Strange insect--what is this?

I've recently moved (southern Ontario) and have found an odd insect in our new home (3 in the past few weeks). They are small--the largest I've seen was about a 2-3mm body with 2 long claw-like arms and a few sets of legs. I'm looking at one I killed last night, so it's kind of squished. Looks like 3 sets of legs + 2 long arms, but may be 4 sets of legs + 2 arms.

When I first saw one, it reminded me of a scorpion, but they move a lot like crabs (forward, backward, sideways). It doesn't look like a crab spider to me--more crab and less spider. Dark, reddish brown. Pincer/arm span on this one is 10-11mm, body is teardop-shaped, about 2.5mm long and 1.5mm at the widest point.

Found a dead one in the laundry room and two live ones in a former bedroom (we use it as a library), so I don't imagine they need much moisture.

What are these things, other than freaky looking? Could they hurt my one year old (who would surely try to eat them)?

Answers:
sounds like an earwig to me; pretty much harmless


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