Toddler-proofing your cabin.

[slzer0]

Of course there is no substitute for watchful parenting.

That said, I'm open to any suggestions to help manage the destruction my 2 year old is constantly leaving in his wake.

Hopefully he will spend most of his waking hours laying waste to the public areas of the ship, but when he's in the cabin and grows weary of climbing on every available surface, he'll turn to the drawers, fridge, closet, bathroom. Lol

I am terrified he will wander the halls while we all sleep. I will definitely be hanging bells on the cabin door after he falls asleep - I've already seen that they're the kind of door that he can easily open and he loves to sneak around when he gets up.

 

[JohnPA]

No worries about him getting out of cabin. That door is HEAVY. Make sure to use the childproof lock on the veranda door if you have a veranda cabin.

 

[MAJPLO]

For any hotel stay I would always bring outlet plugs and binder clips. There aren't many outlets in the room but you may use them. Binder clips to tie up loose cords, keep curtains closed to block light from outside during nap time, etc. I forget what the drawer pulls are like but a bungee cord may be able to keep them closed if you are worried about him getting into them. Neither of my kids were much for wandering and I was almost always awake before them so I'm not sure about that but the doors are pretty heavy as pp stated. Have fun!!!

 

[laceltris3]

Life with our 2 yo is like living with the Tasmanian Devil or Animal from the Muppets, so I get where you are coming from. We had to put away the ladder to the bunk bed and made the other kids pull up from the couch or gave them a boost after he fell off it the second time. We hid the chest under the table/counter because he and his brother were trapping each other in it and someone's fingers were going to be smashed.

Other than that, outlets are only on the dresser/table counter and in the bathroom, if I recall correctly. Ours could open the door by himself, so we had to use the deadbolt, but I suppose I am "fortunate" he is more of the sort that will wake me up, call me a butt crack and giggle rather than wander the halls alone.

Just lock the Verandah if you have one, as ours could open the door and liked to stand on the table so he could see (he is a climber and could get his leg up on the rail ). He did good in the grandparent's porthole room, but would use it as a slide and fights ensued over who was taking the longer turn and somebody probably pushed someone else out of it, but not any real concern there.

 

[slzer0]

Thanks guys, I feel a bit better. I will bring plugs, bungees, and clips.

We got an 8d instead of a verandah because he is definitely a climber with no fear.

Sounds like you guys have the same issues lol

 

[Parkerpirates]

Thanks guys, I feel a bit better. I will bring plugs, bungees, and clips. We got an 8d instead of a verandah because he is definitely a climber with no fear. Sounds like you guys have the same issues lol

And duct tape...you can use duct tape for anything...taping the door shut, adding some extra padding to anything you see fit, taping the bottom stairs of the ladder over, taping over the electrical outlets and toilet lid. (Obviously I'm joking...you can't use tape on anything in the rooms. Except maybe your child. But that would be frowned upon.)

 

[DanieD0909]

Anyone have any suggestions about the closets...at home my little one thinks it is awesome to climb in there and you know do her business all while sliding the door back and forth. On this ship there is a step up and with the ship moving and the door sliding closed on its own I would prefer to not even let her know they open if possible!! Hahaha!! Wishful thinking I'm sure but we are going on the magic for 14 days! This thread came at the perfect time because I just was thinking how are we going to do this??!!!

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

Anyone have any suggestions about the closets...at home my little one thinks it is awesome to climb in there and you know do her business all while sliding the door back and forth. On this ship there is a step up and with the ship moving and the door sliding closed on its own I would prefer to not even let her know they open if possible!! Hahaha!! Wishful thinking I'm sure but we are going on the magic for 14 days! This thread came at the perfect time because I just was thinking how are we going to do this??!!!

The closets have velcro on the doors, so they shouldn't slide on their own, if the doors are kept closed so the velcro can work. If your velcro isn't effective any more, you can ask your stateroom host to fix it.

 

[slzer0]

Lol I should just duct tape his hands together.

Do the closet doors have handles? So you could use this: http://m.toysrus.com/skava/static/p...rentPage=family&domain=http://www.toysrus.com

 

[Peytonthe1st]

This post made me giggle...thankfully my DS will be about 3.5 when we cruise next year. If we were going now I'd be scared senseless by all the damage he could do. God love them though! They make life interesting.

 

[bumbershoot]

Hopefully he will spend most of his waking hours laying waste to the public areas of the ship, but when he's in the cabin and grows weary of climbing on every available surface, he'll turn to the drawers, fridge, closet, bathroom. Lol

I am terrified he will wander the halls while we all sleep. I will definitely be hanging bells on the cabin door after he falls asleep - I've already seen that they're the kind of door that he can easily open and he loves to sneak around when he gets up.

The first paragraph is going to be solved by, as you said, watchful parenting.

The second part will be solved by not going on the cruise. If my son had been like that, there is no chance at all I would be getting on a cruiseship. Of course then you wouldn't see how heavy they are and that it's really very unlikely he will be able to open it. But just in case he has the strength of a 10 year old, I wouldn't go. (and we didn't, partially because of DS's other behavior, so I'm not just quarterbacking here...this was part of the reason for continued decisions we made, despite truly loving our one cruise before he arrived in our lives)



At home we didn't generically toddler-proof, we my-specific-kid-proofed. The instant we put outlet covers up? He went after the outlets. Had never even noticed them before, not even a little bit. And as soon as those covers went in, his mission in life was to take them out. Once we took them out, the outlets were invisible to him again. When he started climbing up his highchair, we got rid of the highchair and went back to sitting on a lap while we ate.

We had a family bed, and once he got mobile (which was early, and he was tall and fairly strong) we put doorknob covers on the INSIDE of our bedroom door and on the bedroom-side of the master bathroom, so he couldn't get out or into that bathroom. Other people wouldn't have needed to do that.

With my MIL, she had a son who would climb out of his crib and HIDE in his room. This was at 9 months old. Her husband wouldn't allow a family bed. She was rather stuck. Man, no wonder she still is twitchy and panicky, with all the times my husband nearly gave her heart attacks with that move...

Every kid is different, so you have to your-kid-proof things. It's hard to do that in hotel/staterooms. So sometimes you just can't go to those places. In my experience.

 

[DahliaRW]

You can get door stopper type alarms, they are usually to prevent theft, but you could use one to alert you if your toddler opens the door. http://www.amazon.com/GE-Personal-S...d_sim_a_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0FSMN5NWX4KSAGCND37P