Smarty wrote:
As grandparents, my wife and I do frequent toddler babysitting.

The kitchen cabinets, drawers, and other compartments are very tempting
for our grand-daughter to investigate. We are looking for a way to keep
this closed and inaccessible to a young child, while still allowing
adults to easily open and close the doors and drawers.

Unlike 30 years ago when our own children were toddlers, we now have
very high quality custom cabinetry and drawers, and do NOT want to
drill or attach any fasteners which deface or damage the cabinets /
doors. The fasteners were used 30 years ago required drilling holes
into both the doors and the cabinets in order to attach the plastic
latches. This is NOT an option for our current cabinets.

Does anybody know of any device or fastener or method which provides a
secure and reliable latch to children, easy access to adults, and easy
removal without leaving any permanent damage to the custom cabinetry?

Thanks in advance for your assistance and suggestions.


Nobody else said it, so I will- they used to sell little battery-powered
alarms for applications like this. Smaller than a smoke detector, but
using a similar horn, linked to a photocell that tripped the alarm five
seconds after light hit it- hopefully enough time for a grown-up to turn
it off when they were in the drawer or cabinet. I haven't looked lately-
no idea if anyone still offers them. Seems like an obvious market niche.

--
aem sends...

aemeijers wrote:

Smarty wrote:
As grandparents, my wife and I do frequent toddler babysitting.

The kitchen cabinets, drawers, and other compartments are very
tempting for our grand-daughter to investigate. We are looking for
a way to keep this closed and inaccessible to a young child, while
still allowing adults to easily open and close the doors and
drawers.

Unlike 30 years ago when our own children were toddlers, we now have
very high quality custom cabinetry and drawers, and do NOT want to
drill or attach any fasteners which deface or damage the cabinets /
doors. The fasteners were used 30 years ago required drilling holes
into both the doors and the cabinets in order to attach the plastic
latches. This is NOT an option for our current cabinets.

Does anybody know of any device or fastener or method which
provides a secure and reliable latch to children, easy access to
adults, and easy removal without leaving any permanent damage to
the custom cabinetry?

Thanks in advance for your assistance and suggestions.


Nobody else said it, so I will- they used to sell little
battery-powered alarms for applications like this. Smaller than a
smoke detector, but using a similar horn, linked to a photocell that
tripped the alarm five seconds after light hit it- hopefully enough
time for a grown-up to turn it off when they were in the drawer or
cabinet. I haven't looked lately- no idea if anyone still offers
them. Seems like an obvious market niche.

Thank you for the suggestion. I took the prior suggestion offered to
use magnetic latches, which are activated using a magnet "key" carried
by the adult. These are quite ingenious, relatively inexpensive, and
serve the purpose especially well. The Amazon and other user reviews
are extremely complimentary, and confirm that the latches not only work
very well but are truly 'child-proof' while avoiding any drilling or
cabinet damage.

My thanks once again to Jim ('JimmyDahGeek') for the recommendation he
offered on Saturday.

--

aemeijers wrote in
:

Smarty wrote:
As grandparents, my wife and I do frequent toddler babysitting.

The kitchen cabinets, drawers, and other compartments are very tempting
for our grand-daughter to investigate. We are looking for a way to keep
this closed and inaccessible to a young child, while still allowing
adults to easily open and close the doors and drawers.

Unlike 30 years ago when our own children were toddlers, we now have
very high quality custom cabinetry and drawers, and do NOT want to
drill or attach any fasteners which deface or damage the cabinets /
doors. The fasteners were used 30 years ago required drilling holes
into both the doors and the cabinets in order to attach the plastic
latches. This is NOT an option for our current cabinets.

the drilling is on the INSIDE and thus does not harm the cabinets.
Or maybe you could glue on the latches,using some modern glue,like
construction adhesive.Or glue on some strong magnets and metal plates.


Does anybody know of any device or fastener or method which provides a
secure and reliable latch to children, easy access to adults, and easy
removal without leaving any permanent damage to the custom cabinetry?

maybe a trip to the nearest children's store to see what's currently
available,or DAGS.


Thanks in advance for your assistance and suggestions.


Nobody else said it, so I will- they used to sell little battery-powered
alarms for applications like this. Smaller than a smoke detector, but
using a similar horn, linked to a photocell that tripped the alarm five
seconds after light hit it- hopefully enough time for a grown-up to turn
it off when they were in the drawer or cabinet. I haven't looked lately-
no idea if anyone still offers them. Seems like an obvious market niche.



