Dadguys: Do you affix your heavy furniture to the walls? (2 Viewers)

[Otis]

Mrs. O keeps telling me about all these horror stories in which heavy furniture falls over onto and hurts or kills kids. We've in particular got a tall and narrow armoir/book case thing that is pretty heavy, and she's concerned. She wants me to attach it to the wall so it doesn't fall over.

Do people really do this? Is this just an old wive's tale, or are these things really pose a danger to kids?

TIA

 

[Wayne Kenof]

if your kids are climbers or like to try and pull things down, then i would. My grandma did this to her grandfather clock when we were kids.

just make sure you Sucre into the studs and not just the dry wall

 

[NutterButter]

Absolutely. You're a parent now. Its time to start acting responsibly.

ETA: Either that, or sell that piece of functionally worthless furniture and donate the money to sick children.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Might as well slap a helmet on him too

 

[belljr]

Never did. Thought about it but never did

 

[Ignoratio Elenchi]

If I'm going to leave them alone in a room with large furniture, I just affix the kids to the wall.

 

[avoiding injuries]

I don't, but I don't have furniture that would be easy to tip over. Most of ours are low and wide. If I had a tall/narrow piece, I would. You're looking at a couple of bucks and less than half an hour.

 

[bostonfred]

Out of curiosity what's you're argument for not doing this

 

[cstu]

Yes, but I live in California.

 

[Annyong]

Of course

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

thought about it. did not.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

I don't, but I don't have furniture that would be easy to tip over. Most of ours are low and wide. If I had a tall/narrow piece, I would. You're looking at a couple of bucks and less than half an hour.

The OP is Otis. Minimum of two contractors required and at least $5000.

 

[Nigel Tufnel]

Lol. Someone set up the Dadguys site. It speaks to me. I'm with Ahrn on this one. Next topic.

 

[Otis]

Out of curiosity what's you're argument for not doing this

Probably the same as everyone else's in here who have not gotten to it. I try to limit the amount of PIA things I need to do. The list is already long. So I triage.

 

[Arizona Ron]

I replaced the armoire with a shelf after my daughter thought it was fun to swing on the doors.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Yes. Anything that could be climbed. Got rid of most of the stuff though for smaller functionality.

 

[shadyridr]

I put the tv on the wall. Thats about it. I didnt have anything else that can tip over.

 

[bostonfred]

Out of curiosity what's you're argument for not doing this

Probably the same as everyone else's in here who have not gotten to it. I try to limit the amount of PIA things I need to do. The list is already long. So I triage.

Does your triage process include a likelihood of crushing your kid? That's an underrated factor imo.

 

[Baloney Sandwich]

I could see doing this if you lived in earthquake territory but seems overkill for Long Island.

 

[jhib]

We could figure out pretty early on that our kids weren't climbers, so no.

If I thought a piece of furniture was going to fall over just from my 12 month old kid pulling themselves up from a crawl to standing, then I would have probably felt the need to attach it to the wall regardless of children.

 

[Arizona Ron]

I'm not sure what "earthquake territory" has to do with kids climbing on stuff.

 

[ChiefD]

I do this. Took me about an hour or two, and the wife nagging was over. Well worth 2 hours of my time.

 

[Baloney Sandwich]

I'm not sure what "earthquake territory" has to do with kids climbing on stuff.

I don't see a small kid tipping over a heavy piece of furnature by climbing on it. I'm sure it happens, probably about as often as someone gets hit by lightening.

 

[squidrope]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6oHH9GTzsg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is urging parents of young children to anchor and stabilize their televisions, furniture, and appliances to prevent tip-over related incidents.

CPSC estimates that more than 43,000 consumers are injured each year in tip-over incidents. More than 25,000 (59 percent) of those injuries are to children under the age of 18. Falling furniture accounts for more than half (52 percent) of the injury reports. Falling televisions have proven to be more deadly, as they are associated with more than half (62 percent) of reported fatalities.

 

[Baloney Sandwich]

Roughly 24,000 people are killed by lightening each year and roughly 240,000 are injured

 

[bostonfred]

I'm not sure what "earthquake territory" has to do with kids climbing on stuff.

I don't see a small kid tipping over a heavy piece of furnature by climbing on it. I'm sure it happens, probably about as often as someone gets hit by lightening.

Its a lot easier than you think. A lot of furniture leans forward naturally. The back is made of particle board and the front has hard wood facade and casters. Most floors tend to blow in towards the center over time, while furniture is near the wall. If it's sitting on a rug, it's going to lean forward even more over time.When you pull the drawers out, more of the weight goes to the front. And when a kid wants to climb, they naturally pull out the bottom drawer to stand on, and pull hard on the top front to climb up.

