Furniture Straps-Do/Did You Use Them?

My wife and I have been talking about strapping some of the larger furniture to the wall to prevent tipping furniture. Our son is already showing signs that he is going to be a climber, so it is a concern. I know some would argue that supervision is a better preventative, but I am a realist and would rather be safe than sorry. Just curious to know how many of you do/did/would use these straps on select furniture (furniture with drawers, unstable furniture, etc.)

we didn't use furniture straps, but we cabled some tall pieces of furniture to the wall from behind, much like hanging a picture (i'm talking about tall, tippy pieces like cupboards and armoires).

We used them in both boys' rooms on their dressers and bookshelves. We also did my husband's tall chest of drawers in our room. The kits are cheap, I believe less than $3 dollars for the Safety First brand and it comes with 2 anchors and they are very easy to install.
Even with constant supervision, it only takes a second for something to happen!

My dd pulled her dresser over on top of her when she was just turned 3 yo. She was not injured, but I was scarred for life seeing her small little naked (just from the bath) body under the big dresser, squished between the dresser and the stool that she was standing on before the dresser tipped over.

We have those straps on everything now. Small price to pay, I think.

i actually prefer picture cables/hangers. i found the safety 1st (and other brands) of securing devices to be either poorly designed, unreliable, or difficult to use (or expensive). we got safety 1st cabinet locks (the self-adhesive kind) and the adhesive separated from the locks after a week. talk about safety 1st... should be called safety LAST.

My godson pulled a tv down on himself when he was about 2. He broke his leg. The boys i take care of have nothing in the house that they can tip over other than a guess a small bookcase. When they are running around the house we really watch them. We have to because it is not childproof

Even the most diligent parents don't have their eyes on the child 24/7. Especially when there is more than one kid in the home . None of ours are currently anchored because our oldest 2 know better and dont' climb anymore, and Xander hasn't started yet - but I'll be getting dh to do it soon.

Thanks everyone, I am going to get started on it this week, just wanted to see if others have done it. Some people I've talked to have said "we never had anything like that when we were growing up" line. It's good to hear from reasonable thinkers. Southpaw, I used those Safety First brand cabinet locks too, but maybe slightly different version. The instructions said the double-sided sticky tape was just to hold in place to make it easier to fasten the screws. Maybe yours was different though. I am also thinking of making my own furniture straps, although I did buy a set from Safety First, mainly to see how they are. Picture frame wire is a good idea, I was thinking about getting nylon webbing and using a large screw with a fender washer on both the wall and the furniture, but the wire would allow for better tightening I think. Did you use eyebolts on both sides?

I agree with securing furniture to the wall. It really does only take a minute for them to get into trouble. I've personally had a hard time getting the straps to be secure. I usaually ancor with heavy picture wire connected to a screw in the back of the furniture to another screw in a wall stud. Or, if you can get the right placement that lines up with a stud "L" brackets work good too.

We've had a few children in the Philadelphia area die from having large, heavy items fall on them. Our local SafeKids chapter is very active in getting the word out about securing furniture.

Each of the dressers in the kids' rooms are secured, as well as the bookshelf. In our LR the bookshelves and the entertainment center are secured.

I had trouble with the brand of wall straps I used as well but I don't think they were Safety 1st...either way when we moved, DH had forgotten they were there I guess, and gave a tug on the armoire - the straps just cracked they had gotten really brittle (only about 2 years after installing). Now we use really fine chain with screws through each end of it. And here is why...
Really, even though I knew of the dangers of furniture tipping, I thought all of ours was pretty stable, in particular the dresser we had in DS's (4.5 at the time) room. It had a big 10gal aquarium that was pushed way back on it, actually right against the wall, I thought this made it even more stable. One day while I made dinner, DS and DD (1.5) decided to feed the fish, but instead of using the stool like he usually did, they both must have climbed up on the bottom drawer. I clearly remember that I was cutting up veggies for pasta salad when I heard the biggest thud ever, and ran upstairs to find my DD aged 18mos with her head INSIDE the fish tank, and broken glass and water all around - the dresser had tipped, and the tank had fallen directly on her head, shattering around her head as it fell. By the grace of God the open drawer had prevented her from being crushed by the dresser, and by some miracle, the EMT said that most of the water must have fallen out of the tank before it hit her, so she was not crushed by the tank. I will never in my life forget the sight of her with her head inside that mess of broken glass - I had nightmares for a long time after. She had a huge cut on her neck and whole bunch of smaller ones on her shoulders, arms and hands - she still has the scars (to remind me of what could have been) but she has totally forgotten the incident, aside from what we have told her. I count myself blessed and so very lucky that she was not seriously hurt, and obviously felt a great deal of guilt for allowing that to happen. Some people might call it an accident, but it was easily preventable, and I didn't prevent it. On a lighter note - my DS who was 4.5 at the time and does remember, was not so much concerned for his little sister as he was for his pet fish. I remember while I was trying to calm and assess the injuries of DD he was frantically calling to his auntie to help him save the fish
Sorry for the rant, but if this inspires one person to secure their furniture then I guess it was worth the read...

