Storing Items "Inaccessible To Children"

[MNMum]

We just moved into our new house and I will be having the licensor out soon. As I am setting up shop, wondering how everyone goes about storing all of those items that need to be inaccessible to children. I'm in MN.

Is an upper cupboard considered out of there reach?
Knives okay on the counter in holder?
Chemicals okay on a upper shelf?
Toiletries? Are they okay in my bathroom drawers if I am not licensing that bathroom?

Or does everything need to be under lock and key?

How do you store diapers (clean obviosly). Is any diaper pail acceptable as long as there is a cover?

I'd rather have most of this up to code before she arrives. Thanks in advance for your advice!

[sharlan]

I have the magnetic tot locks on my lower kitchen cabinets and also the top cabinet where I keep meds. I also have the tot locks in the bathroom that the kids use, but not the upstairs bathrooms as they are off limits.

Here, one licensor will allow the knives in a block, the next will require them in a locked drawer.

[Cat Herder]

Here all bathroom cabinets must be locked. NOTHING can be out not even air freshener, hand gel, hand soap or toothpaste. You get it out, squirt in child hand/toothbrush and lock it back up.

(my own kids use dorm bin totes for their toiletries and keep them in their room if you are looking for a lifestyle solution )

Kitchen/Food prep area is also used for handwashing so "NO chemicals, knives or breakable items allowed on counter tops. Cabinets should be child proof locked".

No "toxic" chemicals allowed to be stored in playroom. (this includes school glue, lysol spray, air freshener, cornstarch, diaper creams and baby oil to my shock and horror, now)

If it says "Keep out of reach of children" it must be locked or gated off/inaccessible. It must be labeled non-toxic to be approved for use by children.

The newest one to come down is that breastmilk needs a separate prep area and small refrigerator for storage.

[WImom]

Knives okay on the counter in holder?
Here they have to be on top of the fridge or high up like that. One thing I hate about having my kitchen licensed.

[afmama]

Everything sharp and/or with long cord is up in a high cabinet in a tupperware container with a lid. Who wants to pull a block of knives down off the fridge?! All my cleaning/chemical anything...including toothpaste is in our laundry room and that door is locked. It hasn't been too hard since both my own kids are young.

[SilverSabre25]

cat...please....PLEASE tell me you're kidding. Good gravy! Cornstarch is a toxic chemical? It's a food product! It's used in food!

(I'm not even going to touch the breastmilk part...but let's just say I'm a bit irked about that as well)

[familyschoolcare]

The breast milk might be B/C "they" do not want it mistakenly feed to another child.

[sharlan]

I found a neat way to "lock" my downstairs shower. The kids use my niece's bathroom and of course she has shampoo/soap/toothpaste/razors in there.

I found the appliance straps at Lowe's. It's a plastic strap that sticks to one side of the fridge and hooks on the other side. I put one on each side of the sliding doors at the very top where the kids can't reach. It prevents either door from being opened.

I have the magnetic tot locks on the cabinet under the sink.

It was approved at my last inspection.

[sharlan]

I just checked my box of corn starch. It doesn't say keep out of reach of children on it.

But, being a powder, it can be inhaled and cause a type of pneumonia (? - nannyde, chime in here).

I recall a neighbor child being hospitalized after he squeezed a baby powder bottle of corn starch into his face during a diaper change.

[Cat Herder]

The breast milk might be B/C "they" do not want it mistakenly feed to another child.

Infectious disease/HEP A,B,C risk. It was covered in both "Nutrition" and "Illness Prevention" Training class last week.

[squareone]

When I first started I had to ask exactly what inaccessible meant. I was told that it meant that a child standing with both feet on the floor can't reach it. Funny thing is that they don't say what age child. I use age 4.

I have child locks on all lower cabinets and drawers.
Our knife block is on the couter but in the furthest corner.
I have lysol spray, air freshener, and ajax on the top shelf of one of those tall spacesaver thingys that go over the toilet and licensing has never said anything. I store diapers and related items on a shelf over the changing table. We are required to have a diaper pail that has a tight fitting lid and a foot pedal.

[2ndFamilyDC]

I live in MN also.
To me, IMO, the lic. rules have gotten even more strict.
My particular licensor is super picky, EVERYTHING HAS TO BE UP HIGH and or locked also.
knives, meds, cleaning supplies, scissors, spices, shampoo, maxi pads, TP & PT too. Not kidding. I was told that kids could get ahold of a maxi pad or other paper product and choke on it. Seriously. Being in a closet with a lock on it was not good enough he made me move this stuff to the highest shelf in there.
This stuff was stored upstairs at my house, where no kids are even allowed. I said to him, so when are the kids going to get ahold of this stuff? oh thats right, when I am napping. (I said very sarcastically).
So my point is, in Hennepin County in MN, super strict. At least that has been my experience.

[Squirrel]

We just moved into our new house and I will be having the licensor out soon. As I am setting up shop, wondering how everyone goes about storing all of those items that need to be inaccessible to children. I'm in MN.

Is an upper cupboard considered out of there reach?
Knives okay on the counter in holder?
Chemicals okay on a upper shelf?
Toiletries? Are they okay in my bathroom drawers if I am not licensing that bathroom?

Or does everything need to be under lock and key?

How do you store diapers (clean obviosly). Is any diaper pail acceptable as long as there is a cover?

I'd rather have most of this up to code before she arrives. Thanks in advance for your advice!

I'm in MN too. My licensor is fine with upper cupboards being out of reach so no lock needed on them. I had to child lock under my kitchen sink because I had garbage bags under there so now I keep my cleaning stuff there too since I didn't want to move the bags higher.

Knives I could keep in the knife block so long as I covered the knife block so it was not obvious to the kids that that's where the knives are. I put them in a drawer instead.

All my toiletries are in the medicine cabinet or in my upstairs bathroom. My whole upstairs is unlicensed.

I store diapers on a shelf out of reach in the bathroom and extras I store in my basement. I use a portable diaper changing mat on the floor.

Diaper bin has to have a cover and a bag and must be changed daily and located somewhere other than the kitchen.

[jojosmommy]

I live in MN and have the opposite feelings. My lic approved knives on the counter (in the back corner) in a knife block. I have magnetic locks in the kitchen but only on the cabinets with sharps and cleaning supplies. I have meds in my hall closet on the second to top shelf. I should note they are in a small tote with a lid but it doesnt lock. Just snap down style. All other cleaning supplies are locked up with magnet locks or in the laundry room-laundry room door does have a hook and eye lock on the top of the door to prevent anyone from sneaking in.

Diapers are stored in a open container in the laundry room (again, it has a lock) and the garbage I have has a lid but isnt a diaper genie or anything. Just a regular foot lift one from Home Depot.

If you are not lic your bathroom your lic may not even go in there. Mine didnt. I still have magnet locks on those drawers though.