Viral Video Brings Child-Proofing Furniture To The Forefront
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DALLAS (CBS11) - A two-year-old boy is gaining attention on social media for saving his twin brother from a crushing dresser, CBS Salt Lake City affiliate KUTV reports.
With the toddlers' close call now viewed more than a million times, the parents said they shared the video to encourage other parents to take precautions.
Now, local hardware stores are checking their inventories and preparing to field questions about options for keeping furniture upright.
John James owns the ACE Hardware of Richardson at Coit & Beltline in Dallas. He said he's raised three busy, curious kids of his own and knows just how fast they move.
"They're curious, they're active, so there's no telling what they'll get into. Nothing is going to be fool proof," said James.
Still, James said the store stocks several options for customers looking to keep furniture secured.
Prepacked kits come stocked with screws and nylon cords.
"It attaches to the back of your furniture and attaches to the wall and straps together," said James. "It will allow the furniture to move a little bit, but it won't allow it to fall all the way over."
James says some do-it-yourself solutions also work well.
"You could just use a simple L bracket like this, attach it to the wall, have it measured where the height of the dresser is, and push the dresser underneath the L bracket and screw the L bracket to the top of the dresser."
Another homemade solution involves a simple cabling system using a screw and washer.
"We'll help you assemble it," said James. "With a washer and a long screw going right into a stud and a screw back into your dresser, it will allow it to tip ever so slightly; but, not come all the way down."
According to the Consumer Products Safety Commission, a child dies every two weeks and a child is injured every 24 minutes in the U.S. from furniture or TVs tipping over. Awareness is a start, but action makes homes safer.
"You're probably talking $2 or $3… very simple, cheap solution, with a little bit of know-how and with a screw gun, Phillips head screwdriver, you can solve this problem," said James. A couple of bucks, buying priceless peace of mind.
"Makes you sleep better at night knowing you're not going to hear the big crash coming from the boys' bedrooms."
And as a parent watching that video?
"Thank God the kids are fine. Thank goodness," said James. Not everybody turns out that way."
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