Child Damage Mitigation


Last week the wife and I brought a new baby home - our first - and it's been fun introducing her to the music we love. It dawned on me this morning that this child will be crawling before I know it and my lovely pair of Magnepan 3.7's might be sitting ducks. They're less agile than the cat, closer to the ground than the house plants, and more fragile than the couch. As I've calculated I've got approximately 6 months to find a way to prevent any child-induced damage so your input is greatly appreciated. What can I learn from the grand wisdom of AG about how to keep the kid away from the speakers? 
hapafoto
Good advice so far. Short sharp shock is what’s required.

Let’s face it kids and audio don’t mix well - until they get used to it using it properly. My teenage daughter is excellent at taking care of CDs, DVDs and using tech. But along the way, especially with my younger old son (and visitors) there have been numerous minor tech disasters.

One of the reasons I love my Tannoys is because they feature a near solid grille, which my son thankfully hasn’t yet realised can be removed. If I didn't have them I might go for some wall secured ATC SCM40s with their metal grilles.

I am always grateful not to be the owner of speakers featuring costly metal done tweeters. I couldn’t cope with pressure of knowing it’s a matter of when not if.

Hence valve amps also a big no no at the moment.

On the other hand let’s not forget damaged hi-fi can always be fixed or replaced, but children are irreplaceable.

That’s what I keep telling myself.
Congrats!

I've got two toddlers.  If there's a way to move your audio system into a different room, I suggest you do.  There's no controlling little ones when they're just starting to move around--they are just too young to understand right/wrong/discipline.

Short of that, the idea of installing a gate in front of the entire audio system seems reasonable, but know that there will be bouts of upset as you contend with the toddler reality of wanting everything in sight that they cannot have.
Funny that title of thread is "Child Damage Mitigation" rather than "Speaker Damage Mitigation" : )
I built a light wood frame around my speakers and covered it with some cloth mesh from a fabric store.  It kept the monkeys from doing any damage while they were tiny.  When they get a little bigger you've got to watch for them messing with the volume.  I've had them crank it up to 11, panic, and run.  If possible, put electronics on a high shelf.