Baby proofing Thread

meggyme

Since some of our LO's are starting to scoot and crawl let's hear how you're planning to keep these kiddos safe and us mom's slightly less worried.

meggyme

Jackie is getting cabinet locks, electrical outlet covers and a baby gate for Christmas. I also need to order and start installing restraints for some of the big furniture we have, like her dresser. I'm really not looking forward to that since we have plaster walls and they are like drilling into concrete. It's messy too...

rlbrooks84

The outlet covers never worked for us because our boys took them off so we've been slowly putting in child proof outlets they are pain because it's hard to plug stuff in but we know she won't be able to stick anything in there. I'm going to install the magnetic cabinet locks, we already have a baby gate because of our dogs but I need to install one on the stairs.  

artlea2013

Speaking of baby gates on the stairs, how do you deal with pets? We have two cats that are up and down the stairs at all hours. They generally like to be on the same floor as us, but they're also cats, and crazy, and I don't control them. Eventually, we'll need a gate on the stairs, including the top overnight and I don't know how to do that without endangering the poor cats lives by forcing them to try to jump over a gate down the stairs 
Thoughts?

vintagevix2016

art&leaadye said:

Speaking of baby gates on the stairs, how do you deal with pets? We have two cats that are up and down the stairs at all hours. They generally like to be on the same floor as us, but they're also cats, and crazy, and I don't control them. Eventually, we'll need a gate on the stairs, including the top overnight and I don't know how to do that without endangering the poor cats lives by forcing them to try to jump over a gate down the stairs 
Thoughts?

A friend of mine has a baby gate with a cat door. It's too small for the baby to get through but honestly, I would be concerned the baby might try to go through and get stuck.

artlea2013

vintagevix2016 said:

art&leaadye said:

Speaking of baby gates on the stairs, how do you deal with pets? We have two cats that are up and down the stairs at all hours. They generally like to be on the same floor as us, but they're also cats, and crazy, and I don't control them. Eventually, we'll need a gate on the stairs, including the top overnight and I don't know how to do that without endangering the poor cats lives by forcing them to try to jump over a gate down the stairs 
Thoughts?

A friend of mine has a baby gate with a cat door. It's too small for the baby to get through but honestly, I would be concerned the baby might try to go through and get stuck.

Actually, creeping around on other BMB, I found an answer that might work. Suggestion was to just mount the gate about 4 to 5 inches off the floor. Cats can squeeze into pretty small spaces, but that gap shouldn't be big enough for a baby to slip through. I'll have to keep that in mind as a possible option

vintagevix2016

art&leaadye said:

vintagevix2016 said:

art&leaadye said:

Speaking of baby gates on the stairs, how do you deal with pets? We have two cats that are up and down the stairs at all hours. They generally like to be on the same floor as us, but they're also cats, and crazy, and I don't control them. Eventually, we'll need a gate on the stairs, including the top overnight and I don't know how to do that without endangering the poor cats lives by forcing them to try to jump over a gate down the stairs 
Thoughts?

A friend of mine has a baby gate with a cat door. It's too small for the baby to get through but honestly, I would be concerned the baby might try to go through and get stuck.

Actually, creeping around on other BMB, I found an answer that might work. Suggestion was to just mount the gate about 4 to 5 inches off the floor. Cats can squeeze into pretty small spaces, but that gap shouldn't be big enough for a baby to slip through. I'll have to keep that in mind as a possible option

Great idea!!

AmberLiz99

Has everyone lowered the crib mattress already? The doctor recommended it yesterday and I realized I'm a little behind this time around on the baby proofing stuff. 

vintagevix2016

AmberLiz99 said:

Has everyone lowered the crib mattress already? The doctor recommended it yesterday and I realized I'm a little behind this time around on the baby proofing stuff. 

Our crib mattress was always the lowest it could go....mostly because we weren't thinking when we put it together and once we realized our mistake, we decided to leave it alone.

meggyme

AmberLiz99 said:

Has everyone lowered the crib mattress already? The doctor recommended it yesterday and I realized I'm a little behind this time around on the baby proofing stuff. 

I lowered It today actually. I didn't realize our crib had 4 heights, so I only moved it down one level. It wasn't too bad so if I have to do it again in a month it's not the end of the world.

Tawny87

We just need one more gate eventually for the room that will be his, otherwise everything is still proofed from our girls. That is a nice feeling : )

arteduc8

Anyone have a fireplace they have to childproof? I'm worried about her climbing on it or hitting her head on the stepped hearth. See picture below.  ETA, I'm not worried about her getting into the fire since we hardly ever have one. More concerned about hitting her head. 

vintagevix2016

arteduc8 said:

Anyone have a fireplace they have to childproof? I'm worried about her climbing on it or hitting her head on the stepped hearth. See picture below.  ETA, I'm not worried about her getting into the fire since we hardly ever have one. More concerned about hitting her head. 

I found these ideas doing a Google search:

arteduc8

vintagevix2016 said:

arteduc8 said:

Anyone have a fireplace they have to childproof? I'm worried about her climbing on it or hitting her head on the stepped hearth. See picture below.  ETA, I'm not worried about her getting into the fire since we hardly ever have one. More concerned about hitting her head. 

