When you bring a baby into the world, you sacrifice a lot. But the contents of your wine rack need not be sacrificed! Today I’ll be sharing with you how to babyproof wine rack so that you can rest assured your vino will remain unshattered, unsplashed, and – importantly – undrunk by little ones!
This article will cover the three methods that you can use to baby-proof your wine rack as well as important information on why alcohol like wine should be kept very far from the hands of your little one. As a parent, you can never be informed and educated enough and my site is here to help you navigate the ins and outs of parenthood.
Baby Proofing Your Wine Rack – Why You Should
Given the numerous benefits of drinking wine, it’s no wonder you want to keep your bottles safe. Wine, specifically red wine, is full of powerful antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties and has lipid-regulating effects. With links to improved cardiovascular health and healthy gut bacteria, it’s encouraged to drink wine within reason. Plus, I’m sure that we all like a little something to help us deal with the challenges of fatherhood. But unfortunately, when it’s a little one consuming wine, the benefits are replaced with serious dangers.
Why Your Wine Rack Needs to Be Baby Proofed
While in today’s culture it’s socially acceptable to give your young one a sip or two of your favorite alcoholic beverages, it’s far from funny and is not something that should be celebrated. I’ll let the following potential dangers of alcohol consumption in toddlers explain why I say this.
- Lowered blood sugar – this can cause confusion, irritability, and seizures
- Lowered body temperature which – because their bodies are so much smaller than ours – can lead to hypothermia
- Repeated consumption can lead to delayed development, lowered intelligence and limited brain growth
- Accidental alcohol poisoning or possible alcohol overdose
- Increased alcohol tolerance which can lead to alcohol dependence
How to Baby Proof Your Wine Rack
After reading the above, it’s normal to feel incredibly nervous about having wine in the house where curious toddlers are roaming around exploring their space and surroundings. The fact of the matter is that the potential dangers are enough to make us want to make our homes wine-free zones. But you don’t have to chug it all down or pour your prized bottles down the drain just yet as babyproofing your wine rack is surprisingly easy. Simply pick your preferred method out of the three I’ve outlined below and take it from there.
The Elastic Hair Band Method
All you need to DIY a babyproof wine rack are elastic hair bands (enough for all bottles), sheet metal screws, and ¼” tubing clamps. Insert the elastic hairband into the tubing clamp, place the screw into the attachment hole, place it on the inside of the space where the bottle sits in the wine rack and use a screwdriver to secure the screw into place. Next, place your bottle back in the rack and twist the hair band over the bottle’s nose twice. Repeat this process for all wine bottle slots. The video below shows just how effective a method the elastic hairband method really is.
Attach a Baby Gate to the Wine Rack
That’s right, babyproofing your wine rack can be as simple as attaching a baby gate to it. For this, it’s recommended to use a wooden baby gate like the Summer Deluxe Simple to Secure Gate and instead of installing it on a stairway or between two walls simply attach both ends to your wine rack. Wood aside, a retractable baby gate will also get the job done – and look great and not so obviously DIY.
Replace Your Wine Rack with a Baby Proof Model
Perhaps the easiest recommendation on this list is to simply replace your existing wine rack with a model that is already baby-proof. While my research indicates that products aren’t explicitly marketed as such, models that are mounted high on the wall or hang from the ceiling like the Wine Enthusiast Metal Hanging Rack are particularly baby-friendly. Another option is to simply purchase a wine rack with locking functionality.
And once you have your new wine rack, you might want to think about how to child-proof your water dispenser which you might want to keep nearby.
Conclusion
And there you have it: all the information on why this baby-proofing task should make its way to the top of your to-do list.
I must admit that I am a fan of each of the three methods I introduced you to today but I am partial to the elastic hairband method as I am a bit of a DIY buff. In saying that, I find the hanging wine rack method very attractive and the baby gate method extremely resourceful.
At the end of the day, pick whichever method works best for your needs, and always remember that safe is better than sorry. And don’t forget: once you’re done with baby-proofing your wine rack you might want to baby-proof your dog bowl, cabinets, or plants, as well as other areas of your home, such as child-proofing your door for your pet.