should baby-proof your dressers and bookshelves. During the newborn stage there’s the set up of the nursery with furnishings and making sure you have all the basic gear and accessories like clothing, diapers, a car seat and stroller. As you move from the newborn stage, you’ll need to do some baby-proofing of your home. There’s a lot to think about and prepare when you’re awaiting the arrival of your new baby.