gas range. How do you do it?

[anechka]

Hello,

I have moved into the house with the gas range and now I really worry about my daugher's safety. She is two now and we put those safety things on knobs but what happens when she is older? When she is 7, 10 years old and would want to cook or heat up food herself? Open flames look very dangerous to me and our house built in such a way that we cannot install electric stove and those hot plates are not powerful enough to do any serious cooking. Any advice would be appreciated.

[gmvh]

I clicked on this thinking it was about a two or even three year old - we took off the knobs after the covers broke (mine are at perfect hip height for banging into them).

I suppose you could do that with an older child, too.

My children, (6y1m) routinely turn the stove off or adjust the temperature. We've not gotten to turning it on yet. They know it's hot - really hot and aren't crazy enough to get too close to it. They're also getting a lot taller and that helps. We talk about not messing with the stove or fire or matches or the grill as part of our cooking so I anticipate that they'll know these are tools and we only use them as such.

I started cooking breakfast (pancakes) on stove, mostly unsupervised, around 7 or 8.

I don't think installing an electric stove will lessen the damage that can be done by a tool that gets as hot as a stove does.

I did not shoo my children away from the oven when they were younger. I made sure they would not get hurt, and our door is insulated so it does not get hot to the touch on the outside, but let them feel the blast of heat when the oven door would open. They'd move away on their own.

Good luck!

[Drummer's Wife]

My kids are 3, 5, 7, and 9. I don't worry about the gas range; they just don't mess with it. My oldest does use it, with supervision, to make things like grilled cheese.

If you are concerned, just get a guard or knob covers and tell your DD to leave it alone. That's all I can come up with. Enjoy cooking on it... I'd never go back to electric.

ETA: at two, can she even reach the flames? Re-reading it sounds like that's a big concern of yours. I usually cook on the back burners, anyhow, but my kids aren't likely to stick their hands into a fire.

[DahliaRW]

You teach your children to be around the stove safely, how to use it safely (when they are old enough) and what cautions to take. Just like you would with anything else. The only extra caution I would use is to make sure no loose clothing or hair is near the stove, so push up sleeves and pull your dd's hair back.

I grew up with a gas stove and never had any injuries from it other than occassional burns from being dumb and touching hot pans without thinking, and that would happen on an electric stove too.

[cschick]

I've had gas ranges almost all my life (except for a two years at the previous house). I was cooking on a gas range/baking in a gas oven on my own around age 7. Kids have common sense. Most kids get that fire burns, those that need more convincing can quickly get it without too much damage.

I've never burned myself on the gas range. I have burned myself on an electric stovetop. I find that (depending on the stovetop) it's a lot less obvious that an electric stovetop is ON to the casual glance. When a gas stovetop is on, there's fire to be seen.

[Peony]

I agree that they learn quickly how to be safely around the stove. DD1 is 7 and cooks some things on the stove, DD2 who is 4 can stir with supervision.

[TheGirls]

I don't think it's particularly more dangerous than an electric (and I would not willingly go back to electric...) DD is 2.5, and we had the knobs off but now she mostly knows not to mess with them (and is supervised in the kitchen) so they're back on. Once she's older I'll start teaching her how to use it. I don't think it's more dangerous to use a gas stove at 7-8 than electric - teach her to pull her hair back and not wear loose sleeves, but that's basic safety for any stove.

[Katie T]

My kids are 2, 4, and 10. The 10yo knows how to cook safely on our gas range with supervision and knows not to touch it without me in the room. My 4yo knows not to touch. For the 2yo we take the knobs off and they are in a little basket next to the stove for convience of use. The 2yo will try to adjust the temp and gets told no of course but I think by 6 you really won't have to worry about it much. I don't leave anything cooking with out being able to see it.

Gas seems scarier than electric at first but you will get used to it and it will seem not so scary.

[pumpkin]

If anything I think gas is safer than electric. Much easier to see when it is hot.
Posted via Mobile Device

[cristeen]

I think taking a deep breath and really thinking it through would really help. Fire has been used as a cooking tool for a very long time. Electricity has only been around a relatively short amount of time. Children have been around and learned to cook over open flames for millenia. Are you going to want to keep your kids away from candles? Fireplaces? Those have the same potential to burn. You're much better off teaching them how to safely use all those things, teaching them awareness, than trying to protect them from a part of life.

IME, electric stoves are far more dangerous, not being able to tell at a glance if a burner is on, burners staying hot even after being turned off, etc. With a gas stove, it's much more obvious.

[fruitfulmomma]

No problems here with my kids. The only one I watch like a hawk is the 2yo. My 10yo and 8yo cook on it regularly.

I am with pp about the electric ranges. I am always afraid one of my kids is going to stick something down on it or touch it and burn themselves when we are in houses with them.

[cschick]

Originally Posted by fruitfulmomma

No problems here with my kids. The only one I watch like a hawk is the 2yo. My 10yo and 8yo cook on it regularly.

