I write to you today to say how important it is to secure your tall and even lower furniture (even if you think it might be secure). Last fall our son, Josef, decided to try and climb the tall white dresser in the bedroom he shared with his brothers.
My husband and I were downstairs in our den when we heard our oldest son crying and calling for help and heard Josef calling for help. (He was only 2 1/2 at the time.) When we walked in we saw Josef pinned between the tall dresser and bunkbeds (they actually kep the dresser from falling completely on him due to their position in the room). I went to Josef to see how he was doing as my husband lifted the dresser back into place.
We both checked over Josef and kept him up till we decided to go to bed. We were lucky. The bunkbeds broke the trajectory of the fall. He was pinned by the dresser drawers which slid out at the top. Still it was one of the most scary moments in my life!
Josef went to his pediatrician to make sure all was well and passed with flying colors. What a sigh of relief for us!
So this short post is to tell you the importance of securing your furniture. I don't care how secure you think it might be! Even something low could potentially fall and cause life threatening injuries. You can get these things that screw in to your wall and the furniture. Be sure to mount them to a stud in the wall as that is the most secure! You will need a longer screw than what they give you. A screw in drywall will not stop it. The force from the furniture falling will rip it right out. But if it's in a stud (solid wood) then that gives extra protection.
Think of things children like to climb. Bookshelves (short/tall), cabinets, hutches, dressers (short/tall), armoires (computer/TV) pretty much anything like that. Those are your danger zones. Your TV is another thing that can fall on your child if it isn't mounted. Especially the new flat screen TV's. The base is no where near wide enough to stop the TV from falling.
Don't think it can't happen to you. It can. We were lucky that our situation wasn't worse. So take the time this weekend to get the supplies and secure your house.
My husband and I were downstairs in our den when we heard our oldest son crying and calling for help and heard Josef calling for help. (He was only 2 1/2 at the time.) When we walked in we saw Josef pinned between the tall dresser and bunkbeds (they actually kep the dresser from falling completely on him due to their position in the room). I went to Josef to see how he was doing as my husband lifted the dresser back into place.
We both checked over Josef and kept him up till we decided to go to bed. We were lucky. The bunkbeds broke the trajectory of the fall. He was pinned by the dresser drawers which slid out at the top. Still it was one of the most scary moments in my life!
Josef went to his pediatrician to make sure all was well and passed with flying colors. What a sigh of relief for us!
So this short post is to tell you the importance of securing your furniture. I don't care how secure you think it might be! Even something low could potentially fall and cause life threatening injuries. You can get these things that screw in to your wall and the furniture. Be sure to mount them to a stud in the wall as that is the most secure! You will need a longer screw than what they give you. A screw in drywall will not stop it. The force from the furniture falling will rip it right out. But if it's in a stud (solid wood) then that gives extra protection.
Think of things children like to climb. Bookshelves (short/tall), cabinets, hutches, dressers (short/tall), armoires (computer/TV) pretty much anything like that. Those are your danger zones. Your TV is another thing that can fall on your child if it isn't mounted. Especially the new flat screen TV's. The base is no where near wide enough to stop the TV from falling.
Don't think it can't happen to you. It can. We were lucky that our situation wasn't worse. So take the time this weekend to get the supplies and secure your house.
0 comments:
Post a Comment