Kinda costly to put them on every cabinet door and drawer.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

Jim Yanik wrote:
aemeijers wrote in
:

Smarty wrote:
As grandparents, my wife and I do frequent toddler babysitting.

The kitchen cabinets, drawers, and other compartments are very tempting
for our grand-daughter to investigate. We are looking for a way to keep
this closed and inaccessible to a young child, while still allowing
adults to easily open and close the doors and drawers.

Unlike 30 years ago when our own children were toddlers, we now have
very high quality custom cabinetry and drawers, and do NOT want to
drill or attach any fasteners which deface or damage the cabinets /
doors. The fasteners were used 30 years ago required drilling holes
into both the doors and the cabinets in order to attach the plastic
latches. This is NOT an option for our current cabinets.

the drilling is on the INSIDE and thus does not harm the cabinets.
Or maybe you could glue on the latches,using some modern glue,like
construction adhesive.Or glue on some strong magnets and metal plates.

Does anybody know of any device or fastener or method which provides a
secure and reliable latch to children, easy access to adults, and easy
removal without leaving any permanent damage to the custom cabinetry?

maybe a trip to the nearest children's store to see what's currently
available,or DAGS.

Thanks in advance for your assistance and suggestions.


Nobody else said it, so I will- they used to sell little battery-powered
alarms for applications like this. Smaller than a smoke detector, but
using a similar horn, linked to a photocell that tripped the alarm five
seconds after light hit it- hopefully enough time for a grown-up to turn
it off when they were in the drawer or cabinet. I haven't looked lately-
no idea if anyone still offers them. Seems like an obvious market niche.



Kinda costly to put them on every cabinet door and drawer.

Don't need them on every door and drawer, just the dangerous/expensive
ones. (poisons, booze, sharp things, fragile heirlooms, etc.) If the kid
gets in the linen cabinet, just make them help fold them all up again.
That'll teach them.

Last I saw the things, they were only 2-3 bucks apiece. I bet if all the
HF regulars on here wrote to them and asked, they would have their China
OEMs run off a batch in a few weeks.

--
aem sends...

aemeijers wrote in
:

Jim Yanik wrote:
aemeijers wrote in
:

Smarty wrote:
As grandparents, my wife and I do frequent toddler babysitting.

The kitchen cabinets, drawers, and other compartments are very
tempting for our grand-daughter to investigate. We are looking for
a way to keep this closed and inaccessible to a young child, while
still allowing adults to easily open and close the doors and
drawers.

Unlike 30 years ago when our own children were toddlers, we now
have very high quality custom cabinetry and drawers, and do NOT
want to drill or attach any fasteners which deface or damage the
cabinets / doors. The fasteners were used 30 years ago required
drilling holes into both the doors and the cabinets in order to
attach the plastic latches. This is NOT an option for our current
cabinets.

the drilling is on the INSIDE and thus does not harm the cabinets.
Or maybe you could glue on the latches,using some modern glue,like
construction adhesive.Or glue on some strong magnets and metal
plates.

Does anybody know of any device or fastener or method which
provides a secure and reliable latch to children, easy access to
adults, and easy removal without leaving any permanent damage to
the custom cabinetry?

maybe a trip to the nearest children's store to see what's currently
available,or DAGS.

Thanks in advance for your assistance and suggestions.


Nobody else said it, so I will- they used to sell little
battery-powered alarms for applications like this. Smaller than a
smoke detector, but using a similar horn, linked to a photocell that
tripped the alarm five seconds after light hit it- hopefully enough
time for a grown-up to turn it off when they were in the drawer or
cabinet. I haven't looked lately- no idea if anyone still offers
them. Seems like an obvious market niche.



Kinda costly to put them on every cabinet door and drawer.

Don't need them on every door and drawer, just the dangerous/expensive
ones. (poisons, booze, sharp things, fragile heirlooms, etc.) If the
kid gets in the linen cabinet, just make them help fold them all up
again. That'll teach them.

He's probably talking about little toddlers.
They're the ones for which you child-proof drawers and cabinets.


Last I saw the things, they were only 2-3 bucks apiece. I bet if all
the HF regulars on here wrote to them and asked, they would have their
China OEMs run off a batch in a few weeks.


kids can pull out a drawer and have it fall on their head. A sharp item
could cut or puncture them.

Oh,and don't forget the TV stand and bookcases,kids are pulling them down
and getting killed by them. there are straps you can attach to the wall to
keep them from toppling if a kid pulls on them.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com