# Outlet Covers



## berrymama (Jul 7, 2007)

Are these necessary? Maybe I am missing something, but I would think the only way electrical outlets are dangerous are if baby has something small enough to stick into them (such as a fork). It seems more dangerous to have a bunch of little plastic outlet covers just waiting to be pulled out and put in his mouth. So am I missing something? Please inform me!

ETA: We have them and they are in, I have just wondered about this.


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## LeighB (Jan 17, 2008)

I think they are a necessity. We have them, and I don't think there is any way the baby could pull them out. Even if they did, I'm not sure they are small enough to be a choking hazard.


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## SheBear (Aug 19, 2003)

but the baby DOES have something small to stick in there.....10 somethings, in fact! Baby fingers are tiny. Not worth the risk, IMO. The covers are super cheap, easily available, and most are designed with a beveled edge so they aren't easy to remove....trust me, try it a few times and you'll see!









Really, the problem you'll have is not the baby pulling them out, but you forgetting to put them back in.


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## kirstenb (Oct 4, 2007)

I can't tell you how many times I have had to grab something to help pry those covers off!

I don't have a whole lot of the safety things in my house, but I do think those are necessary. When DS started moving he went straight towards the outlets. Once he was walking, he always managed to find items that he could have stuck in there. Had we not had covers on I know he would have!


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## tallulahma (Jun 16, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kirstenb* 
I can't tell you how many times I have had to grab something to help pry those covers off!

I don't have a whole lot of the safety things in my house, but I do think those are necessary. When DS started moving he went straight towards the outlets. Once he was walking, he always managed to find items that he could have stuck in there. Had we not had covers on I know he would have!









:

we have them.... you would be surprised at what a baby could try to jam in that socket.... including little wet with drool fingers.


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## Dena (May 29, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *SheBear* 
but the baby DOES have something small to stick in there.....10 somethings, in fact! Baby fingers are tiny. Not worth the risk, IMO. The covers are super cheap, easily available, and most are designed with a beveled edge so they aren't easy to remove....trust me, try it a few times and you'll see!









Really, the problem you'll have is not the baby pulling them out, but you forgetting to put them back in.









Yup. I can barely remove these, no way my babes could do it! We don't do a ton of baby proofing, but we do have these, latches wherever there are poisons, and a gate at the top of the stairs.


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## Liquesce (Nov 4, 2006)

Mostly I have them to keep my son from deciding it looks like a great place to stuff some egg yolk or something. You know. Like he did with the port on my cellphone.


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## amnda527 (Aug 6, 2006)

Those outlets may not look interesting to you, but to little ones they are right at their eye level and they must be discovered! DD always finds them even at other people's houses. My uncle was zapped once when he was a baby by putting a bobby pin in the outlet.


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## california_mom (Sep 30, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Liquesce* 
Mostly I have them to keep my son from deciding it looks like a great place to stuff some egg yolk or something. You know. Like he did with the port on my cellphone.









:


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## SparklingGemini (Jan 3, 2008)

There are outlet covers you can install where the the entire faceplate is babyproof and you just slide the area where the prongs go when you want to plug something in.

My DD can and does pull out the covers. Yes, they are very tight but she is all very determined. And according to new thinking, they are choking hazards since they can easily fit inside a paper towel tube.


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## User101 (Mar 3, 2002)

I'm going to move this to family safety, which covers baby and child proofing.


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## rockportmama (Jun 24, 2008)

My DS always had something he was trying to stick into the sockets. We started out with the cheap, flat outlet covers. He pulled them out easily. We tossed those and got the beveled-edge kind. A little hard to get out, but at least I know DS can't hurt himself. I love the slide over kind, but they're not in our budget. He's 2 1/2 and I still leave them covered. You should see all the little toys in our heat vents! I trust my son would find Something to put in an open outlet if I gave him the chance!


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## odenata (Feb 1, 2005)

Outlet covers were one of the few babyproofing things I did, since I was shocked as a child and remember it vividly.

If you don't like the plugs, these can do the job as well, and you can't forget the put it back in, since it doesn't come out. Also, if a babe was to pull a cord out, the outlet would be protected.


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

I have seen plugs that you have to squeeze the sides together to remove.

Outlet covers will be in place in my house for years and years. When I was a kid, and my sister was maybe 4 or 5 she was walking around swinging a necklace chain, it hit the outlet just right, she dropped it as she got a bit of shock, and it melted into the carpet. Outlets are scary with young kids.


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## elmh23 (Jul 1, 2004)

My husband was shocked by those things twice. Once as a young toddler (he doesn't remember this) and once again at age 7 when he put a fork in to one (he was a very curious child.)

We have them. My son LOVES plugs without covers. Always trying to put things in them. What can I say, he's just like his dad!

And there is no way a baby could get those damn things off. I'm always trying to find something to pry those suckers off.


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## Twinklefae (Dec 13, 2006)

DS LOVES plugs...so we do outlet covers even though we haven't done a lot of other babyproofing. I just worry about those little wet fingers in the open outlets.... and he's fascinated by them. 








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## Ironica (Sep 11, 2005)

We started trying to do them, but it was clear that DS1 had no interest whatever in the outlets, so we went about child-proofing things that were more interesting (barricading the toilet, for instance).

I think we had some when I was a kid, but I don't recall for sure. I never got shocked with an outlet. I got quite frightened when I managed to blow a fuse by putting a magnet in an empty light socket (ladies and gentlemen, don't leave empty light sockets in bedside lamps in your child's room), and I did nearly burn the house down by plugging two 9-volt batteries together and leaving them on the arm of the couch... but I was quite a bit older for each of those (around 8 and 9, respectively).


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## mimie (Mar 7, 2003)

Necessary, in my opinion. DD is now old enough to find all sorts of things to poke at the outlets. I caught her trying to plug in the end of my cell phone charger the other day.

The outlet covers are really hard to get out. In fact, I find the clear plastic ones impossible to get out, and have switched to the softer whitish plastic ones.


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## MommyJoia (Oct 31, 2007)

my dd#2 learned how to crawl at 4 months and stuck her finger in an outlet (not at home) she did get shocked, but not burned or anything like that. I absolutely think they are necessary and I always have at least 6 on me in case I go somewhere that doesn't have them.


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## milkybean (Mar 19, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *SparklingGemini* 

My DD can and does pull out the covers. Yes, they are very tight but she is all very determined. And according to new thinking, they are choking hazards since they can easily fit inside a paper towel tube.



Quote:


Originally Posted by *Ironica* 
We started trying to do them, but it was clear that DS1 had no interest whatever in the outlets, so we went about child-proofing things that were more interesting (barricading the toilet, for instance).


I couldn't pull the covers out without breaking a nail (ouch, since my nails are short), but DS did as often as he got to them.

Once we took the covers out, he lost all interest in the outlets.

And yes, they would be terrific choking hazards; maybe not to go down the throat, but they sure could BLOCK a throat!

When we have another baby I'm sure we'll use the main way we blocked outlets before...putting furniture in front of them.









Long story short, I didn't find them necessary for DS, and in fact they attracted him to the outlets.


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## Momily (Feb 15, 2007)

My son as an infant would pull them out (Mine were loose) suck on them and try and put them back in.

As my brother pointed out the most dangerous thing you can stick in a socket is something that's either metal or wet and fits in both holes -- like say a drool covered outlet cover.

On the other hand, as a teacher I also had an 11 year old stick a fork in an outlet -- sparks shot 1/2 way across the classroom.

I vote for the kind of covers that slide up and down.


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