toddler proof the bookshelf!

[LiLStar]

Does anyone have any idea how to toddler proof a bookshelf? Tipping over isn't a concern, its pulling everything off it :irked Its where we put all our books, dvds, and vhs. I'd love to put them on an out-of-reach shelf, but since we're renting, we really can't put any holes in the wall to mount a shelf. ds pulls absolutely everything off, and its making my head explode. Anyone have anything super creative? I don't mind if minor construction is involved.

[blizzard_babe]

No, but I'll watch with interest. Our solution when DS1 was at the empty-the-shelves stage was to temporarily relocate everything to a Rubbermaid tub. It sucked.

[Ruthie's momma]

My family and I were just reminiscing about this the other day! 

As a young toddler, DD also loved to remove the books, DVDs and CDs.  She would "get busy" at both our home and my father's home.  So, she had twice the fun :)  Seriously, we have some super cute pictures of her sitting amongst the piles of media. 

We remember it fondly...it was so cute!  Of course, we also moved as many of the books and such upwards.  This way, DD could remove and sort all she wanted and our pick-up was somewhat minimal.

It was such a brief period of time. 

I would suggest removing as much of the media as possible (and placing it higher or boxing it up).  Before long, your LO will be moving on to new adventures.

[carmel23]

we just put all the books on the shelf in really tightly, with magazines, so they are in there so tight that a little on can't remove the books... dvds and stuff I don't know.  I don't think you can do much other then just putting them where lo can't get to them... in a closet or something....

[Marissamom]

we just let DD take the DVDs off the shelf, and then had her put everything back. after a couple of weeks she started to lose interest. it also helps that we have the bottom shelf of one bookcase dedicated to her books, and she can pull them off and put them back to her heart's content. 

[Sfcmama]

I learned a great trick from a LLL leader. She put cheap tension rods for curtains across the middle of each shelf so the baby can't get the books off. (hard to describe, hope that makes sense...) I'm planning to buy some this weekend for our bookcase.

[Momma2Gianna]

We're the same as Carmel23 - All our books are in tightly so it takes some effort to take them out.  Our DVD's live in our office which is off limits to little hands.  I got very very very very tired of picking up the DVD's every day, it may not seem like a big deal to some, but we have over 500 DVD's, and the shelf is only 4 feet tall, and my DD can reach about 3/4 of the way up.  It was a LOT to put away every day, and it got very old, so I feel your frustration. 

[JordanKX]

good luck with any ideas. We've just moved all our bookshelves to another room. seriously, our bedroom has 3 bookshelves now in it, and two were :-( moved to the garage. How sad. I said for so long, "he'll just grow out of it". But he didn't. And picking up stacks of books just isn't worth it, so I moved them. Now we have one bookshelf left in the dining room, empty except for the bottom shelf of HIS books. Which he also dumps on the floor, but atleast he enjoys looking at them. the other shelves are now his toy storage. Sad to lose My books for a while, but I know they'll come back eventually.

[springbride]

We put the bookshelf in the corner of the living room and then put the couch next to it, and ran a babygate so that it goes off the side of the couch to the wall, so DD can't get at it.

Not very pretty, but it beats putting all of the books back every day 

[2lilsweetfoxes]

If you have $$$ to spend, invest in barrister's bookcases.  With locks.

If not, what we did was move all the books we actually cared about out of reach--including the top shelf of the bedroom closet.  And filled the low bookcase shelves with a basket of toys and kids' books.  I know, bad, because it doesn't teach Junior to leave mommy-and-daddy's stuff alone.  But, better than stressing all the time.

[Asiago]

Originally Posted by carmel23 

we just put all the books on the shelf in really tightly, with magazines, so they are in there so tight that a little on can't remove the books... dvds and stuff I don't know.  I don't think you can do much other then just putting them where lo can't get to them... in a closet or something....

We pack them in tightly also.