apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I agree, I have the DWR one and while the shelf, itself, is very heavy and stable, the books are obiviously just stacked there and a toddler could easily knock them off. Maybe you could make it work by stacking extremely big/heavy books on the lower shelves?

We have two short Sapiens, a preschooler, and we live in SF. My feeling is that they could pretty easily fall over in a serious quake, although they're stable enough in a mild one. Ours are behind a large armchair for this reason, but we keep intending to put an round-eyed anchor in the stud of the wall behind them and run a metal cable around the stem of the bookcase (near the top, below the uppermost shelf) and latch to the anchor to hold them up in a real quake. ABAG literature suggests that this method should work pretty well and our building handyman says the same. We have no excuse for not doing it thus far except that we're lazy.

Our son likes to take books on and off but hasn't knocked them off; I suspect that's a personality thing, though. We got them when he was a year old. Your experience might be different.

Are you crazy? As a mom of two toddlers, that looks like a major accident just waiting to happen. Heavier books on the bottom just means heavier books for the toddler to knock off and hurt themselves with. The only thing I can think of is to put the kids books on the bottom so that they can have easy access. But if the crib is there they can reach over and knock books into their crib and hurt themselves. It just doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

I'm going to have to politely disagree with auburny. The shelf is very heavy and stable, and is made even more so when you have lots of books stacked on it. Stacking heavy books on the bottom (especially the very bottom) isn't a problem because they're too heavy for most toddlers to pull off, and even if they were pulled off, there's nowhere for them to fall. They're already practically on the ground. If they bump into it, the books might shift a bit, but none should fall, except perhaps some of the top-most paperbacks. Hardly terribly harmful. As long as you don't do something silly like stack the big, heavy books on top and the light ones on bottom, making the whole thing top-heavy, you should have no real problems. Though your kid might pull some of the books into his/her crib if she/he can reach. Get an early start on reading. ;)

I have two of the knock-offs from West Elm and for the most part am happy with their stability for the most part. One of the shelves seems to lean forward a bit more than the other one. I wonder if it might be slightly bent although the steel rods that users must insert through the tower structure and each of the shelves is extremely stiff. In my former, and much more cramped rowhouse, I bumped into the shelves on a few occasions and nothing fell off. The books only shifted a bit.

I'll also have to respectfully disagree with auburny. We have two tall Sapiens. They are extremely bottom heavy and with the heavy books on the bottom shelves, it just gets heavier. Allsunday is correct. As long as you don't do something silly like put the heavy books on the top shelves, things will be fine. I bought these when my girl was two and all have survived quite nicely (she's just about seven now).

Keep the real bookshelf!

Anyway, the note states while they are moving the crib into the space, they are looking for another spot for the sapiens, and whether or not that place can be the living room where they children will play. Nobody ever seems to worry about earthquakes during the day, however, I have noticed, only how not to be crushed, impaled or concussed while they sleep. I am sure you can get some kind of brace to secure the shelves to a wall, flat piece of metal in several spots screwed into the wall on either side. Why don't you do that?

I got rid of about 500 books when I was pregnant and making room for baby. It was tough, but I haven't missed any of them. And I bought a crib and expensive organic mattress, and she never once slept in it. She is two now, and has always shared our bed, which I think made her such a sound sleeper and such a happy baby, and made it so much easier to feed her without really waking up. So skip the crib and purge the books! You don't need a changing table either. Just put the diapers and wipes warmer in the bottom drawer of a dresser (cord through the back) and have a washable rug in front of it.

I strongly agree with auburny,it looks like a major accident just waiting to happen.Toddlers grab hold of anything they can reach to help themselves stand up.Why take the risk ?Any bookcase or shelving system that's not secured to a wall or high enough that a toddler cannot reach is dangerous .

Why don't you anchor them to the all, just in case. dot's idea sounds easy/effective. I'm still scared about the crib next to tons of books in earthquake scenario though.

[wall]

I had two sapiens and had to get rid of them when my boys began to move around. The sapiens are fairly stable BUT if your child is a climber they could be very dangerous. My boys are 1 1/2 and I can imagine them pushing the books off the lower shelves and climbing. BUT my children are extremely physical- to say the least. If you decide to get one you I would screw it into the wall like previous posters mentioned.

The only pace to squeeze them in is by the bookcases?

I'd rethink more than the floorplan.

Read it again - the crib goes by where their current bookcases are now. They want to consider space-saving replacement for bookcases to go elsewhere in the apartment and considering whether the sapiens would or would not be safe in a common area. NOT by the crib.

Color me pessimistic but books falling off or earthquakes were not the first thing I thought of when thinking about this question. It was the seemingly more-likely scenario of "trip over feet, shelf-edge into face."

That said, as far as earthquakes go you should be bolting the top of all bookshelves to the wall. Simple fix.

as a mom of a very active 12 mth old boy, i can attest that toddlers will try to get ANYTHING they can get their hands on. i had a normal bookshelf with heavy books in piles on the bottom couple shelves and pulling on the books and trying to tear up the paper is one of my boys favorite things to do... we have basically had to clear ALL surfaces in the house that he can reach.

...if i had those i know i'd find myself picking up books all day long- unless you plan to block the baby from these somehow.

i'd pack up the books till the kids understand to respect the books!

I don't have a kid and I've never seen that shelf in person but I can tell you right now that it definitely is not childproof!

Another idea might be to mount shelves to the wall quite high. Nothing you can reach until they're about 10 without a stepstool. No floor space. Not sure how you'd get them not to fall off during an earthquake, office supply store bookends and some sort of strap or bar or ridge mounted across the front.

agree with Yellow Canoe and like minded....
those shelves arent childproof. i know people seem to love them but i wouldnt want them for even just me.

Aside from it falling over, or pulling books off, my son when he was two would have looked at that thing and thought "ladder".

I think its interesting that Auburnny and Jennah are only going on looks and have had no real-life experience with the Sapien.

I've got one at home it is very sturdy. It's had both heavier art books on it and now it has a lot of paperbacks. In neither case has it been wobbly at all.

I'm not worried about the shelves themselves falling down on the kid as much as the things on the shelves. And yeah, my son would try to climb it.

We have an active 15-month old and two of these, one small and one large. My husband bolted them to the wall.

I agree with those that suggest screwing the bookcases to the wall. Children topple stoves, televisions, bookcases, dressers, and other things you wouldn't think of by climbing on them. Good luck with your new baby.