What You Should Know Before Buying Child Safety Locks

As a new parent, you may be discovering the vast numbers of things that seemed innocuous but that now pose a hazard for your baby or toddler.  As the child becomes more mobile, he or she can get into just about anything so you need to consider getting child safety locks for cabinets, drawers, doors and toilets so that baby doesn’t get into things that can be dangerous.  Let’s take a look at the various child safety locks out there so you can see which ones are right for you.

Locks for Drawers

You probably have drawers in your kitchen and maybe in your bedroom and bathrooms.  You may think they contain harmless things in them but, to baby, these can be items the baby can swallow, choke on or be poisoned by.  When looking or drawer locks and latches, you need to look at the type of drawer you have and pay attention to how often you will be opening and closing it.

Most commonly, the drawer locks involve a “pressing down” feature in which there is a prong mounted on the drawer face and a hitch mounted on the inside of the upper drawer frame.  You open the drawer a little ways, press down on the prong and the drawer unlatches.  You can use adhesive-mounted drawer latches, which aren’t as sturdy, and hardware-mounted drawer latches.

Safety Locks for Toilets

Such locks and latches attach to the tank and to the lid to keep the toilet from opening more than an inch or so and then you push the connection to unlock the latch.  All toilets should be protected with toilet latches so as to keep baby from throwing things in the toilet or digging in the toilet water.  They also make swing-arm variety toilet childproofing safety locks that attach to the seat by means of bolts.

Buying Safety Locks: What to Remember

You need to pay attention to how hard it is to install a particular latch, how hard it is for you to figure out the latch once installed, how easy it is for your child to figure out the latch and how sturdy and durable the lock or latch is.  Can the baby figure it out as easily as you can?  Can it be easily broken?

Remember that you may need to open the drawer or cabinet many times yourself so you need to have them be as easy for you to master as it is hard for your child to master. Pay attention to what your child can do and what he cannot do. If a lock is too hard for you to master, it may not be worth purchasing.   

In Conclusion

A very good latch will deter your child for awhile but kids are smart and often can figure out a lock or latch before you know it.   Nothing takes the place of good child supervision at all times, even ifyou’re your drawers and cabinets are “safely” latched.

Author Credit:  This article was written and provided to Great Baby Products by Iggy Karuf owner of the website www.childproofingtips.com .