How do you keep your baby away from electrical cords?
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 at
5:13 pm
My daughter is drawn to electrical cords. And if we’re not careful she’d love to just shove the thing in her mouth and chew. I have baby gates, and doors shut so that eliminates all cords except one. And it’s a lamp so it’s not like I can just unplug it because then we’d be in the dark. 
Other than constantly pulling her away from it, is there anything I can do to hide the cord or something? What do you do with cords?
Filed under: Baby Clothes
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Close off the area with an electric fence.
Well, if there is no way to hide the cord behind furniture, then what you are going to want to do it get a roll of packaging tape, and tape it along the wall securly leaving no exposed cord that she can grab onto. Run the tape along the cord up to the electrical socket.
It will prevent her from playing and chewing on the cord and also prevent her from pulling the lap down on herself.
Well I had no other choice but to leave them out. It took some time but I consistently told my son NO every time he went over to one, now he could care less about them. Just be consistent, tell her no every time she touches one, and eventually she will learn that it’s not something she’s supposed to do. I did buy some childproof things for my outlets though, I have the ones that you stick in the outlet when it’s not used, and they make some that go over things that are plugged in to, those things are life savers! Do you have a rug or something you can stick the cord under? That might be a good idea too, but I think you should start teaching her now to just stay away, believe me it does take a while, but eventually it does work!
You have no other place for the lamp? I would say the tape is a good idea.
Tape, rug, discipline, and time are the only practical answers! Can you move your furniture around to conceal it a little more, or make it harder to get at? I suppose you could install a ceiling light if that is the only cord she bothers, and you feel you just can not teach her.
I know this will sound bad, but you did ask how I did it, well I used to give my children a little pat on the hands, and sternly say NO! I did not do it hard and it did not hurt them! Right or wrong that is what I did.
I hope you figure out something that works for the both of you. Good Luck!
I have them all behind furniture, as best as I can.
I also don’t have any quarter round in my livingroom so some were wrapped in the "cord organizer" thingies you can get from Ikea and then jammed under the baseboard for awhile.
You can get some wall sconces from hardware stores (I think its Home Depot that was advertising them) that run on some sort of very flat wire that you stick to the wall and then paint over. So that might be an option.
This is what I had wrapped around a bunch of cables so I could shove them under the baseboard, it would be somewhat protective against her biting: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20097954
I wish I could find that "new" lighting product, its pretty neat but I think sconce is the wrong word *sigh*