Childproofing collection?

[The Clown Prince]

Hey folks I have recently become a father and I am wondering what steps can be taken to secure the collection. I have 6 detolfs and my wife is already uncomfortable with the idea of then in the living room. Any ideas or suggestions? What have any of you fellow parents done?

 

[Luminous]

Congrats on becoming a dad. When I had my first kid I started to move my collection into the office. Over time it just became my collection room. This allowed me to keep my detolfs and bestas with glass doors. I just had to keep the door closed. As years went by more kids entered the fray. They continued to grow and subsequently more curious about my things. I never wanted it to feel like they had to walk on egg shells around my stuff. Nor did I want it to be a potential hazard zone. So I ultimately did away with glass shelving and never looked back. It's all open bestas, kallaxs, a fjallbo, and some floating shelves. Slightly more dust to deal with but a small price to pay IMO.

 

[MyenShi]

Congratulations.

I don't have kids yet, but if I've learned anything from being an uncle and having a spouse that managed a toy store, it's that:

• If it looks like a toy, a kid will try to play with it.
• If it doesn't look like a toy, a kid will try to play with it.
• If a kid shouldn't get into something, they'll get into it.

If you have enough room in the house, it'd be best to isolate your collection, especially if you have glass cabinets and shelves.

If that's not an option, then I would probably look at in in reverse (ie. not keeping the child away from the collection, but how to keep the collection away from the child) and put up a fence around it. Cover it up when you're not looking at it.

 

[choombaz]

I remember once walking in on my one year old who was pushing a heavy glass side table around the room. After a laugh and a video I took the table to my mother in laws. Your collection needs to be in a isolated study/collection room.

 

[Stryker2011]

I remember once walking in on my one year old who was pushing a heavy glass side table around the room. After a laugh and a video I took the table to my mother in laws. Your collection needs to be in a isolated study/collection room.

With a lockable door that only you (and the wife) have a key for.

 

[Ropen]

You legit need a kid fence around your detolfs because once your baby is mobile they will legit try to open AND tap on the glass hard like they want to knock it down lolol

Child locks or not they will try to break it for sure lolol. Also be careful what toys you leave around, they will always throw EVERYTHING they have a grip on, look you in the eyes and think it’s funny hahaha. I had twins and with my ikea shelves they opened the drawers and hid in the cabinets, my covid baby who just turned a year two weeks ago is following that same pattern, be careful

 

[generalszabo]

I'd say it's very hard to childproof if you don't have a separate room/man cave

You can keep things high up and closed off but if they're on display, a young child will want to touch, especially when it looks so interesting and appealing

Good luck and let us know what you decide on / any tips you found?

 

[shells075]

Barbed wire and land mines is the only solution. Even then I think they might get through.

 

[agonistes86]

Congrats on your child!
I don't have any advice yet, but I also just became a father this week and will build my new collection room over the next (hopefully) 6 months. Luckily the room is on the top floor of our house, so at least in the beginning, once she can crawl/walk, a fence will block her from getting up the stairs.

 

[mediame]

Congrats! It’s all about decoys. Find cheap representations of the collectibles that you can put out for them to play with. This has worked for me so far.

 

[The Clown Prince]

Thank all of you for the responses I truly appreciate then. I have been very preoccupied with the kiddo and work but your tips and warnings are spot on. He's already playing around and becoming a handful. I will try to isolate the collection to another room but if I can't it will have to be put away until a safer future.

 

[darth dennis]

Thank all of you for the responses I truly appreciate then. I have been very preoccupied with the kiddo and work but your tips and warnings are spot on. He's already playing around and becoming a handful. I will try to isolate the collection to another room but if I can't it will have to be put away until a safer future.

One thing that you should absolutely do is get one of those little "L" metal brackets and secure the detolfs to the wall so they can't be tipped over. I see a lot of tips on protecting the collection, but this is an important one for protecting the child. A kid will try to climb anything and something like a detolf could tip over. I have my collection in the basement mancave but still have my detolfs bracketed to the wall just in case. It's a five minute fix and gives good peace of mind that the detolf will stay where it belongs. Congrats by the way!

 

[Luminous]

One thing that you should absolutely do is get one of those little "L" metal brackets and secure the detolfs to the wall so they can't be tipped over. I see a lot of tips on protecting the collection, but this is an important one for protecting the child. A kid will try to climb anything and something like a detolf could tip over. I have my collection in the basement mancave but still have my detolfs bracketed to the wall just in case. It's a five minute fix and gives good peace of mind that the detolf will stay where it belongs. Congrats by the way!

Excellent point. Something I should have mentioned in my initial reply as well.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Sell your children.

Buy more dolls.

 

[ProtocolD]

Maybe I’ve been lucky, but I never (or almost never, because accidents happen even with us, let alone children) had any problem with my daughter and the collection. It helps that she’s a girl, and a quiet one at that, but I’ve always made it a point to teach her to be careful with things - be they toys, or books, or furniture, and to look after them. I imagine it’s one of those things you teach children, not just for the sake of your stuff but also about public stuff in general. I mean, if they’re not taught about looking after stuff at home, how do you expect them to look after stuff - library books, stuff at the playground - that is not theirs in the strict sense of the word?

 

[Darth Snoopy]

For this hobby? My suggestion is; Don't have children.

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