A lockable cabinet to keep little ones safe from dangerous medicines (Ikea Atran Lockable Cabinet)

Member Name: HonestBob

Product:	Ikea Atran Lockable Cabinet
Date:	06/12/08 (324 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great price, very spacious, two keys incase you lose one.

Disadvantages: Limited colours, may be too bulky for some.

As a mum I'm always aware of the need to keep my children safe. I use stairgates, a fire guard and plug socket covers. I buy household products with safety caps and I have a cupboard safety lock on the cupboard where I keep them. I am astonished therefore, at the poor childproofing on many packets of tablets. Paracetamol may be sold in smaller quantities now a days, but the cardboard packets and easily pierced foil blister packs are not, in my opinion, childproof at all and it doesn't take many to kill a small child.

For this reason, and also to keep a variety of creams and potions out of sight of small eyes and hands I decided to invest in a lockable cabinet.

I wanted one that could hold quite a few medicines and tablets, as well as some basic first aid equipment. I also wanted one that could be wall mounted or stand alone.

After checking out the first aid boxes in my local pharmacy (much too small) I decided to visit Ikea. This is never an easy decision since I loathe and despise the shop. However, I thought I'd seen something along the lines of what I wanted on a previous visit, so I bit the bullet, arrived late (they're open until midnight) and went straight (well, as straight as you can in Ikea) to the area of the shop that I thought I'd seen medicine cabinets.

Located in the bathroom section, there are two styles of this cabinet available, stainless steel or white plastic. I chose the stainless still variety as it fits in better with my kitchen fixtures.

The cabinet measurements are:
Width: 35 cm
Depth: 15 cm
Height: 45 cm

It comes fully assembled with two keys (a spare incase, like me, your are a little absent minded). There are shelves on either side of the cabinet. Those on the door side are quite shallow, but are ideal for storing those cardboard packs of tablets that I moan about, as well as tubes of cream and chapsticks. All of the shelves have a lip (raised edge) to stop items simply slipping off. There are two shelves on both the door side and the cabinet side, making six storage areas in total. The height of the shelves varies and I can easily store large medicine bottles in my cabinet. Currently my cabinet holds 5 bottles of Calpol and various cough medicines quite easily on one shelf. There are inhalers, hayfever remedies and basic first aid equipment on another shelf. Bandages, a sling, butterfly stitches and a resusaid mask sit on the final shelf and antiseptic creams, alcohol wipes, lip salve, pain killers, plasters and rehydration sachets are stored in the door. Even with this lot there is still room for more!

I haven't put my cabinet on the wall. As a shorty I realised that the best location for it in my kitchen was actually too high for me to be able to reach the top shelf. Instead, mine is stored on a surface in the utility room. Safely locked (key in an accessible drawer known to those who need to know about it). It is fairly stable as a stand alone cabinet, but I wouldn't risk placing it on an edge where small hands could reach up and pull it over as it is quite heavy when full (and not light when empty) and the metal corners are, inevitably, sharp. It comes complete with wall fixtures for fitting should this be where you wish to locate it.

I would definitely recommend that any parent purchases a lockable cabinet in which to store medicines, creams and first aid equipment. At £15.65, with the large amount of storage within it, this has proved an invaluable purchase.

Summary: If you have small children it is essential that medicines are kept locked up.