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Babies, Toddlers And Everything Inbetween.

I got a 7 month old daughter and she just sits in the pram watching the fish. Normally falls asleep doing it.

I get that quite often...not sitting in the pram, my #14### wont fit anyway...falling asleep watching the fish tank.. :|
 
All four of my squealers grew up around tanks with no issues. I think if you try introducing something new to any room they will always have a look at what it is. You would too.
Electrical sockets and extension leads were my biggest fear. I kept extension leads behind the sofa or up high and covered all sockets in the house with these covers I bought online.
 
Dont know much about kids in households (other than that they dont belong in mine!!)...

But tips (for when older) on how to make people in your LFS like you and your kid:

1- if you know they are noisy... gag them... or tie their dummy in or something....

2- if you think they might bang a tank when you arent looking, do us a favour and bind their hands together....

3- keep them on a lead at all times...

4- if they make a mess... please clear up after them....

5- if they have a habit of biting strangers, please for goodness sake put a muzzle on them!!

Hang on... the RSPCA guide might be more helpfull.... LOL
 
Dont know much about kids in households (other than that they dont belong in mine!!)...

But tips (for when older) on how to make people in your LFS like you and your kid:

1- if you know they are noisy... gag them... or tie their dummy in or something....

2- if you think they might bang a tank when you arent looking, do us a favour and bind their hands together....

3- keep them on a lead at all times...

4- if they make a mess... please clear up after them....

5- if they have a habit of biting strangers, please for goodness sake put a muzzle on them!!

Hang on... the RSPCA guide might be more helpfull.... LOL


:rofl:
 
I took my 4-y-o into one of my local MAs during the aftermath of a big leak, and they had the entire back of the shop barricaded off. Now that he's getting a bit older, I'm trying to trust him more. So, having grabbed him back from the wrong side of the barricades, he then proceeded to knock into the barricades and sent them flying.

He went to a music shop last week with my missus, and proceeded to demolish another display stand.

He's a lovely kid really........
 
This thread is very reassuring.
 
I have an 8 year old and a 3 and a half year old...the 8 year old knows what is acceptable behavior and what isn't.

For the 3 year old.....several things....

1. Tanks that are smaller (my 30g and my 20g), I have anchored the stands to the wall studs. If they try to climb on the stand and it's top heavy, it can tip over and crush the child. This is the same as big pieces of furniture....anchor them to the wall to avoid climbing/tipping accidents.

2. For my 75 gallon, since it's heavy and wide at the base and the stand is well load balanced, no anchoring required.

3. Babyproof doors that contain chemicals and equipment that may be of danger (CO2,, etc.)

4. Teach baby from early on to "be gentle" and not bang on the glass, hit the glass with objects, or throw things at the tank.

I've not had ANY issues, and both of my kids can be rowdy at times. They both love to watch the fish and it is very fascinating to them.

Edited to add: ALSO - Teach your children EARLY that only mom or dad feed the fish....otherwise you could end up with a whole container of food in the tank, dead fish, and a mess to clean up. When they are older you can teach them appropriate food proportions and let them feed them. My 8 year old is responsible enough to feed his fish (the 20g).
 
When I lived at home my 55 gallon was in my parents basement, which was a licensed daycare. The child safety latches are important, we use the cheap plastic 'hook' kind on everything. All kids pretty much learned to ignore it or to just look. Only real damaged ever done happened on two different occasions both by 'new' kids at the time. I have a canister on that tank, specifically a rena XP3. It did not fit underneath the stand and was placed behind the tank. The tank formed one side of a triangle essentially in the middle of the room. Other sides being the wooden coat/shoe cubby and one of those big plastic kitchens. Most of the kids know not to move the kitchen set or mess with the stuff behind it. Twice there was the incident where one of the new kids did(both probably 3 years old). Same thing both times in that they pulled the quick release/disconnect for the canister hoses while it was running. Had to clean up 5-15 gallons of water. A good measure would of been to ducktape the quick release down :lol: . This being over the course of almost 4 years and a couple dozens different childern I doubt many will have any incidents with fish tanks and kids.

Though I have never seen them used, the magnetic cabinet locks may likely be better then the hook ones. The hook ones allow the doors to open about an inch. Particularly babies seemed keen on repeatedly(and loudly) opening and closing them that one inch that the child latches allowed.

Simple discipline is basically all it comes down to in the end. Kids should have timeouts or loose privileges if they cannot behave. Kids that received good discipline from their parents do very well. Its the ones that are poorly or inconsistently disciplined by their parents that cause the most trouble. In the end it all comes down to the parents. We had a teenage mother that did a really good job, kid was super friendly, smart, and well behaved. Same goes for a lot of teachers kids. Then you get the parents that show up in the morning and its like, Really? You couldn't get your toddler properly dressed today, because he/she was throwing a fit about it? :huh:
 
When my 8 year old was around 3 he threw a fit and wouldn't get dressed. I carried him to the car and strapped him In his carseat in his underwear. He begged to get dressed and I never had another issue with getting him dressed again!
 
bahhaaa thats what my parents would have done...

I used to regularly get smacked, no worse of for it either, heck of a lot better mannered than most people my age!

Like if i refused to eat my food,i would be made to sit for hours on end until i ate it, if i tried to get down... the chair harness came out, if i made a mess, i got a smack. If i still wouldnt eat it (after 3-4 hours) they would reheat it for my breakfast and repeat process... if i still wouldnt eat it, they recooked the same type of meal.

Im not fussy eater at all now! I got the naughty step, time out, smacked and shouted at. Oh and standing in the corner with my nose against the wall... for hours...

--
 
i no longer have small children in my home.. but when my grandsons came to visit, Michael, the oldest was 3 years old. he was, and still is, fascinated by fish. which is good, because he's going to inherit my arowanas.. lol.

we explained to him that he couldn't hit the glass to get the fish' attention, not that that is ever a problem, cichla pay more attention to what is going on outside the tank than they do the inside. but he could watch at feeding time and he could help clean the glass. we made an extra spray bottle of vinegar and water and gave him a flour sack towel and showed him how to spray, then wipe. my aquariums were VERY clean when the kids left 5 days later. lol. we also took the whole family to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach while they were here.

Michael is still interested in fish, we went to the Georgia Aquarium together 2 years ago, when Michael was 6. we took Robert (#2 grandson) and dad too, but they were only along for the ride. lol. Actually, we all had a blast.
 
Wow :cool: , what a fantastic set of replies, thanks to each and everyone one of you. Each response has put my mind that little bit more at ease each time i read them... i have purchased some cupboard door safety cathces, and the idea of some masking tape around my filter and keeping the extension cords WELL out of the way were great tips :thanks:

It's good to know that my hobby shouldn't be put aside or disregarded when junior comes along!

Terry.

PS- It has now been decided that the 30L tank will go into storage until junior is old enough to appreciate their own little tank... so therefore, i shall have a Eheim Aquaball FULL of mature media available in the next month or so, should anyone in the South West Wales area be in need of any :thumbs:
 
Whoa there Tizer!! :lol:
 

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