My kid pulled down a small piece of toy furniture (one or those little kitchens with doors he can open and close). Fortunately it was really light weight and I was there to stop it. But if that had been am armor or tall bureau it could have been bad. Changed my whole thought process on this because I'm usually the lazy dad.

 

[Apple Jack]

In high school we had a tall nitrous tank at a neighbor's place one weekend when his parents were out of town. He fell into it, knocking it into one of these pieces, which was fixed to the wall. Destroyed the piece, but the china inside was spared possibly by it being anchored. Just sayin'.

 

[Sinn Fein]

Seems like evolution is taking a step back in the Otis household.

 

[Otis]

We could figure out pretty early on that our kids weren't climbers, so no.

If I thought a piece of furniture was going to fall over just from my 12 month old kid pulling themselves up from a crawl to standing, then I would have probably felt the need to attach it to the wall regardless of children.

What about when other kids come over? Play dates? Cousins? If it's a risk, I can't just conclude that it isn't a risk to my kids and not do it for that reason, too many other freaking kids around.

 

[bostonfred]

Roughly 24,000 people are killed by lightening each year and roughly 240,000 are injured

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+people+are+injured+by+lightning+each+year

"Just 23 people died as a direct result from lightning strikes in 2013, according to figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This is in contrast with 1943, the deadliest year for lightning strikes in the U.S. when 432 people were struck and killed."

 

[Sinn Fein]

Roughly 24,000 people are killed by lightening each year and roughly 240,000 are injured

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+people+are+injured+by+lightning+each+year

"Just 23 people died as a direct result from lightning strikes in 2013, according to figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This is in contrast with 1943, the deadliest year for lightning strikes in the U.S. when 432 people were struck and killed."

he said "roughly"

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Might as well slap a helmet on him too

Otis will be fine without a helmet. This is an easy job. Locate stud, screw eyelet into stud. screw eyelet into back of furniture, some picture wire, and he has it. I don't see the potential for him to get hurt.

 

[The Duff Man]

I always attached the heavier stuff, or anything that looked prone to tip if climbed on.

When my daughter was 3 we got an Ikea dresser. It was short and wide, no way she could tip it. One day we hear the crash. I raced up to her room to see her laying under it. Luckily, with the drawer out, it somehow tilted to the side when it came down. I have no idea how, it seems physically impossible.

The edge of the drawer shattered and absorbed most of the weight.

Not super heavy, but how much weight is needed to crush internal organs of a 3 year old?

Do it.

 

[proninja]

Out of curiosity what's you're argument for not doing this

Probably the same as everyone else's in here who have not gotten to it. I try to limit the amount of PIA things I need to do. The list is already long. So I triage.

I'd take a different strategy. .I have a list of things to do that are actually a PIA to do (remodel the bathroom, pipe for a new gas range, finish finishing the garage) and if I had something as simple as screw a hole in the wall, I'd crack a beer, involve the wife, drag it out long enough that I didn't have to do something else, make careful measurements, and make a big show of doing something to protect your kid. Happy wife, easy job.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Out of curiosity what's you're argument for not doing this

Probably the same as everyone else's in here who have not gotten to it. I try to limit the amount of PIA things I need to do. The list is already long. So I triage.

You are taking the wrong approach. Just say:

"Baby, you're right. That's why I love you. Well that and B.J.'s. I'll run to the Depot and have this fixed today."

You then take off and have a cigar at the tittie bar. 45 minutes max. Hit the depot if you don't already have the stuff to fix this (which would be pathetic btw) Do the job, but find a few opportunities to stop for five minutes or so and curse. Make it seem somewhat more than it is. Now, since you are you, you wil probably hurt yourself, great; if you do not hurt yourself naturally then give yourself a little ##### in the thumb with something. Pump the blood up. Ask her where you guys keep the band aids, the big ones. When she asks if you are all right say yes, you just need to sit for a moment. You are now done with chores for the day, and you are in for a B.J. tonight. You can think about the stripper you saw while your wife is working if you like, your choice.

 

[Cjw_55106]

The beauty of statistics are, they don't mean #### when your kid is one of the numbers.

 

[jon_mx]

How well do you like your kid?

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Out of curiosity what's you're argument for not doing this

Probably the same as everyone else's in here who have not gotten to it. I try to limit the amount of PIA things I need to do. The list is already long. So I triage.

I'd take a different strategy. .I have a list of things to do that are actually a PIA to do (remodel the bathroom, pipe for a new gas range, finish finishing the garage) and if I had something as simple as screw a hole in the wall, I'd crack a beer, involve the wife, drag it out long enough that I didn't have to do something else, make careful measurements, and make a big show of doing something to protect your kid. Happy wife, easy job.

