Wood Burning Fireplace Care

[Michele]

I think keeping away from flames is pretty instinctual. We ran a fire when K and D were both young and didn't have any problems. They could feel the heat just being near it...there was no desire to touch it. The problem we ran into was throwing objects in the room with the fire...I was scared whatever they were playing with would accidentally get tossed in the fire. I'll see what happens with P this year. She's my most inquisitive one yet.

[Deebs]

Unfortunately, DH has seen WAY to many burns in his career, especially on young children. We use our outdoor firepit that is gas fed, and hose down the wood when it's time to go in. We haven't used our fire place here at all, and have used them in the past when the kids were somehow away for an extended period of time.

[SoonerTexan]

Sandy, you know it is a good option for when I'm lazy and want to get more use out of it. I can tell you now DH won't be dealing with it.

Deebs you kill all the pyro fun!!! JK, I really do appreciate your insight.

It's got a brick hearth in front of it do it would take extra work for N to get into it. Downside is I need to get foam corners on the brick stat! If we light it, we know we will have to have eyes on her at all times

[SuzySunshine]

We almost alway use ours after te kids have gone to bed.

[spotty_dog]

We use the gas fireplace and the kids show good self-preservation. We don't scold them for much so I'm sure our early explosions of "Touch NOOO! Fire is HOT and HURTS BABIES!" made an impression. One may have touched the glass front briefly but only enough to be reddened. We also use an open outdoor firepit and a charcoal grill and they're good with those too (but we didn't do those so much when they were little babies).