At what age is it safe for me to buy a nice couch?

[Anonymous]

We've had a nice sofa since my youngest was a toddler but I do spend a small fortune on professional steam cleaning of that and our nice rugs. But once I realized stains would come out, I relaxed a lot. I don't allow food or drinks in the living room but lets be honest, kids sneak that stuff in, and yes there were urine accidents at times!

[Anonymous]

Mine's 8 and we're waiting. She gets bloody noses and our couch now has bloodstains on top of the paint (she had some on her clothes from painting and sat on it), the pee, the baby spit up, the milk (no, she's not supposed to have food on the couch, it happens), and the wine (that's on us).

I don't want a really nice couch, just a new couch. Not buying anything super fancy.

[Anonymous]

We’ve had nice furniture from the beginning. Our rules are no food or drink (other than water) in family room area. We eat at the table. They also know to use art supplies at a table, though they can use pencils in the family room.

Our oldest threw up on our couch once and we had it steam cleaned. Our youngest once drew with a marker all over our white chair but that came out no problem too. So, two incidents in 9 years.

I seriously don’t understand why people “wait” to buy nice things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’ve had nice furniture from the beginning. Our rules are no food or drink (other than water) in family room area. We eat at the table. They also know to use art supplies at a table, though they can use pencils in the family room.

Our oldest threw up on our couch once and we had it steam cleaned. Our youngest once drew with a marker all over our white chair but that came out no problem too. So, two incidents in 9 years.

I seriously don’t understand why people “wait” to buy nice things.

Agree. We have a leather couch that handles wear and tear from kid use (jumping, etc) but we don't allow the kids to eat or drink on the couch. Art projects are supposed to be done at the table but all of our art supplies are washable so it wouldn't be a disaster if paint landed on the couch. Our rug is cotton and we did have a kid throw up on it once but were able to really clean it out (it took a while, but it worked). The rug is probably the only piece of furniture that I'd say we might want to replace when the kids get older (they're 5 and 2 now). My husband and I eat and drink on the couch and he spilled a glass of red wine on the rug (which we could also clean out!) but the couch wipes down easily. The sofa is pull-out and we have a mattress protector over that portion which we wash regularly because it still accumulates dirt and dust etc.

After anchoring our tall furniture during the baby proofing stage I'd never not anchor, regardless of age. Minor earthquakes are not totally uncommon, and theoretically an adult could trip and fall into something. I wouldn't want to risk the furniture crashing down.

[Anonymous]

I bought a small table and chairs for food and beverage and child size chairs for them. No sitting on sofa unless in our laps. Never had a problem.

[Anonymous]

From a newborn. We do not allow any food or drink anywhere but at the table. Stop allowing her to drink milk on the couch.

Each of my kids had one pee accident - one on the bathroom floor (SO close!) and one out on the street. If your daughter is regularly having accidents you're not stopping her to go to the bathroom often enough.

Both of these issues are a problem with you, not a problem with your child.

[Anonymous]

When DS was about 5, his friend came over and drew on our sofa with pen when I was in the bathroom. I’m glad I waited until 8 to big nice furniture.

I don’t let the kids (or their friends but that hasn’t been an issue since March obviously) have pens, food, or drinks on the sofa, and they aren’t allowed to sit on the arms. These are pretty easy rules to enforce. So far so good.

[Anonymous]

We don't allow kids to eat or drink anything but water while on furniture.

Wetting pants...I don't know. That wasn't ever an issue at home.

Anchoring bookshelves and such to walls, that's a hard one. My son is 9 and I just rearranged his room and didn't reattach anchors, but there isn't anything terribly tall or heavy in there. The rest of the house, tall and heavy items would still be anchored. I mean, kids are kids ... they'll do dumb things like climb shelves if they can't reach what they want.

[Anonymous]

Never

Really Op, your quesiton has been debated by all parents for generations. There is no good answer. Except maybe: Reupholster

[Anonymous]

Stop giving milk on the couch, IMO. Also, while I do think it's important to baby proof, a 4 year old should not be climbing on book shelves and if they are, the problem is lack of supervision.

[Anonymous]

My youngest is four and we were planning to buy a new sofa this year, but we're holding off because of all the pandemic delays (the sofas I'm interested in are taking anywhere from 4-9 MONTHS to ship).

[Anonymous]

I bought a couch I didn't mind the kids destroying. I have a very expensive couch that I love bit the kids aren't allowed to use it. I examined what type of message I was sending them when I stressed about the relaxing and eating snacks on the couch. I moved my expensive sofa into another room and bought a decent mid range couch for the family room. The kids can enjoy it and brelsx at home.

[Anonymous]

I bought a couch I didn't mind the kids destroying. I have a very expensive couch that I love but the kids aren't allowed to use it. I examined what type of message I was sending them when I stressed about the relaxing and eating snacks on the couch. I moved my expensive sofa into another room and bought a decent mid range couch for the family room. The kids can enjoy it and relax at home.

[Anonymous]

Leather is surprisingly kid friendly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From a newborn. We do not allow any food or drink anywhere but at the table. Stop allowing her to drink milk on the couch.

Each of my kids had one pee accident - one on the bathroom floor (SO close!) and one out on the street. If your daughter is regularly having accidents you're not stopping her to go to the bathroom often enough.

Both of these issues are a problem with you, not a problem with your child.

You home sounds cozy and inviting and fun.