I never understood a baby’s fascination with outlets until I became a father myself. I don’t know what it is about electrical outlets, but babies love them. Maybe it’s because they see you plugging in an appliance and want to imitate you. Maybe it’s because outlets look like little faces, just waiting to be fed something.
My anxiety was skyrocketing. It appeared my little crawling drool monster would find her way to an outlet and find anything to jam into the socket! It made my wife and I crazy!
A light-bulb went off in my mind. I said to my wife, “As soon as we make settlement on the new home – I am going to replace all child-level outlets with tamper-resistant receptacles!” To save my wife and I from the stress of chasing a speedy infant around each room, I did just that (while she did everything else)!
If you are planning to expand your family or are expecting, you should consider having your receptacles changed to tamper-resistant receptacles and I will explain why.
Our second child is daddy’s little girl! She likes to take things apart and see exactly how they work. It wasn’t long until she figured out how to get through the plastic child-locks on everything. The toilet, cabinets, baby gates, you name it – there was no stopping this little one and her desire to explore everything, including the plastic outlet safety covers on the electrical sockets, even while she was on a playdate!
So how do tamper-resistant receptacles work? Both slots in a tamper-resistant receptacle have spring-loaded shutters over them that are interconnected. Unless pressure is applied to both slots at the same time, they will not open, so a child trying to stick a small object into a slot will be unsuccessful.
Of course, you can always use the plastic baby-proofing covers that require a screwdriver to remove and/or break nails in the process. However, I can’t tell you how many times I have seen these on floors or simply misplaced them. Therefore, I advocate for tamper-resistant receptacles, to make it easier on ourselves and all parents to protect our babies from being shocked by a receptacle.
Farryn Electric is your guide when it comes to electrical features and services. If you have any questions about our services, you may contact us here or call us at (484) 202-7874.
