[Tesseract]

Warning: sensitive, mentions child death

http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/life-style...campaign=meghan



This is such a tragic story, and unfortunately it's one I've heard before with TVs, bookcases etc.

DH pulled a book case on himself as a child, and I was always climbing up drawers.

So, do you secure your furniture? If you do could you please share what you've done and how you did it?

[podg]

And how much it cost to replaster and paint the rental when you moved out?

I read this yesterday and had a good lean on all our furniture to see if I could pull it over. If we owned I would definitely tether some of it to the wall... but we don't.

Meghan's story made me cry.

[minimae]

such a sad read. I was shocked by the photo of the dresser that fell as well, whilst I secure all of my taller/bigger furniture, I'd never have thought to secure a dresser like that. I will now.

Such a brave family to spread the message, such a beautiful little girl.

[CallMeProtart]

Freaked me out reading that last night! I cried

We haven't secured anything. Our kids weren't climbers, so we never kind of got around to it. But I'm planning to head to Bunnings today to get some stuff and do it. What a devastating story.

I'd love some ideas on how though. We move furniture around relatively regularly, so drilling holes through the wall into the studs seems pretty extreme. Plus I have not the handyman skill to be confident with that extreme amount of potential damage, and if I wait for DH to get around to it the kids will be 21.
And what do renters do? Surely they aren't allowed to drill through the walls willy nilly. Is there an easier option?

[Sunnycat]

I read it last night.

Beyond heartbreaking, her poor mother and family. Her mother really shouldn't blame herself, it was a tragic accident and not her fault.

[*LucyE*]

I haven't read the link because I think I would end up bawling.

We secure tall furniture with bolts to the wall. DH got some brackets and stuff from the hardware store. I suppose this works for us because the furniture is fairly cheap and we own our home. I wouldn't want to do it with antique furniture and you can't do it in rentals.

Most of the secured furniture are bookcases. We don't have low boys or chests of drawers in the house. This has been partly a conscious choice to minimize toddler risks.

Our television is secured to the wall on a hinged bracket. Although I have been assured by many that it is safe, we have some low furniture underneath to reduce the chances of children being under it in case it should ever fall.

[Jess1]

I was shocked when I saw the picture of the dresser, I never would have thought a child would have had the strength to pull that over. Such a devastating accident.

I'm not sure there is another way other than drilling. I don't think there is anything that would stick enough and if there were it would damage the paint anyway? We are renting but luckily it is my parents house so this weekend we will go and fix everything to the walls, my little one is such a climber it is scary.

Such a sad story

[baddmammajamma]

Oh, what a tragic accident.

Several pieces of our heavy furniture (like bookshelves) have been professionally secured for this very reason. We ended up passing on chests of drawers and having them anchored in mounted wardrobes instead -- I had two climbers, so I bought furniture with that in mind.

Still, even with precautions, household accidents can happen almost anywhere, any time. It's a daunting thought!

[Betty_D]

My DH and I both shed tears reading Meghan's story last night. It also compelled us to plan a trip to Bunnings this weekend to buy the necessary tools to secure all our furniture.

At the moment, the only thing secured at our house is our TV. You can buy special connector thingys (??) from places like Bunnings that connect flat screen TVs to your TV unit to prevent it from tipping.

This post has been edited by Betty_D: 08/02/2013, 10:50 AM

[julz78]

That is so so sad. I knew about tvs and lighter furniture being pulled over and killing kids but would have thought heavy furniture like that would be safe. What an absolute tragedy. I have a nearly 2 year old climber and that is really scary, I'm off to bunnings as soon as dh is home as we have dressers and a buffet like that. Thank you Meghan's mum for sharing Meghan's story and raising awareness.