Dreambaby Sliding Cabinet Child Safety Locks

Way back before the earth cooled, and I was a new mother, I had to “baby-proof” our house. This was in the days before professional “baby proofers” came into a home and plugged outlets, put catches on opening drawers, etc. (If there were these experts out there, I didn’t know about them). I had to muddle along with such products as the “Dreambaby Sliding Locks”, ingenious white “things” that you can use to make sure two cabinet drawers cannot be opened to the poisons lurking inside. I found these tools at Toys R Us and pretty soon my kitchen and bathroom cabinets were fully closed off to wandering baby hands.

Flash forward 35 years and my sons now have babies and toddlers of their own. There are companies that come to the home and fully lock it down. Catches inside kitchen drawers that are both baby AND grandmother proof! They are permanent fixtures to the cabinets and drawers. But not every home needs the permanent protection; a grandparent’s home where baby visits needs to have “temporary” protections. And this is where the old Dreambaby Sliding Locks come in handy. I can attach them to kitchen and bathroom cabinets and drawers while the little ones visit, and then easily take them off after they leave.

The sliding locks only work on cabinets and drawers where they can be fit between two handles. They don’t prevent single drawers or cabinets from being opened, but I have at least three sets of drawers and cabinets that they do protect. For me, this old product is a simple way to temporarily locking down a house for my young and precious visitors. (You may want to know how easily these work in older hands. The only thing I can say is that for me they work fine, but I don’t have arthritis. If you do, I’d investigate them a bit further.)

My grandfather has Alzheimer’s disease, and we found it necessary to lock the refrigerator and some of the cabinet doors. These locks fit our needs perfectly.

Keeps our daughter out of the bathroom cupboard and dog food cabinet. Works great, it’s easy enough for our 5 year old to understand how to lock and unlock if she needs in the cabinets

Just great. After buying a whole bunch of stick on baby safety latches that all rapidly end up being yanked of by the baby I finally have a product that keeps my cupboards closed.

It was nice to find a 3-pack, but the items are definitely cheaply made. We already had a “the first years” lock that I considered somewhat flimsy, but it is thicker and more flexible than these. The “safety first” ones I saw in stores also looked thicker and more like the one we already had. These are thinner, made of a more brittle plastic, and the teeth catch almost too well which makes it slightly more difficult to remove them–though this could be because they are new. Our other one is pretty old and worn. I paid $1.33 a piece for the “dream baby” ones and the “safety first” ones in store were $1.75 each so it’s not that much difference in price. If 45 cents is not an issue I would recommend a higher quality product; however, if you are on a tight budget or need several, these are adequate. We purchased 2 3-packs and they weren’t bad enough to hassle with a return.

Bought the Dreambaby sliding locks for two reasons:
1) Keep our toddler grandchildren out of cabinets where there may be some things that might be harmful to them.
2) Keep our toddler grandchildren from emptying cabinets that do not have harmful things – because it is just so much fun.

To avoid any suspense – these locks work!

This concept has been around for a long time. We used to use similar sliding locks when our children where young. You press releases on the sides of the slide, then move the slide back or forth to capture a pair of cabinet handles. When positioned correctly, it is hard to open the cabinet door more than a small amount.

This is not a perfect solution. Baby fingers can still get caught in a cabinet when they are trying hard to get into the locked off area.

Pros for the Dreambaby sliding locks:

Simple to use

Does keep the cabinet closed.

Difficult to open for most younger toddlers (and most pets).,

Reasonable price compared to most alternatives.

Cons:

Cheaply constructed. With persistence, the long plastic arms can be broken and snapped off.

I discount the cons. Most kids give up after seeing that it takes some work to get into the cabinet. There are so many other things to do.

If your child enjoys breaking things or just does not give up, they will be able to break through this line of defense. Be careful!!

Easy for adults to install. Difficult for toddlers to gain access.

These are easy to use as a adult but kids 3 and 5 can’t figure it and keeps the kids safe ☺️