We have L brackets on our floor-to-ceiling bookcase, but I like the picture wire idea too.

I think those plastic straps are a nice idea, but probably won't last long enough and the wire allows for more adjustment of the piece once you get everything in place.

Just make sure you get the screw into a wall stud or something solid - I wouldn't trust a drywall anchor. My Dh was able to pull one out from our wall with just his hands and made a big hole too!

OMG, after reading some of these stories- I can't believe that is the one baby-proofing thing we never got! (I am an overly-anxious safety freak, as you all might have noticed) BUT, I must say, aside from DD's dresser, we don't have any tall furniture, and no fish tank to tip over. We do have a TV, but it is in the basement. I am lucky that my kids haven't climbed anything- they are more "snoopers"- DD now likes to go through our nightstands and "swipe" things like Swiper the Fox on Dora. Thank God all your kids are ok.!!!!!

I've always had the dressers and bookcases secured to the wall. I've always used L brackets or have removed a couple of dresser drawers and screwed long screws through the back piece of the dresser. I like the idea of using the picture wire cable or the chain. I'll have to see what I have in my toolbox or make a trip to the hardware store.

Canadianmom I'm so glad to hear that your kids weren't seriously hurt, how scary.

Thanks for bringing up the topic MacGyver.

Does anyone have their stove secured to the wall? We just bought a house and one of the things the inspector marked down was the anti tip device on the stove wasn't there. He said there have been cases where the kid uses the oven door to climb up on the counter and it fell over. It was one of the things our sellers had to fix.

Rachel

rachel3612 said:

Does anyone have their stove secured to the wall? We just bought a house and one of the things the inspector marked down was the anti tip device on the stove wasn't there. He said there have been cases where the kid uses the oven door to climb up on the counter and it fell over. It was one of the things our sellers had to fix.

Rachel

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I'll have to double check but my stove must have it as Rylan hasn't tipped it yet from sitting on the door...and yes this terrifies me and is my reason for not cooking. I have a stove lock to put on but the landlord is supposed to be replacing the stove because it doesn't seal properly.

I've always used L brackets. We just moved Ian to a "big boy" bed, so there is now nothing that he can climb on. I put his books in bins, and everyhting else is in cubes on the floor, except for the train table. There's nothing he can pull over. In the rest of the house, I have the tall bookcases bolted to the wall, and we don't have dressers.

Yes, we anchor tall or heavy furniture -- anything the kids could get hurt on.

I am a firm believer in childproofing homes, not children. Kids need to explore and learn and it's best for them to do that in a safe environment.

Canadianmom-- that was a horrific story! I'm very relieved for you & your daughter that everything eventually turned out without permanent serious bodily injury -- well, except for the poor fisn

Broken-- your godson was extremely fortunate. I remember 3 separate incidents in NM during 1998 or 1997 where the young children involved were KILLED by having tvs fall on them from supposedly secure tv stands It made me extremely conscious of TV sizes and what they're sitting on, plus training kids to not mess with it. DD STILL doesn't perform any of the functions with it -- probably because we use nothing but remotes.

I've never attached the furniture tethers to the wall. Pretty much because I've yet to see absolute security from it. The studs never seem to be where the furniture is supposed to be and I"m not attaching to sheet rock. False Security with it just being able to pull out of the wall.

Instead, I've placed rubber furniture coasters under the front legs of the dressers so they lean towards the wall instead of being so upright. It's not foolproof by any means, but it works with dd. She's easily discouraged from climbing the furniture too, so that helps. Her thing is moving chairs next to the dresser drawer or cabinet top she wants to examine and THEN standing on the chair usually her rocking chair

I've also placed one of our 'fences' across the entrance to the kitchen to block access to the entire kitchen instead of 'childproofing' it. The gate keeps dd out -- along with the dogs AND the cat My sanctuary

I just don't believe there is such a thing as completely 'child proofing' anything. It's only making something child resistant or delayed in the hopes that an adult finds the child before harm is done. Some of the stuff they sell is absolutely useless and easily de-secured. No child should be completely happy & comfortable in a kitchen because it is inherently one of the most dangerous locales in the house. DD knows there's 'rules' before she can enter. There's certain things she can play in there -- color, playdoh, magnets, but only with an adult present. She loves to help, but she must have her hair tied back & sleeves rolled up for safety before she can do so.
jmho.

We use furniture straps as well as earthquake straps for our TVs. My daughter pulled the TV down off my son's dresser one time (they were playing V Smile and she pulled it by the cord plugged into the front of the TV), and we were so lucky that she wasn't injured. I tell everyone about TV straps now.