Kids and fire...accidents?

My 3yo daughter learned the sign language for hot when she was 1.5. She knew what it was and stayed away from our gas fireplace, radiator and fireplace. Our son is 1 now and this will be his 1st winter of being mobile. We'll see how this works.

We've done sign language for both of our kids so far from very early on. Let's just say they learn "no" and "hot" very quickly.

I guess I am not of the normal for here. If there is a chance of a child getting a burn, it is easy to remove the risk.

Our stove is in the middle of the family room and a main walkway. Stove runs 24/7 - October through April - for the past 4 years. We have 4 kids, from 11 to 2 and there is always a screen/fence around the stove.

They will learn it is hot but one hand or head hitting a 700F stove top it not worth the risk. Accidents do happen - I see no reason to learn from a mistake that is easy to avoid. I would rather know they can play whatever they want, run round, re-arrange the room, etc and I do not have to worry about things or people being too close. They can still get close enough to be warm and nap on the floor by the fire. It also keeps toys, blankets, books, etc from getting to close.

The fence is great for winter coats, gloves, pants, etc. Where else would they go?

Stove in a basement or corner of a room that is only used occasionally might be different.

A top loading stove might be key for not seeing the fence as an issue.

EatenByLimestone said:

Sheesh, you already have one on the way! It's a little late to figure out how to not have an accident in front of the fire! :lol:

On a more serious note, I have an 8 month old. In the old house I'd be freaking out a bit as the stove was out in the open. In the new house, having the stove in the basement conveniently took the worry away.

Matt

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That was funny as hell

3 kids, 10 - 7 - 3, have been raised so far without a single burn from the two wood stoves. Talk to them, teach them and open it up with them so they can feel how hot it is. They will understand...

I picked up the Gate (kidco I think), even though it was way more expensive than I wanted to spend.> i'm pretty happy with it. My son learned "hot" very early on and knows not to touch, but I've grown to enjoy the gate for the simple fact that I need to worry less about things (toys) ending up next to the stove. It also makes a wonderful drying rack.

EatenByLimestone said:

Sheesh, you already have one on the way! It's a little late to figure out how to not have an accident in front of the fire!

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Very good! That's right up there with, "I swerved to avoid a child and fell off the couch."

CTwoodburner said:

3 kids, 10 - 7 - 3, have been raised so far without a single burn from the two wood stoves. Talk to them, teach them and open it up with them so they can feel how hot it is. They will understand...

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This method of teaching sounds like the best one. Kids like to explore and if you teach them earlier then they will hopefully catch on. Showing them how hot it is should do the trick. Thanks for this advice!

BeGreen said:

There are about 10,000 pediatric burn injuries reported per year. The most common child burn injuries are in the bathroom from scalding (65%), and kitchen burns second.

"The most common causes of product-related thermal burn injuries among children ages 14 and under are hair curlers, curling irons, room heaters, ovens and ranges, irons, gasoline, and fireworks."
http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site903/mainpageS903P0.html

The statistics odds of a child being burned by a stove are significantly much less than injury by a hot faucet or a gun.

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true, but every house has a kitchen and bathroom, not nearly as many have stoves (us hearth.commers are trying to fix that)

EatenByLimestone said:

Sheesh, you already have one on the way! It's a little late to figure out how to not have an accident in front of the fire! :lol:
On a more serious note, I have an 8 month old. In the old house I'd be freaking out a bit as the stove was out in the open. In the new house, having the stove in the basement conveniently took the worry away.

Matt

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Hehheh . . . best line of the day so far.

btuser said:

I'm going to save my anxiety for the first boyfriend who shows up with a motorcycle.

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I'd be more worried if he showed up with a guitar. Doubly so if on motorcycle with guitar strapped on back.

Bobforsaken said:

I picked up the Gate (kidco I think), even though it was way more expensive than I wanted to spend.> i'm pretty happy with it. My son learned "hot" very early on and knows not to touch, but I've grown to enjoy the gate for the simple fact that I need to worry less about things (toys) ending up next to the stove. It also makes a wonderful drying rack.

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For others looking at buying a gate/fence - check out craigs list - I have seen many of them there (that is where we picked ours up). Get it for about 1/2 the cost of new and they really don't wear much over the years so not much value is really lost. Seems folks do outgrow them pretty regularly.

Our first year we didn't use one - three kids (7, 5, 3) and no real issues. We had an imaginary wall that was just beyond the hearth pad that defined the closest kids were allowed to go and as others have said - a bit of firm discipline applied consistently (stove burning or cold) and no kids crossed the line more than a couple times.

Toys - well, we had a couple balls or others get too close and/or roll under. That was annoying.

Problem we did have that first year was a visiting 2 year old who we couldn't discipline (not our kid etc..) and wouldn't stay away, seemed to have no sense at all about "hot is dangerous". That scared me enough to (a) not want that kid around the house again and (b) not burn on those time when he did visit.

Next year (our second year burning) we got the fence (as well as another baby in the house... unrelated I assure you, heh). No problems with kids, didn't mind the fence as it was a nice place to hang the wet winter clothes to dry (three kids playing in snow make for a lot of things to hang up!). No toys under the stove this time and when guest kids came over it was FAR less stressful. Wish I had done it the first year.

I wonder just when we will consider ourselves to have 'outgrown' the fence to put it back up on CL to sell off. When it does happen I'm sure it will be in just as good a shape as it is now and someone else will get good use out of it.