Beat me to it.

Sometimes I wonder how Otis managed to slay ##### and climb to partnership. I have concluded he was an idiot savant in those two areas of life only. Otherwise he is a functional #######.

BTW, I would trade all of my handy man abilities to have his two apparent talents.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Roughly 24,000 people are killed by lightening each year and roughly 240,000 are injured

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+people+are+injured+by+lightning+each+year

"Just 23 people died as a direct result from lightning strikes in 2013, according to figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This is in contrast with 1943, the deadliest year for lightning strikes in the U.S. when 432 people were struck and killed."

Sounds like lightning is getting old and tired.

 

[Baloney Sandwich]

Roughly 24,000 people are killed by lightening each year and roughly 240,000 are

injured

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+people+are+injured+by+lightning+each+year

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+people+are+injured+by+lightning+each+year"Just 23 people died as a direct result from

lightning strikes in 2013, according to figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This is in contrast with 1943, the deadliest year for lightning strikes in

the U.S. when 432 people were struck and killed."

My figures were world wide

 

[Bottomfeeder Sports]

Roughly 24,000 people are killed by lightening each year and roughly 240,000 are

injured

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+people+are+injured+by+lightning+each+year

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+people+are+injured+by+lightning+each+year"Just 23 people died as a direct result from

lightning strikes in 2013, according to figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This is in contrast with 1943, the deadliest year for lightning strikes in

the U.S. when 432 people were struck and killed."

My figures were world wide

So the 240,000 figure are those that failed to anchor their large outdoor furniture?

 

[bostonfred]

Roughly 24,000 people are killed by lightening each year and roughly 240,000 are

injured

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+people+are+injured+by+lightning+each+year

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+people+are+injured+by+lightning+each+year"Just 23 people died as a direct result from

lightning strikes in 2013, according to figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This is in contrast with 1943, the deadliest year for lightning strikes in

the U.S. when 432 people were struck and killed."

My figures were world wide

There are roughly 350 million people in the US and less than twenty times that in the world. So that would give us about 400 to 8000 as a reasonable worldwide estimate. Maybe people in other countries just get hit by lightning way more than we do, but that isn't very helpful when Otis is trying to figure out the risk to his kids here.

 

[Baloney Sandwich]

Roughly 24,000 people are killed by lightening each year and roughly 240,000 are

injured

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+people+are+injured+by+lightning+each+year

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+people+are+injured+by+lightning+each+year"Just 23 people died as a direct result from

lightning strikes in 2013, according to figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This is in contrast with 1943, the deadliest year for lightning strikes in

the U.S. when 432 people were struck and killed."

My figures were world wide

There are roughly 350 million people in the US and less than twenty times that in the world. So that would give us about 400 to 8000 as a reasonable worldwide estimate. Maybe people in other countries just get hit by lightning way more than we do, but that isn't very helpful

when Otis is trying to figure out the risk to his kids here.

I don't understand what lightning strike frequencies in the US (or world) matter when it comes to the furnature in his house

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Mrs. O keeps telling me about all these horror stories in which heavy furniture falls over onto and hurts or kills kids. We've in particular got a tall and narrow armoir/book case thing that is pretty heavy, and she's concerned. She wants me to attach it to the wall so it doesn't fall over.

Do people really do this? Is this just an old wive's tale, or are these things really pose a danger to kids?

TIA

My kid is 3 months old and my wife is talking about this. I think she's nuts. Something tall/thin I can see. But long dressers that seem like sturdy bases should be fine right?

 

[GroveDiesel]

When I was 4 or 5 I pulled out some drawers in my parents dresser chest and climbed up them. It tipped over towards me. Luckily I fell to the floor and the top of the dresser hit the bed so that the bed caught it and left a gap.

So yeah, I anchor heavy stuff to the wall. It's really not that time consuming. The biggest drawback is that you have to put holes in your wood furniture

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Roughly 24,000 people are killed by lightening each year and roughly 240,000 are

injured

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+people+are+injured+by+lightning+each+year

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+people+are+injured+by+lightning+each+year"Just 23 people died as a direct result from

lightning strikes in 2013, according to figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This is in contrast with 1943, the deadliest year for lightning strikes in

the U.S. when 432 people were struck and killed."

My figures were world wide

Everything about you is world wide.

 

[Sinn Fein]

Have you bolted the garage door shut yet?

 

[Quez]

Just take some crap off the shelves so if it falls on the kid they likely just get covered by it.

 

[snellman]

I can't help but think of the comedian that had the line "Go ahead and pull that TV on top of yourself, hurts doesn't it." Wish I could remember the name.

Just have them wear their bicycle helmet in the house too and you will be fine.