Baby Proofing Advice

[PlainJane]

Little dude is almost six months. He currently rolls to get where he wants to go, but crawling seems to be just around the corner. We need to start baby proofing. Probably the things that seem the most overwhelming are window coverings and hiding electrical cords. I would appreciate any advice you have. Thank you!

 

[mrsv98]

One of the best things we did was to install permanent baby gates. Even though DD is almost 17, they are still up and functional - we use them for the dogs now, not DD!

Locks on the kitchen and bathroom cabinets and VERY IMPORTANT - furniture straps to keep tall bookcases/dressers/etc from falling over.

Once Little Dude is moving, you will find more because, trust me, he will find everything!!!

 

[mjkacmom]

One of the best things we did was to install permanent baby gates. Even though DD is almost 17, they are still up and functional - we use them for the dogs now, not DD!

Locks on the kitchen and bathroom cabinets and VERY IMPORTANT - furniture straps to keep tall bookcases/dressers/etc from falling over.

Once Little Dude is moving, you will find more because, trust me, he will find everything!!!

We did this at the top and bottom of our stairs, the top one is still installed, gate is in a closet. I put it on every Christmas Eve so no one sneaks down early (and my kids are between the ages of 14 and 20).

 

[BigAlsGal]

I'd start off with electrical outlet covers, baby gates, and locking up cabinets that contain dangerous household chemicals.

Once they start walking get the things that prevent them from getting out of the house. (Chain locks, door knob covers). Other than that no need to go too crazy.

 

[Poohforyou]

One thing I did that worked really well was to not put a lock on one small lower kitchen cabinet. I kept things in there that were safe for my daughter and she never bothered to try to get into the other cabinets.

Some things I put in there when plastic dishes, and containers (some filled with cheerios), new sponges, pot holders, dish towels, plastic utensils and small canned goods like tomato paste. I'd switch things out periodically. She loved it when I asked to borrow something.

 

[justussix]

Cords on blinds don't seem like an issue in the winter, but when you pull the blinds up, the cords can get very long. Find a way to put them up out of reach.
Don't keep sugar or flour in a lazy susan. They will find it and flour your kitchen.

No matter what you do, they will find the one thing you forgot!
Agree with keeping one kid friendly lower cabinet available.

Markers and crayons may seem kid friendly. However, they generally are not wall friendly. Might want to keep this in a place where they need help getting them (and only washable ones at that). Definitely don't leave sharpies accessible. Had to repaint a closet because of this once.

If they do mess up, don't get mad. Take a picture to display at their high school graduation open house! Some of our favorite pictures are of the kids sitting next to their first wall art work.

 

[bellebud]

permanent gate at top of stairs that matches our railings, had a carpenter make it. use it for dogs now. outlet covers, corners of furniture, strapping furniture to the wall, no strings from window shades hanging down, no cords able to be reached, cabinet and drawer locks (except 1 or 2 that we put tupperwear type stuff in and baby could play with it). toilet seat locks, a baby gate inside the door that went to the basement (so if someone left it a bit open, baby couldn't fall down the stairs). a hinge lock at the very top of all doors that only adults could reach. removed all reachable knick knacks. door stoppers on doors so they couldn't be slammed on little fingers. For my dd, we had to do double high baby gates or she'd climb over. turned dining room chairs around so couldn't climb up onto table. put couch cushions on floor in front of couch.

A lot of these things we did were particularly for our dd, she walked and climbed early, but had no sense of safety (would just walk off the edge of stuff). DS climbed like a monkey, but had a good sense of safety, so didn't worry about him falling off stuff as much. You'll see how much you need to do for your child. My friends didn't have to do half of what we did, lol.

 

[mamacatnv]

We found that baby proofing an entire house was really not practical so with both kids we completely baby proofed the family room and their bedrooms complete with gates, switch covers, furniture straps etc to keep them contained. We've never lived in a multi story house so stairs were never an issue.
We moved all the caustic soaps/chemicals etc to high places and the bottom kitchen cabinets were kid friendly. Both kids had a cabinet in the kitchen with their stuff. Stove knobs as well as one of those guards so they could not grab handles were used. To this day I still turn all pot/pan handles inwards towards the back of the stove top. Some habits never die.

