She wants to cook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Emotional

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 7:19 pm

My adorable daredevil 22-month-old daughter is very proud of her latest discovery: she can open the oven door!
She even puts on my (filthy) oven mitts in honor of the occasion.
Here's the obvious problem. She opens it whether the oven is on or off. It's dangerous. The oven door has no lock (except when it's on self-clean - and even that lock she has figured out how to open!!!!)
Any suggestions for keeping my little rascal safe? Any products that TRULY work?

Dolly Welsh

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 7:28 pm

Put her in a playpen.

In or near the kitchen where she can see you.

Other than that, children are not allowed into kitchens or bathrooms unless they need to be there for a reason. Both are dangerous rooms.

You will need a gate or door that has a hook latch that is waaaay too high up for her to reach, to keep her out of the kitchen when you are not in it.

At her present age there is nothing to do but run after the kid, and look right at the kid. Nothing bad happens to a kid when an adult is looking straight at them, so somebody has to.

SingALong

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 7:58 pm

My DS also opened the oven door at 18 months!!! I got a baby lock that is for appliances. You need two hands to open it, toddlers aren't coordinated enough to do it. I also put it on my toilets and dishwashers. They worked for me.

mummiedearest

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 8:02 pm

another vote for baby gate. I don't keep my toddler out of the kitchen at this point, but I won't take my baby gate down. friends often visit with toddlers who don't know not to touch. we keep the baby gate closed then. just make sure to measure the distance between the floor and the bottom of the gate before installing. we installed ours a tad too high. I spent one afternoon teaching my then two toddlers that crawling under the baby gate is NOT allowed. that was oh so fun...

Emotional

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 8:04 pm

SingALong wrote:

Can you recommend a reliable brand?
Also is there any concern about the heat from the oven melting the plastic on the lock?

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 8:15 pm

TEACH her that it's dangerous! 22 months is old enough to understand that something is dangerous.

By all means, get a lock, but she has to know an oven is hot and only mommy can touch it.

(My 18 month old knows the only thing in the oven he's allowed to touch is the light switch.)

MaBelleVie

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 8:25 pm

kb wrote:

In sure op has been doing this as well, but all the talking in the world is not going to make it safe to leave this child unattended for one second next to the oven.

Also, there are definitely 22 month olds without a clear concept of safety or danger. 22 months is a baby.

eschaya

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 8:25 pm

We went through that stage recently, and like KB suggested, we were able to teach DS that ovens are hot. He will now back away from an oven when I open it, and doesn't try to open it himself.
He still opens (and climbs into) the dishwasher, but I didn't try the fear factor on that one. For non-hot appliances I bought wonderful baby locks from amazon.

Tzutzie

Wed, Jul 16 2014, 9:16 am

ariela wrote:

IKEA sells pretty cheap but reliable baby locks, works for our freezer. (but can be used for any oven, closet, drawer...)

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/cata.....2051/

Dd is 13 months and is opening ovens and doors for a while now (shes tall).
I have a similar lock from Safety First. I put it on the oven and toilet bowl as she can open both, the oven, and the door to the toilet. Only problem is, the water in the toilet bowl is colder than the air outside and the outside of the bowl sweats making the glue of the sticker loose every week or so. So I need to constantly replace it.
These locks are designed to withstand heat. You can definitely use it on your oven.

FranticFrummie

Wed, Jul 16 2014, 3:01 pm

When DD was that age, she wanted to cook, too. One day when I had something in the oven she got too close for my comfort. I took her little hand and carefully held it in the hot air of the oven (not touching anything!) and said to her "HOT, Owie!" a couple of times. She understood that just fine, and we never had a problem after that.

I'll never forget the morning DD woke me up and said "Mama, I need help with the stove." shock

I don't think I've ever woken up so fast in my life! She had figured out how to open the refrigerator door, had taken out the eggs, cracked them (shell and all) into the dairy frying pan, had the dairy spatula, and was all set to surprise me with scrambled eggs for breakfast. Thank G-d my stove had the controls on the BACK of the unit instead of the front, where she could reach them!

I think she was just over 2 years old when she did that. I have to say, I was really impressed with how well she had been paying attention to me, and had it all figured out.

The next morning she woke up before I did, and took all of the plates out of the cabinet, washed them, dried them, and put them in the rack. PAPER PLATES! LOL

sped

Wed, Jul 16 2014, 3:40 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

FF, I think this is hilarious!!

FranticFrummie

Wed, Jul 16 2014, 7:29 pm

sped wrote:

FF, I think this is hilarious!!

I miss that age. When she was in her house cleaning phase, one time she got out a brand new package of baby wipes, and a paper grocery bag. She took one wipe, very carefully scrubbed one square of the kitchen linoleum, and then put the wipe into the paper bag. Next wipe, same thing, one square at a time. She mopped the whole kitchen floor that way, and it kept her busy and happy for about an hour. I figured it was worth it to go through a half a box of wipes!

She's 11 now, and asking her to do something around the house is like asking her to pull out her own toenails. Rolling Eyes

faigy123

Mon, Jul 21 2014, 5:41 pm

Ruchel wrote:

I got a "kitchenette" for my daughter, with fake oven and all. My son uses it more often, especially now that dd helps me cook "for real", but I think it's a great toy Wink

GREAT THOUGHTFUL IDEA