I am with pp about the electric ranges. I am always afraid one of my kids is going to stick something down on it or touch it and burn themselves when we are in houses with them.

Right. An electric burner and a gas burner get equally hot. But for say a kid who is shorter than the range, there's a lot better chance to be able to see that a gas burner is on.

Those couple of years I had an electric stovetop, I actually had two--the older style with the coils for the first year and the newer style glass top for the second. I hated both of them because they stayed hot for so long after they were turned off. After a couple of minutes, my gas range and its parts are usually cooled enough that I can touch around them without worry. Those coils and the glass top seemed to stay hot enough to burn for a long time.

[Llyra]

In my experience, kids "get" fire pretty easily. With a little careful teaching, they understand clearly that it's dangerous, and they can learn to treat it with respect. I think electric ranges are more dangerous, because sometimes it doesn't LOOK hot, and yet it still is dangerously hot.

My youngest are 3 1/2, and have learned to stand on a stool and stir a pot, with supervision. They know which parts of the stove are hot, and how to roll up their sleeves and use a pot holder, and that they should never touch the stove without my knowledge. My six year old can also turn off the stove if asked-- like if the kettle is boiling and my hands are full. I will also leave a pot simmering-- on the back burner, not the front-- when I'm out of the room, because I'm really very confident that they won't touch it. They're all very deeply respectful of fire, because my neighbors had a house fire recently. It was really a minor fire, and everybody's fine, but it was dramatic enough (flames shooting out of a window) that it made a deep impression on my kids.

I've also talked to them about what to do if something DOES catch on fire-- a sleeve, a towel, grease in a pan. They all can explain clearly that if their clothing is on fire, they should roll themselves up in the kitchen floor mat-- we've practiced. And they understand that in the case of any other fire, they should go straight out the kitchen door to the farthest part of the yard, and stay there.

I think it's important for everybody, regardless of the type of range in the kitchen, to keep a fire extinguisher in a safe place in the kitchen, and to keep a heavy mat or blanket available in the kitchen in case a sleeve catches on fire.

[MJB]

We have a gas stove and my 7.5 yr. old cooks on it regularly. I never thought anything of the fact that it's gas and not electric, other than yay, it cooks better.
My 4.5 yr. old can turn the stove on (we keep a kettle of water on the stove and sometimes ask one of the kids to turn the kettle on), adjust it, turn it off, and stir things (with a stepstool).

[elmh23]

My five year old cooks (with daddy, but she turns things on) regularly and it's been fine. She knows it's hot and doesn't mess around.

My three year old also cooks but we have to remind him more about it. He also has some special needs that include inappropriate pain receptors so it takes a lot for him to feel it. We've been working with him on seeing it vs. feeling it.

We have knob covers and I foresee having them for several more years (we also have an 8 month old) but otherwise, I trust the five year old completely.

[texmati]

Originally Posted by pumpkin

If anything I think gas is safer than electric. Much easier to see when it is hot.
Posted via Mobile Device

this. unfortunately, I feel that electric stoves can be even more dangerous.

[justKate]

There are also stove guards like this that might help. I'm equally worried about DD burning herself and getting the gas turned on, so we'll probably do both when the time comes.

[octobermom]

Originally Posted by pumpkin

If anything I think gas is safer than electric. Much easier to see when it is hot.
Posted via Mobile Device

This and it we can have quick lessons on the blue flame and how that means its VERY hot.. I as an adult have made the mistake of touching a hot electric coil but have yet to burn myself on a gas flame.. As for unsupervised.. We removed the knobs totally when ours was little more cause she'd pull them off than she was turning on the stove... But that was ony for a brief time mostly we jsut taught her to leave it be. She is now 7 she still knows to only cook with an adult around we'd have the same rules regardless.. When shes old enough to do it on her own I'd be comfortable with her using eaither.

Deanna

[journeymom]

My youngest has been using the gas stove since he was eleven.

[St. Margaret]

It's my dad who has left the flame on low for long periods-- SCARY! I mean, you could be reaching for something and bam, flame-- luckily I turned off the light and saw the flame. I also worry he'll leave just the gas on somehow, without turning it on all the way (ours is made so you really have to flick the knob just so to get the flame to catch). He just kept turning the knob to low instead of off, b/c it's that side of the knob at home for him, or something-- on ours, you turn it on and it starts at high. I finally told my mom I can't have him cooking (he'd do it late at night on his own, making oatmeal for the next day, he's an insomniac).

But I don't worry about my kids. I have totally set paper towels on fire by bumping them against an electric burner (I grew up with one), burned myself a tad, and exploded a glass pan when I didn't know a burner was on (in college, thanks dormy). I was SO lucky the phone rang and I walked out of the kitchen then. I like how gas is more obvious that it's on and hot. I just check that the knobs have the gas OFF if we've been bumping around in there