The biggest issues we encountered was coming up with a fridge latch that was DS proof as well as door latches once he was mobile as escape was his goal! We eventually resorted to the hotel style flip locks.

 

[mummabear]

If you can move all cleaning stuff up high, that way there is no way for it to be reached.
Gate off your whole kitchen rather than adding locks to everything- the locks become a pain and you will get lazy about using them, plus them being under your feet while dealing with hot stuff is dangerous.

 

[PlainJane]

Thank you for all the replies so far! I hope to read through them tonight after baby goes to bed.

 

[jdb in AZ]

When my cousin A became mobile she was always into her brothers’ stuff so my aunt put a sliding latch on the outside of the boys’ bedroom door. It became a habit to keep the door locked so A wouldn’t bother bros stuff. Then one day gma came to visit and used the boys’ room as a guest bedroom. Someone slid the door latch while gma was inside. Gma slept late that morning, and not wanting to interrupt her beauty sleep, the family went off running errands while gma slept. As soon as the family returned they heard gma screaming to get out. If she had been physically able she would have used a window. Aunt opened slid open the latch and gma made a beeline for the restroom. After she got dressed she demanded to be driven some 30 miles away to her daughter’s house. It was a very quiet trip across town.

 

[mamacatnv]

When my cousin A became mobile she was always into her brothers’ stuff so my aunt put a sliding latch on the outside of the boys’ bedroom door. It became a habit to keep the door locked so A wouldn’t bother bros stuff. Then one day gma came to visit and used the boys’ room as a guest bedroom. Someone slid the door latch while gma was inside. Gma slept late that morning, and not wanting to interrupt her beauty sleep, the family went off running errands while gma slept. As soon as the family returned they heard gma screaming to get out. If she had been physically able she would have used a window. Aunt opened slid open the latch and gma made a beeline for the restroom. After she got dressed she demanded to be driven some 30 miles away to her daughter’s house. It was a very quiet trip across town.

Oh my, that is just funny. Poor GMA but hilarious nonetheless

 

[Skippy918]

We had the magnetic locks and also the lever door handle locks for the pantry and other closets. We did have to put a chain on the front door so ds wouldn't escape.

 

[Aliceacc]

Lay down on your stomach in your living room. See the room from little dude's perspective. If you can reach it, or pull it down or knock it over, he can too.

Then do the same in each other room.

Teach him early how to go up and down stairs-- have him come down the stairs facing up, crawling down. In the beginning, we put pillows at the foot of the stairs and started him 2 or 3 steps up. As skills and confidence grew, we would walk down in front of the kids, ready to catch them if they wobbled.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Put the plastic covers in the light sockets.

 

[CarolAnn856]

Lots of good advice already that I won't repeat. For doors that you intend to leave open, there are soft, foam-like bumpers you can put around the edge at the top. These prevent little fingers from getting smashed if they close the door. We also put the rubber adhesive bumpers on the fireplace and corners of the coffee table. Probably overkill, but it made me feel more comfortable.

I'm so glad that we're not the only parents of teens who still use baby gates...for the dog.

 

[minneylovesmicky]

What we did at at that age, got down on our hands and knees and crawled around. To see exactly what was at their eye level. This gave is a better idea of all the things we need to secure/change or fix, might sound stupid to some, but you will be surprised what you miss just standing up and walking about.

I'm so glad that we're not the only parents of teens who still use baby gates...for the dog.

Baby gate user here too, to stop the dog from getting into the laundry to get the "special cookies" from the kitty litter....lol

 

[jevs]

We used baby gates and outlet plugs. We have vertical blinds and they used to have long cords, we had them shortened and then got in the routine of throwing them on top of the blinds so they couldn't be reached. Laundry and bathroom doors were kept shut. Anything precious that I didn't want broken, I just put away or up higher.

Oh, and we told them the dam had crocodiles living in it.

 

[Marchand63]

Don't forget the corners of any square/rectangular tables. We actually got rid of all the glass tables in our house including the outdoor patio.

 

[CarolAnn856]

Don't forget the corners of any square/rectangular tables. We actually got rid of all the glass tables in our house including the outdoor patio.

That reminded me...we had a coffee table that had a glass top that rested inside a band of wood. Instead of getting rid of the entire table, he cut a piece of plywood to the right size, which I then covered with leather to match our family room.