Keeping Toddlers AWAY from the stove

joecool85 said:

JimJ said:

Think about asking your wife what she wants too. I am only home nights and weekends. During the day wife and younger kids are home - and only one set of eyes to watch the kids. If she doesn't feel comfortable leaving the kids with the stove you might want the fence. It is also a great place to hang coats, snow pants, etc during the winter.

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I agree entirely. I would have been fine with no fence/gate, but my wife really wanted one and now I'm glad we have it. It does make me feel safer. Still important to teach the kiddo that the stove is hot though. I also agree about hanging stuff to dry, I love putting my gloves on the gate when the stove is ~500F or so, dries them out super fast.

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+1 with the "drying rack". We (by we I mean she) do the cloth diaper thing, and the rail/gate has become the official drying rack during the winter as well. Drys them out in no time.

hemlock said:

joecool85 said:

JimJ said:

Think about asking your wife what she wants too. I am only home nights and weekends. During the day wife and younger kids are home - and only one set of eyes to watch the kids. If she doesn't feel comfortable leaving the kids with the stove you might want the fence. It is also a great place to hang coats, snow pants, etc during the winter.

Click to expand...

I agree entirely. I would have been fine with no fence/gate, but my wife really wanted one and now I'm glad we have it. It does make me feel safer. Still important to teach the kiddo that the stove is hot though. I also agree about hanging stuff to dry, I love putting my gloves on the gate when the stove is ~500F or so, dries them out super fast.

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+1 with the "drying rack". We (by we I mean she) do the cloth diaper thing, and the rail/gate has become the official drying rack during the winter as well. Drys them out in no time.

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We do cloth diapers as well! And by we, I mean we. I do a lot of diaper changes when I'm not at work.

Use one of those one strand electric fences. Problem solved.

Adios Pantalones said:

Use one of those one strand electric fences. Problem solved.

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Ha Ha !

I was all for the cloth diapers thing and my wife didn't know that people still used them. I washed out the first one and we've used the disposable ones ever since.

Cloth is the way to go. I made a deal with my wife that if she agreed to use them for both our children, I'd wash them. And I did. Now I've got a great supply of outstanding polising cloths. You really can't beat 'em.

My fiances father always tells me this story over and over... But I'll shorten it right up.
When my fiance and her sister were younger (5ish or so), her sister touched the stove at her grandparents house. Lesson learned, never did it again.

Sections of railing purchased from Home Depot (see pic). Less than $50 invested. My daughter has one speed--full-throttle. She knows the stove is hot...we warm our hands next to it, and she helps in starting fires but I still put this around the oslo so she didn't take a digger into 650 degrees.

sullystull said:

Sections of railing purchased from Home Depot (see pic). Less than $50 invested. My daughter has one speed--full-throttle. She knows the stove is hot...we warm our hands next to it, and she helps in starting fires but I still put this around the oslo so she didn't take a digger into 650 degrees.

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I was going to do this but our local Home Depot doesn't carry anything railing like that, it's all special order.

Here is a case in point just this morning. :-S
Glad it was just a hand and not a face. I worry as well even with an insert that is in a corner that's not heavily trafficked by the grands.
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/85090/

Most has already been said... Our first year (3 kids at the time) we didn't have a fence/gate around the stove. No issues, kids stayed clear and I wasn't too worried.

Then we had a friend with a young one visit. Guess what? Little ones who aren't around hot stoves don't share the same respect for "HOT" that my kids do. AND believe it or not, not all kids are disciplined as well to listen to adults (even their own mother) when they say "STOP!" or other things. Luckily nobody was hurt that day, but we sure learned something. That was the end of the burning season and after that we simply didn't burn when that friend was headed over.

Faced with the choice of harm to that (and potentially other) friendships and the additional realization (from other discussions unrelated to this friend) that accidents even with well disciplined and wary children can happen, we chose to put up a gate.

I was able to find a nice 'gently used' - aka looked brand new, gate/fence on craigslist before the next burning season. I highly recommend anyone looking for one look there - about 1/2 the price or less. I know ours will be there once our youngest is old enough to carry wood into the house (figure that is about when the gate is no longer really serving useful purpose). Although we may keep it a bit longer in case of visitors... It does fold up pretty small.

pen said:

sullystull said:

Sections of railing purchased from Home Depot (see pic). Less than $50 invested. My daughter has one speed--full-throttle. She knows the stove is hot...we warm our hands next to it, and she helps in starting fires but I still put this around the oslo so she didn't take a digger into 650 degrees.

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Is there a gate in that setup?

pen

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No gate. I can easily reach over and load wood through the side door. The whole thing is simply "resting" on the hearth so I can pull it off when cleaning out the ash pan. It wouldn't hold up well if used as playground equipment but like I said, I just need it to stop a head first digger into the stove.
And for me it was a no-brainer...these sections came in 4' and 6' sections--the same dimensions as my hearth. There were no cuts needed and I simply bolted the sections together. You can swing open the side sections if needed as well.

My lesson learned is: don't clean the hearth with a fire going. The fireplace grate and various items around the hearth, (ash can, dutch oven, tinder box, fireplace tools) are enough to keep her little hands away from it but the ONE TIME I cleaned the *whole* hearth.... Yeah.

~Rose

Yeah, anyone who says it's better for kids to learn not to touch a hot stove can get their booty over here to change my baby girl's dressing twice a day while she apologizes for crying and touching the stove. We were very, very lucky she was not more badly burned.

~Rose

RoseRedHoofbeats said:

Yeah, anyone who says it's better for kids to learn not to touch a hot stove can get their booty over here to change my baby girl's dressing twice a day while she apologizes for crying and touching the stove. We were very, very lucky she was not more badly burned.

~Rose

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Yep...having my daughter experience that is my worst nightmare. Sending positive energy to your family from here in WV.

joecool85 said:

sullystull said:

Sections of railing purchased from Home Depot (see pic). Less than $50 invested. My daughter has one speed--full-throttle. She knows the stove is hot...we warm our hands next to it, and she helps in starting fires but I still put this around the oslo so she didn't take a digger into 650 degrees.

Click to expand...

I was going to do this but our local Home Depot doesn't carry anything railing like that, it's all special order.

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Look in to the balusters they sell for deck/porch railings. I used those along with some 2X4 material to construct a gate across my stairwell. That may be a cheap option for a woodstove surround too.