How to Babyproof Your Wine Rack and Wine Fridge | Simple Tips to Keep Your Child Safe
It goes without saying that having kids means a lot of sacrifices. However, that doesn’t mean you have to give up one of your favorite pleasures- enjoying a glass of wine. Taking the time to babyproof your wine rack ensures the safety of your little one and keeps the contents inside safeguarded too! In this brief overview, you’ll learn some of the best methods on how to baby proof a wine rack. As parents, there is never enough information to digest to ensure your children are the safest they can be at all times.
Why you should babyproof your wine rack
Before getting into the safety reasons, there are benefits of drinking wine in moderation. Wine proves to help with cardiovascular health and reducing cholesterol levels. Not to mention, it feels like a special reward after a long day with the kids!
Unfortunately, while wine has health benefits for adults, the same doesn’t hold true for our youngest household members. Exposure to wine repeatedly can actually slow brain development or even lead to an accidental overdose. Knowing our toddlers have the urge to put their mouths on nearly anything they see, it’s essential to understand how to properly baby proof your wine rack.
Not to mention, young children could knock over the wine rack, or pull out a bottle. Young children would probably get hurt if one bottle falls on them. But if multiple bottles, or the whole rack fall, you could be looking at a serious injury. So let’s get started with some ideas to babyproof your wine rack!
How Do I Baby Proof My Wine Rack?
It is easy to see why any parent would have some nerves about their small children around the wine rack. Any potential danger would be reason enough not to even have wine in the household. However, here are a few practical tips you can implement that only take a few moments. Here are lots of different ideas to suit any wine rack, kid, and home!
1. Block access with a baby gate
Sometimes the easiest solution is also the most effective. For example, wooden gates work well that can get connected to each end. Or you could also consider a retractable gate to make access even more convenient!
And, of course, you can choose a style that suits your home. Baby gates come in many attractive options, from wood, to white, black, and every color in between! (Related post: Cat-friendly baby gates)
2. Put your wine rack out of reach
If your child can’t reach your wine rack to begin with, then you’ve already child-proofed it!
Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
Just put this wine rack on your counter, and your wine is now out of reach of your baby! Click the image to see more details on Amazon.
Check out this gorgeous countertop wine rack that you can put on top of your counter. It’s budget-friendly and available on Amazon.
And I love how this wine rack looks above the fridge! While your kitchen might not have a built-in wine rack, you could certainly add one above your refrigerator.
Click the image to see more details on Amazon.
Or depending on your child, you may want a wall-mounted wine rack that’s completely out of reach. This wall-mounted wine rack (available on Amazon) has a fun design and you can store your wine glasses on it too!
3. Use an elastic hair band to childproof your wine rack
You will be surprised how an easy DIY project can keep your little ones safe. For less than $10, you can have the peace of mind you deserve! You’ll need some elastic hair bands, some quarter-inch tubing clamps, and some screws. To make your own secure device, all you have to do is put the band through the clamp and put the screw through the hole.
When drilling a hole to put your screw, be careful not to go too far into the wood, or the hole will come out on the other side. Then, all you will need to do to secure the bottle is place it into the rack and place the hair band around it. Important note: You will need to wrap it twice to ensure wine bottles cannot be removed.
Dude with a Brew has a great tutorial and pictures!
4. Secure the wine rack with furniture anchors
Click the image to see more details on Amazon.
If you’re more worried about your little one pulling the whole wine rack down, then furniture anchors (click to view on Amazon) are for you! Simply attach one piece to the wine rack, one piece to the wall, and loop the metal wire through. Now there’s no danger of the wine rack falling over!
Related post: How to Childproof Your Fridge
How To Baby Proof A Wine Fridge
1. Lock your wine fridge
Wine fridges like Ivation come with a lock and key so you can easily baby-proof them! Click the image to see more details on Amazon.
Wine coolers or refrigerators are essential to baby proof because they are typically around 2-3 feet tall. That’s the perfect size for your toddler to explore. Additionally, a wine fridge door can be much easier to open than a typical refrigerator. Initially, you want to ensure your cooler already has lock installation that’s typically found on newer models (the Ivation wine cooler, available on Amazon, actually has a lock and key, so even your little genius won’t figure out how to press the right buttons to open it!)
Related post: How to child-proof a fireplace
2. Add your own lock to babyproof your wine fridge
Fridge locks like this one can only be opened with a key, and even come in black to match your decor. Click the image to see more details on Amazon.
If it does not, then you will need to purchase a multi-purpose lock. I recommend a fridge lock with a magnetic key, like this one from Amazon. You can keep the key where your child can’t find it, and there’s no way they can remove the lock on their own.
Never remove any shelving or leave the door open should the wine cooler get breached, which could trap your child inside.
3. Make sure it can’t tip over
And, of course, you may want to anchor the fridge to the wall so it can’t tip over. I recommend these furniture anchors from Amazon.
4. Childproof the area around your wine fridge
Children want to try to get into even the smallest of spaces! So, you’ll also want to check the spaces between your fridge and the walls that could become a crawlspace to them. Typically, you’ll want the sides to be no more than 1 inch wide and the back around 4 inches or less. If the wine fridge is already not mounted in the cabinets, then you might want to consider placing it between two pieces of furniture.
Related post: The best baby gates for stairs with banisters, for every type of staircase
Why Babyproofing Everything- even your wine rack and fridge- is important
It only takes a second or two for your baby to get in a serious situation. So, even if you think you’ve gone overboard on some of the precautions, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Whether you want to babyproof your wine rack through, DIY, purchase a product to help you, or seek help from someone else, you’ll sleep a lot better at night knowing you’ve done everything possible to protect your children. And you can enjoy a well-deserved glass of wine in the meantime!