Childproofing Electrical Devices
Archived Q&A and Reviews
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How to childproof electrical outlets?
March 2011
Our 6 month old is about to be mobile. How do we childproof electrical outlets? The plugs I remember from my childhood don't seem to be around anymore. Any suggestions for childproofing our small apartment? Thanks. Anna
Simple plastic plugs are available from the drug stores. They work well. We had one outlet w/ a lot of things plugged in that my daughter was attracted to. We used a higher tech (fully covered) safety device. One recommendation is that you can often find these outlet covers very cheap at garage sales. Packages that people didn't use completely. Ikea has some cheap ones as well. - Safety First
Those little plastic plugs that plug into the outlets to block them off are still around. I've seen them at Target and Home Depot, and you can definitely buy them online from Amazon, Safety1st, OneStepAhead, etc. Good article about electrical childproofing options: http://www.livestrong.com/article/11322-need-childproofing-electrical-outlets/ Of course, my kids never showed any interest in the outlets, so you might want to wait and see how things go. Mom to 3
They still make those plugs. Try Target, Walmart, Home Depot etc. -
There are new-fangled outlet covers. They're so good, I can barely get them off. I think we're done with ours (maybe 6 or 7 of 'em), so if you want them, let me know. We're in N. Berkeley/Albany. berkeleyjo at yahoo.com
There are all kinds of items on the market to babyproof your home. There are even all kinds of different types of contraptions to use that will cover your outlets. The most common, easy-to-use ones are the caps that you just push on. You can find them at Target, Walmart, Babies R Us, and even Amazon.com. Once you're in the section where you're looking at the outlet covers, you'll notice all kinds of different babyproofing items. Some of it you actually need, some of it you don't. If you have any tables with sharp corners, you can buy padding to cushion the corners. If there are rooms you'd rather your baby not go exploring in, you can buy door-knob covers or gates. We never hired a professional to do the job and we often played it by ear: we'd babyproof once we saw there was a hazard/problem. The best thing you can do to keep your baby safe, aside from covering outlets and sharp corners, is keep an eye on them at this age. If you don't want to be in a constant power-struggle over cabinets, get babyproof locks and maybe have one cabinet full of old tupperware for your baby to get into. Anon
Google ''Outlet Covers''. They sell them everywhere, includng Babies R Us. anon
Toddler Proofing Electric Wires, Computer, Stereo
Dec 2009
Dear Wise BPNers, My cunning 2.5 year old is becoming ever more cunning... he can now reach into supposedly childproofed doors and extract the items he wants... also remove two different types of electric socket coverings.
We are dealing with the above two situations to the best of our abilities but have struck a real snag when it comes to the plethora of electric wires that seem to have accumulated e.g. behind the stereo and the computer. Curious and energetic child can disconnect all manner of wires and nearly every day we have to re-boot the computers and re- start the television. As I am pregnant and shortly expecting our second child (hence, will have even less time for active - constant? - supervision) we will need to babyproof the above two areas better. The archives don't have any suggestions.. do any of you? Wired in Oakland
We got (used) plastic toddler fencing, and put it around said areas. Just fenced off half the room. They market them as play yards or play pens to put the child inside, but we put the equipment in the pen and the child outside the pen. I wish we had the energy to teach our child to not touch what we didn't want him to, but alas we did not. Check out the expensive toddler catalogs to see what's possible, then buy it used. It's a short phase and people hate to store it. Don't know what to suggest for the electrical outlet covers. - hope this helps
Childproofing AC adaptors
Feb 2003
With a busy 10-month-old, I've child-proofed all of the electrical outlets in my house -- both those in use and idle. The plastic ''boxes'' that cover the entire outlet so that babies can't pull out cords that are plugged in seem to work fine. But, what to do about those outlets that are accommodating an AC adaptor? The adaptors outsize the childproof covers. But, there are so many appliances that use them (e.g., baby monitors, radios, etc.). Any suggestions from parents that have graduated from this busy baby stage? Taping the adaptors to the wall is a possibility, but definitely suboptimal. Thanks in advance, Stephanie
In the new Childproofer catalogue, they are selling a cover designed to fit over adaptors. It is the same idea as the plastic box thing, just bigger. KB