Two-Year-Olds and Turntables...

Have something at your place that the girl loves more than life itself...Hello Kitty stuff seems to be high on the must-have list these days. Then give it to the child to play with only (1) while at your house and (2) only if she keeps away from the turntable.

We use the technique of "putting things on vacation" with our kids (4 and 6) and if the object that is threatened is high status, the threat works wonders. (E.g., if you don't practice piano right now, your "weird and wild creature cards" (the boy); your "hello kitty treehouse" (the girl) will go on vacation.) And of course, follow through is everything.

Perhaps mark a circle on the floor 4 feet away from the tt with tape or something and if the kid passes the barrier, the coveted item goes on vacation. That way you don't have to wait until it's too late.

Good luck!

Rich

Thanks all!

For the time being, I've opted to go with a variation on the acrylic cover with the out-of-sight-out-of-mind principle thrown in for good measure -- a hastily fabricated cover of 1" X 8" frame topped with a piece of quarter inch plywood and a little bit cut out of the back for the connecting wires to run. Cheap enough to just pick up and toss into the garage when our granddaughter's not visiting and hopefully ugly enough to deter the fascinations of pre-kindergartners when it's in service protecting the turntable. If this doesn't work, I'll probably opt for a Target wall mount setup but have really wanted to keep the current location if at all possible due to a combination of optimum sonics and optimum visual harmony in the room

If all this fails, I suppose I'll call Dr. Laura and face the inevitable verbal lashing....lol...

I agree with "Uncle Albert". I had exposed tubes just off the floor, and quickly trained my babies to stay away from them.

"Protecting" the children doesn't really protect them. However, just like everything else in this hobby, your mileage may vary.

My parents preferred electric shock treatments. It really played hell with my potty training. I didn't mind getting swatted with a rolled up newspaper, but I hated having my nose rubbed in it and thrown out the back door. We are very close.