My sister has had to childproof her cabinets and drawers at home. Her toddlers are innately curious, poking around the tiniest, insignificant items as they try to make sense of their surroundings. The constant streams of new experiences arouse their curiosity, spurring them to explore for hours on end. No wonder, we often see them checking out every nook and cranny, raiding a chest of drawers, cabinets, storage and what have you.
The only thing is— being so curious and adventurous can lead to some small mishaps: a scrape, cuts, and bruises, here and there.
Given that, keeping our little ones safe as they dig into every little thing that piques their interest is crucial. Looking after them is a full-time job. We can’t just get our eyes off them. I mean— how many times have we seen toddlers getting their fingers jammed in cabinet doors or drawers?
To prevent such slip ups, baby proofing our homes must take precedence in our list of priorities.
Let’s start with the cabinets, drawers, and cupboards.
- Child Proofing Cabinets With a Rubber Band
When visiting their grandma, my nephew and my niece are always ready to raid the sweet cupboards– and are inclined to open every cabinet door they can find to see what’s inside. Needless to say, keeping them still while we’re having conversations with the grownups in the house is a little bit of a hassle and a challenge.
It’s a good thing my sister learned this child-proofing hack from a mom on YouTube — keeping those little fingers off cabinet doors using rubber bands. So, as you can imagine, my sister always takes a few rubber bands with her when visiting someone; it’s the cheapest, fastest, and easiest way to child proof cabinet doors.
How to Child Proof Cabinets With a Rubber Band?
It’s quite easy. Just put the rubber band over the cabinet knobs and make a tight loop over each knob to lock them up. Make sure you use thicker rubber bands, as the flimsy ones snap quite easily. If you don’t have rubber bands,you can use an old, discarded shoe lace to tie a tight knot around each knob, and viola, it’s as locked as it gets.
- Benny Bradley’s Upgraded Invisible Baby Proofing Cabinet Latch Locks
Aside from using rubber bands, you may also want to try this baby-proofing latch if you want to keep your cabinet door locked without breaking a sweat. It’s a breeze to install; the setup is straightforward. The latch also has strong 3M adhesives, allowing you to put it in place without drilling holes into your cabinets or cupboards. Plus, it can be removed without leaving any trace of glue stain on the surface.
Rubber bands and other magnetic and knob locks can stick out like a sore thumb in the kitchen. Good thing thisInvisible Child Proof Latch for Cabinets has an invisible design feature, a great perk for moms who want to keep their space neat and stylish.
It takes mere seconds to install. You just need to take off the sticker, and then stick the latch lock on the cabinet– as simple as that. You may also apply the Catch if necessary.
How to Open Baby-Proof Cabinets
Another thing that we love most about this baby-proofing latch? While it’s a real puzzle for our little ones to unlatch the door, pulling it open is a breeze for adults. The locks can manage 20 lbs of pull tension, able to keep the door locked no matter how hard they try to yank it open— it just wouldn’t budge. As for adults, you just have to press down the spring-loaded latch to unlock the door.
Tip: Align the latch at the perfect height. Failing to do so will block the cabinet door from closing.
What’s inside?
10 Latch locks
10 Catches
3M Adhesives
- Magnetic Cabinet Locks for Baby Proofing
Another good option to keep those little hands from rummaging through the cabinet and drawers is the 20-pack Vmaisi Magnetic Cabinet Locks. No need to drill as well into your wooden furniture, thanks to its strong and durable 3M adhesives. These baby-proofing locks are also invisible from the outside as they can be installed inside cabinets and cupboards–keeping your living spaces neat and tidy. They are versatile as well –you can use them to lock drawers and cabinets in the kitchen, pantry room, bedroom, and other areas of your home.
What’s inside?
20 Magnetic locks
2 Key holders
20 Latches
1 Installation cradle
1 Installation measure ruler
3 pieces you need to put together
Magnetic lock
Installation Cradle ( you will use this to mount every magnetic lock you install on every cabinet )
3M Adhesive
To install, put the cradle over the magnetic lock. Once it’s put in place, take the 3M Adhesive and slide it inside the two prongs situated on either side of the piece. After which, take off the strip, including the one found in the back of the magnetic lock. Place the piece inside the cabinet, attaching the top sticky piece ( narrow adhesive area ) against the top edge frame of the cabinet. Make sure the one with a large adhesive area is facing the door of the cabinet. Then, close the cabinet door to get the magnetic lock stuck to the door. You can then reopen the cabinet to remove the cradle from the lock.
To keep the cabinet shut, we need to engage the lock by putting the button down before closing the door. To unlock it, simply use the magnetic key. It comes with a base that you can stick on the fridge; it serves as a placeholder for your key— incredibly handy for those of us who are prone to misplacing small items in the house.
And if kids are away or there’s no longer a need to use the magnetic lock, you can easily disable it by flipping the lever up. In doing so, you can conveniently close and open the cabinet doors and drawers without having to use the magnetic key.