BabyDan Child Safety Multi-Lock

The BabyDan Child Safety Multi-Lock is a simple but effective safety catch to be used on the outside of kitchen appliance doors (such as fridges, freezers, microwaves, cupboards etc). The multi-lock's simple design allows the user to easily unlock the catch with one hand, but at the same time will prove too tricky for infants to master.

The multi-lock uses strong adhesive pads on the underside of the two flat surfaces of the lock, which can be placed wherever the lock is required as long as it's a smooth surface. Once applied, the glue is incredibly strong, staying firmly attached to the surface, even with a considerable force being applied (yep...we tested this!!).

The set also includes a packet of small stainless steel screws which can be used in conjunction with the adhesive pads if required (such as if the surface is relatively uneven). Obviously this would mean screwing into the surfaces that you were attaching the pads to, so this will leave permanent holes in the doors once removed. We used our multi-lock on a flat freezer door, so only required the adhesive pads.

Putting the multi-lock together before applying the lock to the door is unfortunately far from easy. Sadly, this is why we knocked one star off the five possible stars that we could award the product. Firstly, opening up the 'anchoring' section is an absolute nightmare. I ended up needing to push a small Alan key through the underside of the section whilst my wife carefully guided the hinged flap open. Perhaps our particular lock was manufactured with too little amount of play between the flap and the base of the lock? Who knows? But it proved to be a hell of an ordeal for us to simply open up the lock. Furthermore, once the connecting section (the bit that looks like a miniature ladder) is threaded into the 'anchoring' section, closing and securing the hinged flap was almost as tricky again; requiring some careful forcing of the tongue part into the corresponding groove, utilising the same trusty Alan key from before. What a palaver for putting together such a simple lock!

However, once you've managed to lock the connecting ladder part into the anchoring section then thankfully you won't need to open up this part again.

Sturdy is certainly the word here. Once in place, the multi-lack won't release no matter how hard your little ones try to yank open the door. We've had ours in place now for a good month or so and can say with a great amount of confidence that it does its job perfectly.

The video that we included alongside this review should hopefully show the various ins and outs of the lock. Once it's put in place, there's not a great amount to it. It'll probably take you a day or two of use to get properly accustomed to opening it with one hand, but soon enough you should get the hang of it and opening and closing it will just become second nature.

So there you have it. A very sturdy and easy to use child safety lock, which after quite a monumentally unnecessary hassle of putting together, does its job extremely well.

...This is expensive for what it is. Of course there is no price to put on baby's safety, but you would at least hope that you could buy in bulk or there would be packs available of more than one - especially when having a set of 6 drawers to lock - one lock per drawer = £15! So we bought one to try first.

And maybe you just pay for the convenience of delivery and the name of baby dan / lindam - and that's fine - but we have just bought the EXACT same locks with two for the same price as one at a big sweedish place. Exactly the same - with half the price tag. So they are either not unique to the brand or they are not patented - we are happy anyway as we have now stocked up on what is proving to be a good product, although this is after only a few days use and with an ever-increasing interest from a 17month old.

I would not use this on a cupboard / fridge that you need to access daily or more than that - as it would drive me bonkers - because it is a bit fiddly to push the two release catches and lift out the tab at the same time. The drawers we are using them on are in a sideboard for storage (photo albums, computer bits / games, files and paperwork) so are opened infrequently.

After shopping around we couldn't find a more suitable catch for our drawers and plumped for these; the traditional internal-fix screw-in type would be very quickly mastered we felt, so one positive for this catch is that it will hopefully take longer to figure out.

However, when using on a drawer, there is some 'give' in the catch so there is a very real risk of finger trapping - made more dangerous by the fact that the 'give' is obviously sprung back into place by the tension. This should either be warned about on the product or the catch improved in some way to avoid this. (We have had tears once as a result of this - and I'm hoping that baby learns not to attempt it again - but if it occurs more frequently the catches will be coming off! I will try a hair dryer first to soften the adhesive for removal and a pallet knife or rubber spatula - but hopefully this won't be necessary and they can remain in place).

It should also be noted that when the product arrives, it is foolhardy to see what happens if you press down the grey clip BEFORE putting in the ladder-type white bracket part... or even if it is done by accident - it is nigh on impossible to get out again! We managed it eventually but thought we had rendered the product useless before even fitting it, oops. A very easy mistake to make, with only the most basic of pictorial instructions included. (Lesson learned though = fit the white bracket in the receiver first before clipping!)

All-in-all an item which fulfills it's intended purpose - hence 3 stars (especially with there being a lack of any alternative catch/bracket it seems!) but for safety in the home to be affordable would be better, especially when they are available elsewhere for half the cost.

*** edit ***
We have discovered that there is a 'right' and 'wrong' way to put these on - but yet again the poor instructions do not say this!

Before fitting onto it's desired location - have a fiddle with it first. You can't tell the difference between right or wrong way up just by sight - so put the ladder-esq bracket in it's receiver (with the one grey clip) and clip down but THEN see whether the second part (the 'catch' with the two press buttons) fits better one way or the other. When placed correctly, the bracket will click in fully and lies flush, but when "upside down" it does not click the whole way in and does not lie flush - and can be pulled out. Hope this makes sense - try before you stick and you'll see what I mean!

I would downgrade to 2 stars for this - yet another omission in instructions - but the lack of competition for a similar product on the market means I'll stick with 3 :o)

Great simple product, we are using it to stop the dog emptying a under-cupboard bin - it works a treat!! Reconmended for babies and dogs!!