Keeping Toby Safe

One of the biggest issues with having a child with additional needs is keeping up with safety concerns. Over the years my brain has been stretched to its limits trying to find safety items, usually designed for toddlers, but required for a much older child. I’ve had to resolve all sorts of practical problems including bigger pushchairs; longer cots; more sturdy bed guards; bigger sleeping bags; sleeping ideas with sides for on holiday; hotel door alarms; taller stair gates; gates that can’t be removed; WiFi plug sockets; lockable knife blocks; combination locks on cupboards; outdoor tap lock; sturdy cupboard locks; door alarms and my last big safety feature was a combination gate lock. Yesterday Toby pulled his finest trick yet….. He decided he was hungry. He put the oven on (always switched off at the wall and all buttons were off) but also he decided to put the grill on (never used). However he didn’t remove the sandwich toaster first!!! 😶‍🌫️😵‍💫 Let me tell you that one grilled melted sandwich toaster made an awful lot of thick acrid smoke!!!!!!!!! My smoke alarm at least has been thoroughly tested. I had fun keeping Toby away from the oven, whilst flinging the doors and windows open wide; and hanging onto the kitten who wanted to escape!! So today these have arrived. They are socket protectors. The single one is a SocketLoc which is now mounted over the oven switch. There’s a small plastic key now hanging from the cupboard above so that we don’t lose it. It’s exceptionally hard to open - we practised lots before fitting it. We don’t anticipate Toby opening it in a hurry! The other one is a Socketsafe and it has been fitted in the hall to stop Toby endlessly unplugging items that don’t need to be unplugged. This one has a slight curve to accommodate chunkier items. It has a key and spring mechanism to open it. Toby has also this week become a master of undoing door locks. As a result we have stuck a command hook up very high to hang the house keys on. The keys already have lots of bells attached so that I can hear when they are being moved. Overnight the alarm gives extra protection from escapees too. Have you had to find novel solutions to every day problems? Originally Published on 24.9.2021