Safety 1st Magnetic Locking System (1 Key and 8 Locks)

If you buy these, you wont be disappointed. Admittedly, they are a little bit of a pain to install and line everything up, but so far, I have yet to find a baby proofing product that isnt. They are an exercise in patience, but as you progress through the first two or three it becomes much easier. Our 1 year old couldnt resist opening the cabinets in our entertainment center, kitchen, and built-ins, once these were installed it only took a couple of days for him to realize he wouldnt be able to open the cabinets anymore and now he doesnt even try. We ordered two sets, so fortunately we received two keys which we strategically placed in our home. The only negative I can think with these, is if you lose the key. Its only a magnet, so it will be easy to replace, but if you lose the key and dont have a magnet around and need to get into a cabinet, you are going to be very, very annoyed. Thats not enough reason to give this any less than 5 stars though, thats the design, so you know it going in.

I was initially concerned about installing these, as the little key things are kinda annoying to have to grab. But if you can find a central place to store it near the doors, its good. Ive seen these before where the key rubbed away the finish, but i find the magnet is so strong that you dont even have to touch the cabinet to unlock - just get it close (about an inch or two) from the spot and you can hear the magnet unlock it. Pretty cool. We were forced to go with something like this as our cabinets are flush against each other and the drawers above, so there is no way to open them slightly and unlatch the push type with your finger. I wish the 8-pack came with a second key, as you might have to order another key. The keys alone are so expensive, I just ordered an extra 8-pack and have a few more latches just in case a few fail, or I find another spot to lock. Havent had that problem yet. Totally unexpected benefit - once open, you can push that little gray switch which unlocks them so you no longer need the key. This will be great when my son is old enough not to need them, we dont have to uninstall them and reinstall for the next kid. Also, if youre cooking, doing dishes, or something where you are in and out of the locked space but the kids arent around, you can unlock them and have easy access, then re-lock them all when youre done. Actually, turned out quite nice. The mounting is pretty easy. The lock on the door and the tang on the cabinet both install with a pair of screws. Pre-drill the holes so you dont splinter the wood, as the screws are short, but kind of thick. It comes with little stick on templates (enough for every mounting position) but I didnt use them A) because I didnt see them until I was 4 latches in, and B) because the plastic has wide spaces allowing some adjustment once installed. Get it pretty close, or use the guides for one or two, and you can probably eyeball it.

My little one is 14 months and like other toddlers her age, she is beginning to get into everything. I knew we had to do something when I took my eye off of her one day and found her in front of the cabinet under the sink with the cleanser paper tab in her hand (nothing bad happened). I searched amazon and stumbled across these locks. When they came, I thought installation would be a pain, but I was wrong. The kit comes with templates that ingeniously make this a tough job to botch. You simply stick the template on one side, mark where the latch goes, peel the sticker and transfer it to the other cabinet, again marking your screw holes. While a drill is recommended I didnt use one and still have good results (and no accidental pokes through - I wouldnt be writing this review if that was the case). As far as function, these works great. We even had a cabinet that wouldnt stay closed which annoyed me and of course attracted the baby. Now, shes a bit confused as to why she cant get in. Shes tugged and tugged until she fell on her bottom and just doesnt get why they no longer open, so they are fairly strong. I would warn you that you will likely forget that the cabinets are locked, so dont be surprised when your baby proofing works on you. Id also caution that you put the key on a string and hang on a knob/hook, as my only fear is losing it and locking myself out of the cabinet. The fact that you can keep these unlocked is good when you are working in the kitchen and need to get in and out of cabinets. In case you are wondering, they do work on drawers as well. Safety first has thought this product all the way through so I have to give them credit.

