PSA: Parents, Screw the Dresser to the Wall
Last week, I saw another furniture recall: Ameriwood Home recalled 1.6 million dressers after a four-year-old was injured in an accident involving a typical dresser. Ikea recalled 29 million dressers last year after at least six children were killed in a fall of dressers. If you own one of the Ameriwood dressers, you can find the review numbers here .
If you have a toddler, you probably know that you should keep your furniture safe from children … but things tend to elude us. If you need support, check out this terrifying video of a 2-year-old being trapped under a closet and his twin trying to get him out. (Spoiler happy: baby is fine.)
Time to screw the dresser to the wall! For those of us who are less comfortable, I searched for several products and instructional videos to make the task easier.
If you already know what you are doing, you can buy the kit on Amazon (also useful for earthquake prone regions) or Safety First, or simply head to the hardware store for brackets and screws. If you need help with instructions, you can watch thisvideo from eHow (which includes sawing) orthisvideofrom Ikea (which should certainly be up to date on this topic). I found this from How To Be Dude, who offers instructions using zip ties.
As I’ve found doing small home improvement projects, it all depends on your walls, so don’t worry or break things – ask me how I know – when the first strategy you try doesn’t work and you have to go back to hardware store for anchors, mollys, studs or whatever. (I once worked with my partner on a home improvement project – I went to a hardware store, and then he went, then I, and so on, until we finally got together and the guy’s expression was, “Oh, these two idiots are married to each other.)
Good luck! If you want a glimpse into the future, check out these prototypes to get a design that’s guaranteed to hold up even with the weight of a baby. And if you think you came out of the woods because your children have already passed the toddler stage, you are not: even children between 10 and 17 can get injured by falling desks, wardrobes and bookshelves.