Staying at non-babyproofed places

pb_bride

I know many of you have traveled with your LOs a lot to visit families, are your families' homes babyproofed?

I need some help/suggestions here. (Warning: LONG)

We'll be staying at my ILs next month (M will be 11.5 months).  The last time we were there, M was not crawling yet, so it wasn't any concerns.  Now M is crawling, climbing stairs, pulling up on everything, and cruising. (Not walking yet.)

IL's house main level is a HUGE open space - kitchen, den, living room, dining room - without any doors (or anything that resembles a doorway).  On top of that, in the middle of this space is a wood-burning stove which my ILs use to heat their house.  The stove is surrounded on 2 sides - 1 side is a SOLID BRICK wall, the other side is a staircase (going up). The other 2 sides are open.  

I'm now having major anxiety with our upcoming visit.  I don't even know how we can babyproof their space.  We could get one of those Northgate play yards, but I know M will be fussing after a few minutes - he'll want to be out and around to explore.  I don't know what kind of gate will work around the stove, which obviously is the most dangerous thing in the house.  It'll be hard to gate off an area (say, living room) in the main space because it is so open.

Upstairs are 4 tiny bedrooms with lots of stuff there (ILs have been at this house for 30 years).  

Any ideas/suggestions?  I suspect DH & I will be running after M all weekend saying "no".  My ILs are in their 70s and I don't expect them to be chasing after M, plus it's probably not safe for them to pick up a 20+ lb baby who is really strong and struggles when picked up.  There is also no toys at their house.

I totally understand it is MY responsibility as M's parent to provide safety and entertainment for him.  Another problem is that we only have a sedan, so we don't have that much trunk space to transport too many things to my ILs, as M's PnP will most likely take up half the trunk.  

Since M isn't walking, we can't really just take him to a playground and let him crawl all over the concrete...

P.S. Now thinking ahead to Christmas, how do you babyproof a Christmas tree???

IBackBevo

My in-laws home is not baby proofed either (and has large open spaces) and we just have to watch him like a hawk and try to keep him contained as well as we can to one area.  I don't know on the stove. I guess I would just try to keep him in other parts of the house when it is on.

This is one reason that I don't want in-laws keeping my DS at their home when we aren't there...they need to come to our house and watch him. They don't get this and have given me crap about it and acted like I'm ridiculous, but my responsibility is to mu child and to keep him safe.

As for the Christmas tree issue, I think we will probably get one of those playyards/gates. Or we may put it in a room where LO isn't all the time.

kmc84

I'm no help about baby proofing, but the Christmas tree scares me! When DH was a baby he bit into a glass bulb ornament-OMG!!! I know they sell a tether for a Christmas tree. You can anchor the top of the tree to your wall. Our tree goes into a room that's easy to block off with gates, so that's my plan!

Saraevh

I'll second what @Chiwifey said.  

It is always stressful and exhausting whenever we stay with people who don't have kids.  My son actually broke one of my parents' cabinets over the weekend when I left the kitchen for second to put my daughter on the toilet ... broke the hinge right off of the door!  And my in-laws took them to my husband's grandma's house on Sunday and they told me J rolled down a few stairs before they could get at him.  He has a big bruise on his forehead.  It's really tough.  The only tip I have is prepare to not sit down and relax too much because you are going to have to watch him like a hawk.  

ccam

We've done it a lot and like @IBackBevo said, you just have to watch them like a hawk!!  It's not the most enjoyable.  My IL's have a fireplace hearth that has already given my nephew a black eye and it makes me so nervous!

I would definitely make sure you have a stroller so you can get out of the house.  Hopefully it will be nice enough outside still (not sure where you are) that you can go for a walk or lay a blanket in the grass.  I plan on putting some of DS's favorite toys away in a closet for a little while before we go away next, and pack those for wherever we go, so it's kind of like he has something "new" to keep his attention...for a whole 10 minutes

 

itsmevkb

Sometimes I wonder if I am either the most laid back mom or the worst mom but I don't even have my house baby proofed much less do I travel with outlet covers.  I'm impressed.  We just chase after them.  That's our strategy in a nutshell.

amd1982

although my babies are younger than yours, i would second the "bring small stuff to occupy them" mentality. Some tupperware, stacking blocks, etc. And while I know the pnp sometimes creates some fuss, it's better than being at your wits end all the time. I'd use that as much as you possibly can - bring snacks to distract as well, and the stroller is a definitely! are there any places you can get out to during the day? e.g. petting zoo, etc where LO can be distracted but not inside the entire time? maybe your IL's would feel even better getting out of the house since i'm sure they're aware it isn't quite babyproofed either!

mcgeeva

My parents and in-laws house is not baby proofed. My parents at least have a wooden gate they put at the stairs to keep him from climbing up. The rest is just us chasing him non stop. Our IL are like your's. In their 70's. Don't hold ds at all not even when he was a baby and you will never catch them running after him. Their house is super nasty from 7 dogs, 2 parrotts and ick. Just icky. It's just basically me running ragged and constantly trying to wipe nasty dog hair globs off him. Grossed out thinking about it. Hoping we don't have to go anytime soon. Since your's is still little I would bring a gate or packnplay with toys and keep your lo in an area. Hopefully your visit is short. We have a 1 day night max with our inlaws. My parents are differnt since their house is clean and they can actually interact with ds. It's tough unless people have little ones, homes are never baby proofed.  

mcgeeva

Oh for the tree - DS could crawl last year but couldn't do much. This year I know he will be grabbing. So either go for plastic balls or decorate further up. Gate is also a good idea.

pb_bride

amd1982 said:

although my babies are younger than yours, i would second the "bring small stuff to occupy them" mentality. Some tupperware, stacking blocks, etc. And while I know the pnp sometimes creates some fuss, it's better than being at your wits end all the time. I'd use that as much as you possibly can - bring snacks to distract as well, and the stroller is a definitely! are there any places you can get out to during the day? e.g. petting zoo, etc where LO can be distracted but not inside the entire time? maybe your IL's would feel even better getting out of the house since i'm sure they're aware it isn't quite babyproofed either!

ILs live out in the country, as in, middle of nowhere.  There is a tiny "main street" area with maybe 10-20 shops.  No malls, no zoos etc.  Their driveway is gravel and is about 100 yards long to get to the main road (no sidewalks).  We may not even bring the stroller, and if we go out, I'll just wear him in the Ergo.  Otherwise, between the PnP and the stroller (ours is hte City Mini GT), we will have zero trunk space left.

laura1

itsmevkb said:

Sometimes I wonder if I am either the most laid back mom or the worst mom but I don't even have my house baby proofed much less do I travel with outlet covers.  I'm impressed.  We just chase after them.  That's our strategy in a nutshell.

I am with you itsme!  Our own house isn't very well baby proofed - we do have furniture attached to the wall, and outlet covers, but with the 2 others, there are tiny toys all around.  We keep a pnp in our living room and she plays there a lot.  When I have time to hang out with her, she comes out and crawls around - I just redirect her when she goes near anything she shouldn't.  It is the same for when we travel.  So far, the older 2 have been ok with this strategy!

ELF4321

I'm in the same boat with my ILs. I'm dreading Xmas because I know we won't be able to relax trying to keep her out of trouble

Dragonfly1226

I agree that it usually doesn't make for a fun trip because you really do have to watch them every second. The wood burning stove does sound scary though. I would get a few gates and attach them together around the stove to create a barrier. Even if you can tie a few together and put them around the open side it will help. GL hon!