This locking system is superb. Its the only system that truly stops a child (or animal) from getting into a cabinet unless they have access to the key. Of course, if you leave the key (or a magnet) in a place where they can get it, access is a snap! So, my wife and I installed brand new kitchen cabinets, and we had, at the time (this was about a year ago), an 18 month old. He was starting to get curious about the cabinets as he got more mobile. We wanted to secure the cabinets in a way that would: 1) Not be noticeable from the outside 2) Could not be easily defeated by a child 3) Could be turned on and off as needed Enter this system. I checked a lot of them out, and this got great reviews, though the install was a little more challenging. Ordered a set (and, later, a 2nd set) to outfit the kitchen. I waited until my 18 month old was not around (think my wife took him to the park) and started on a cabinet. Since I care about my brand new cabinets, I was careful. Measure. Measure again, and mark the holes. Solid wood cabinets, so I pre-drilled a hole, and then screwed in the top bracket. Measured and checked the latch system, and then marked, pre-drilled, and screwed in the latch. Make sure you test the system right away to ensure a clean lock/unlock. Its pretty solid. Yes, if you pull really hard it is possible to pull a cabinet open, but it does take some effort. I like the fact that, because the lock is flush (if you install well), when the cabinet is closed and locked, there is no give - that makes a child lose interest in trying to open, because is does not do anything (in contrast to the ones where you open a little, push down, and then fully open). The key is just a magnet that you put in the [close] vicinity of the lock on the outside of the cabinet. I believe any decently powerful magnet would work, but these are coated in plastic and wont scratch your nice cabinets. I ordered the 8 lock/1 key system, which only gives you one key, obviously. Recommend getting a 2nd key since, if you lose it, you are stuck for a while. We put a hook high up in one of the upper cabinet doors, and hang the key from there, so we alwyas know where it is (and the little dude cant get it!) I later ordered a 2nd system to complete my kitchen, and had 3 leftover. So I took those and intalled them in on the glass doors in my family room entertainment system, so now my son cant touch the receiver buttons (if he did that, hes make sure we never heard sound again), pop out a DVD, or turn the cable box off. Keeping him out of those doors was a great use for the leftover locks, and I keep the key that came with that set hidded behind a statue in the bookcase above the doors. I love the fact that you can easily lock/unlock the system. We regularly leave one cabinet (the garbage/recycling drawer) unlocked, as we use it a lot, and when not cooking. However, our son goes through periods of curiosity about that spot. So, when he shows interest in doing something he should not in trash can, we just lock it. He quickly loses interest and goes away, and we can unlock for later use. This is a well designed, high quality product. We have been using them for over a year and (knock on wood) not lost a key. Weve had no problems with them during this time. If you want a discrete system that enables you to securely lock the cabinets, and you are not prone to losing thngs (like the required key), I highly recommend this. It may cost a little more, but you will be satisfied with what you get.

Updated 4/2/16: I have to admit, my husband installed these. I didnt realize that 2 of the 8 did not work, they wouldnt pop back up after hitting the magnet. So when you close the cabinet doors, it wouldnt automatically lock...and he had already started installing when he realized it. So he thought, Its inexpensive to buy and worth it so well just buy another pack and that way well have more than one key. But to me, $30, is $30 and we shouldnt have had to waste two locks or uninstall the locks to return. So Im editing to deduct a star. Be sure to test out all the locks before installing. Also did try it with a smaller magnet, didnt help. Husb had a heavy duty magnet around and that does work. Even with the two broken locks, it still looks so much better than the alternatives AND my son already started to yank on it and it wouldnt budge, not like the other hook things that we installed the first time we childproofed. Original: Were using this as baby proofing so my active 1 year old doesnt open all of our cabinets. We tried the hook things, but my hubby kept opening up the cabinets too quickly and it kept breaking off. Then we went to those plastic ties that go around the knob, but it was kind of ugly (granted, after kids, the house really isnt the same so I didnt notice it until we put these in and it just looks so much cleaner now). Also, those plastic ties tended to rub on the cabinet paint (again, I didnt notice it anymore but my husband paints the cabinets so he noticed it). I subtracted one star because looking around for the one key is sort of a pain. They only give you 1 per set. Wish there were two or three so we can have them in multiple places. We put it on our fridge which is pretty central but I would recommend buying more sets if you want to install around the house. Havent tried with just a regular magnet, but maybe that might help...

