Any creative ideas to keep kids away from woodstove?

[raybonz]

When my kids were very young I was concerned too so I built a "fence" about 2' tall around the stove.. I used 2x4's blind drilled every 4" or so large enough to accomodate closet pole for the ballusters.. The corners were bolted together so it could be taken apart and stored for the off season.. None of my kids (I have 5) got burnt so it worked OK..

Ray

 

[raybonz]

Here's the fence I built:
All cheap lumber from lowe's. I think it cost around $40 total. 2x3's top and bottom, 1x2's for the spindles, quarter round on either side of the spindles to hold them in. Rattle can paint job. I used a miter saw for the cuts and a finish nailer to assemble it. There are screws at the corners for added strength. It's not attached, because it's heavy enough to stand freely, and I can remove it any time I need to. It's outside the stove clearances on every side, even the front, although it doesn't look like it in the photo.

Very nice job on the stove fence!!

Ray

 

[central_scrutinizer]

Am I strange to find something wrong with either threatening violence or allowing your kids to get burned? My son is a well behaved child without ever being threatened and would never touch the stove, but he is occasionally clumsy. All kids are. I guess I don't understand how "learnin' 'em" by physical harm is good parenting. On top of that, I'm not in control of his friends or cousins. The last thing I want is someone else's kid getting a serious burn. Why take a chance? Just to prove a point?

I didn't see anyone threatening anyone. It's simple. There's a stove in the room. Tell the kids not to touch it. If they touch it, they get burned. Their natural reflex will kick in and they will jerk away before any serious harm is done and a two valuable lessons will be learned.

1. Do what you're told.
2. Don't touch hot stuff, it hurts.

My guess is they will only get burned once. Everyone has to get burned once. If they learn sooner rather than later, so be it.

There are hundreds of things around the house that are potentially harmful given the right circumstance. You can't protect kids from everything. I certainly wouldn't construct some behemoth contraption because my kids won't do what they are told. Letting kids face the reality that they CAN get hurt if they don't mind their parents isn't poor parenting. Having the misconception that you can protect your kids from everything while preparing them for nothing, however, is.

 

[Shipper50]

This is kinda related to hot stoves and such, when I was about 9-10 I was cooking some soup and my mom was watching me. I left the spoon in the soup while it was cooking not realizing it was getting hot also. When I picked up the spoon to stir the soup it burned my hand and she said now you know.

Its been almost 50 years since then and I have never forgotten it. :roll:

Shipper

 

[raybonz]

Am I strange to find something wrong with either threatening violence or allowing your kids to get burned? My son is a well behaved child without ever being threatened and would never touch the stove, but he is occasionally clumsy. All kids are. I guess I don't understand how "learnin' 'em" by physical harm is good parenting. On top of that, I'm not in control of his friends or cousins. The last thing I want is someone else's kid getting a serious burn. Why take a chance? Just to prove a point?

I didn't see anyone threatening anyone. It's simple. There's a stove in the room. Tell the kids not to touch it. If they touch it, they get burned. Their natural reflex will kick in and they will jerk away before any serious harm is done and a two valuable lessons will be learned.

1. Do what you're told.
2. Don't touch hot stuff, it hurts.

My guess is they will only get burned once. Everyone has to get burned once. If they learn sooner rather than later, so be it.

There are hundreds of things around the house that are potentially harmful given the right circumstance. You can't protect kids from everything. I certainly wouldn't construct some behemoth contraption because my kids won't do what they are told. Letting kids face the reality that they CAN get hurt if they don't mind their parents isn't poor parenting. Having the misconception that you can protect your kids from everything while preparing them for nothing, however, is.

I agree with what you're saying however a kid could trip and land on the stove or someother crazy thing could happen.. It always amazed me how creative kids can be injuring themselves.. One time one of my kids slammed the toilet seat on his head lol..Another time (the same kid) did a swan dive off the couch into a heavy cypress coffee table, yes head first!! Even to this day and he is 24 he a bit of a daredevil!! This kid is not a dummy either.. graduated 3rd in class of 150 students.. You simply cannot predict every crazy thing that runs through their minds.. The idea of the fence was to slow them down and hopefully give us enough time to stop them before they get burned..

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure...

Ray

 

[joustinghill]

I have a hearth gate installed around our stove, not just for the kids but because I'm a klutz too. I can teach anyone to not touch the stove on purpose, but I felt safer knowing that no one could trip or stumble and crash into a 600+ degree hunk of metal. The gate also serves as a visual reminder of how far away combustibles must be kept so no one accidently leaves a basket of laundry or stuffed toy too close either.

 

[madrone]

Am I strange to find something wrong with either threatening violence or allowing your kids to get burned? My son is a well behaved child without ever being threatened and would never touch the stove, but he is occasionally clumsy. All kids are. I guess I don't understand how "learnin' 'em" by physical harm is good parenting. On top of that, I'm not in control of his friends or cousins. The last thing I want is someone else's kid getting a serious burn. Why take a chance? Just to prove a point?

I didn't see anyone threatening anyone. It's simple. There's a stove in the room. Tell the kids not to touch it. If they touch it, they get burned. Their natural reflex will kick in and they will jerk away before any serious harm is done and a two valuable lessons will be learned.

1. Do what you're told.
2. Don't touch hot stuff, it hurts.

My guess is they will only get burned once. Everyone has to get burned once. If they learn sooner rather than later, so be it.

There are hundreds of things around the house that are potentially harmful given the right circumstance. You can't protect kids from everything. I certainly wouldn't construct some behemoth contraption because my kids won't do what they are told. Letting kids face the reality that they CAN get hurt if they don't mind their parents isn't poor parenting. Having the misconception that you can protect your kids from everything while preparing them for nothing, however, is.

I've pretty much answered this at least once on this thread, so I'm done after this.

I was talking about the threat of spanking if the child touches the stove. "If you hurt yourself, I'll hurt you" seems like a strange way to keep kids from harm, but that's another huge topic for some other site. I shouldn't have even opened that door, and I don't really want to debate it here.

As I've already explained, I don't have any illusions about protecting my kids from everything. I do believe that teaching them is the best way to ensure they'll be safe when I'm not around. My son is not stupid, he doesn't touch hot stuff. At the same time, accidents happen. A stove has the potential to leave scars. The glass on the front of the stove is breakable. Even well-trained kids are clumsy at times. This isn't about learning not to touch hot stuff, it's about keeping them from getting an unnecessary injury. I expect them not to run in the street either, but I'm not going to let them get hit by a car in order to "learn a lesson".

It's too bad the original poster couldn't just get some ideas for a gate without a bunch of unrequested parenting advice. You do it your way.

 

[mikepinto65]

everyone should probably just rip the childs arm off and slap them across the face with it

 

[raybonz]

everyone should probably just rip the childs arm off and slap them across the face with it

LOL Mike sounds like my warped brand of humor!!

Ray

 

[LLigetfa]

I was talking about the threat of spanking if the child touches the stove...

My mother would wup my ass if I ever hurt myself. I still remember hiding in the attic as a child, bleeding from a bad cut I got by sticking my arm into a rusty old tin stove. Wore long sleeves for the longest time to hide the cut. As a deterent, the threat of violence never worked.