I bought this product based on the one and only review with 5 stars from another parent looking for the best child proofing devices for the house. I am very pleased with the results. This is a solidly built product that is fairly easy to install. The package comes with a template for each lock that allows you to line up the holes without having to use a measuring tape. This saves a lot of time. The best thing about this lock is that it keeps the cupboard doors shut very tight. This eliminates the possibility for children to pinch their fingers or reach into the opening that you would normally get with a latch type lock system. Also, since the lock requires a special key to unlock, theres no concern that children will understand how the lock system works to unlock it by themselves. I even installed this on our Lazy Susan cupboard with no problem. The instructions for the template suggests that you mark the holes with a pencil and then drill. To save some time, you can just drill through the template holes right away and then screw in the lock. Since you get a template for each lock that comes in the package theres no worry that youll ruin the template for the next lock. The first lock took a little time to install, but after that I was able to install locks on the cupboard doors in under 10 minutes per lock.

We have used these locks for the past 10 months and I absolutely love them. We installed them in both the kitchen and bathrooms and they work perfectly. There is a bit of a learning curve to install them – I want to say the first one took over 30 minutes to learn how to line up, but then each subsequent lock took just a couple minutes (as others have noted, there are videos online you can refer to if needed). It also takes a minute to teach visitors how to use them. Now that we have an extremely active toddler they definitely do the trick, holding up even when he pulls on the handles and throws his entire weight back to try and open a cabinet (yes, toddlers do that). Overall, this is a great option if you want to avoid the more cumbersome plastic white cabinet locks all over your kitchen or bathroom. We did buy an extra key (just to make access as convenient as possible while cooking).

These work great for keeping little ones out, they do get annoying for adults at times though. I find myself using the key to open a drawer, setting the key down, closing the drawer, only realizing I need something else, then picking up the key again and unlocking the device. Sometimes this happens over and over. It sounds like I am being absurd for being annoyed with this minor inconveniences, but it gets a little annoying having to get the key EVERY SINGLE TIME to open a door. That is not the fault of the product, that was by design and there is nothing they can do about it. It still is good for what it is intended to do. Install was not the easiest, the instructions and little sticker guides for drill holes were just confusing for me, so I just eyeballed the mount points and that worked fine for me. Can my wife install them? Doubt it, but she is not very handy either. So you need to have basic hand tool experience I would say to install these.

My ten month triplet boys will figure out how to open up the kitchen cabinets sooner rather than later, so I ordered these from Amazon and was able to install them today. I have read a lot of people complain about installing these locks, and while it takes some effort, its not that hard. I did it all by myself, an extra pair of hands would have been nice! After installing the first set of locks, you get the hang of it and the rest are actually pretty easy to install. You need a drill and a 7/64 bit to pre-drill for the screw holes, the hardware is can be installed with a screwdriver and all of the screws are provided. An installation guide is included with the locks - you get one guide for each lock that will temporarily stick to the cabinet frame and then again to the door. You dont need to mark the holes first with a pencil to drill - I just used the paper as a template. When I ordered these, I was concerned that they would not work for our installation since our cabinets have no center dividers (there are two doors, side-by-side with no wood piece in the center), but the locks are actually very versatile and can work with the locking mechanism facing up or facing sideways. Keep in mind that each door and drawer will take a single lock. Eight locks came in the package that I ordered, so I was able to finish four cabinets (with two doors each). I did run out of locks before I could try these out on any of our kitchen drawers, but I will order some more and secure the kitchen drawers as well. I recommend these for any parent that needs to keep their infants out of drawers and cabinets. 1 tip - Leave one drawer accessible with stuff in it that the kids can play with. That way they will get easily sidetracked and forget about trying to get in to the other cabinets / drawers that have been secured.

These locks are really great! I was worried if we used the cheaper plastic safety latches, our daughter could still get in between the cabinet and the door and pinch her fingers. These totally eliminate that possibility. It does take some time to install them, but I figured almost any option that would work for our kitchen (we have knob handles on our cabinets) would require installation. I also especially like that they can be turned off so if shes not in the kitchen (we also have a gate blocking our kitchen from the rest of our house) and we are cooking and need to get in and out of cabinets quickly, we can set the locks so they arent on. Our kitchen is small enough this pack did all the lower cabinets, and we have enough left over to do the cabinets in the bathroom vanity (well just have to get a separate key or just a high powered magnet as others have suggested). I have recommended these to all of our friends as we are really happy with how they work. Weve had them installed now for months and have no complaints at all!