I found these ideas doing a Google search:

Wow! Thanks for all of these! I was thinking perhaps a gate system like that one. The foam pad idea has potential too. So crazy all the little things we have to worry about now. 

rlbrooks84

@arteduc8 we didn't have that issue in our old house but this house the fireplace is like yours. I really wanted to get rid of that step before Charlotte but it didn't happen. We want to completely remodel the fireplace. My boys do like to put all their tonka trucks on it and I need to find a new solution. It's been hard for me to get back into baby proof mode, I think I might be in denial that she's getting to that point.

adiaz132003

We found these for our house.  We also are gonna use them on our glass coffee table

lm45678

Gotta do that here too! I'm in such denial about the need to babyproof but should probably get to it in my winter break.

(And yes, both dogs have stockings) judge away! Haha

vintagevix2016

adiaz132003 said:

We found these for our house.  We also are gonna use them on our glass coffee table

Oh yea, I remember seeing that at some baby store ages ago. Totally forgot about it! We don't have a fireplace so we just play the one on Netflix. 

lm45678

@adiaz132003 I need that sign for my house!! 
 

ETA: it should probably say my house was clean last month though..

AmberLiz99

laurenm2123 said:

@adiaz132003 I need that sign for my house!! 
 

ETA: it should probably say my house was clean last month though..

I was thinking it should say last year, lol.

arteduc8

laurenm2123 said:

Gotta do that here too! I'm in such denial about the need to babyproof but should probably get to it in my winter break.

(And yes, both dogs have stockings) judge away! Haha

I'm in denial too! And no judging here, my dog has her own stocking too. The photo I posted is a couple years old and didn't have baby's gigantic stocking in it, just ours and the dog's. 

arteduc8

adiaz132003 said:

We found these for our house.  We also are gonna use them on our glass coffee table

We plan to use that in our glass top coffee table, too. How does it adhere? I'm a little concerned about it leaving glue on the sandstone hearth. We've discovered it's pourous and can stain- not exactly something we can use Goo Gone or cleaners on. 

adiaz132003

arteduc8 said:

adiaz132003 said:

We found these for our house.  We also are gonna use them on our glass coffee table

We plan to use that in our glass top coffee table, too. How does it adhere? I'm a little concerned about it leaving glue on the sandstone hearth. We've discovered it's pourous and can stain- not exactly something we can use Goo Gone or cleaners on. 

 I don't think it leaves stuff behind but if the glass is pourous then maybe a sliced pool noodle would work best.

arteduc8

Anyone have cabinet locks they like? I read the magnetic ones work well and an considering those.

I also found wood grain interlocking foam squares on Amazon that I'm going to try to mage a fireplace hearth cover with. We also bought new cordless cellular shades for the house. We needed new ones anyways so we figured it was a good time to bite the bullet and buy them.

 Trying to decide what else to childproof. I saw toilet locks, stove locks and knob covers, door knob covers, outlet covers, and fridge locks during my searching. Thoughts on if all of these are necessary? 

meggyme

arteduc8 said:

Anyone have cabinet locks they like? I read the magnetic ones work well and an considering those.

I also found wood grain interlocking foam squares on Amazon that I'm going to try to mage a fireplace hearth cover with. We also bought new cordless cellular shades for the house. We needed new ones anyways so we figured it was a good time to bite the bullet and buy them.

 Trying to decide what else to childproof. I saw toilet locks, stove locks and knob covers, door knob covers, outlet covers, and fridge locks during my searching. Thoughts on if all of these are necessary? 

I got outlet covers because they're cheap and an easy way to not have to worry about it. I have an old house, so there's lots of doors separating everything, so I intend to close off some areas like our stairs and the guest bed/bath. I haven't decided if I'll get any extra latches since the doors don't close well.

As for cabinet locks, I got some of the magnetic ones that install with adhesive tape. They're difficult to install perfectly the first time and we'll see how life goes with needing a key to open all my drawers. The little push lever ones might be easier just because they don't require the magnetic key. 

adiaz132003

Are there any door type baby gates (the ones that swing open so you don't have to step over it) for really narrow old doorways?

meggyme

adiaz132003 said:

Are there any door type baby gates (the ones that swing open so you don't have to step over it) for really narrow old doorways?

They make retractable ones. I'm getting one for our narrow stairs since a swing gate won't work.

vintagevix2016

adiaz132003 said:

Are there any door type baby gates (the ones that swing open so you don't have to step over it) for really narrow old doorways?

Yea! A girlfriend of mine has one...took me forever to get the hang of it but it was nice not having to hurdle over the gate...my legs are too short for that! I'll ask her about it.

laurendiaz02

arteduc8 said:

Anyone have cabinet locks they like? I read the magnetic ones work well and an considering those.

I also found wood grain interlocking foam squares on Amazon that I'm going to try to mage a fireplace hearth cover with. We also bought new cordless cellular shades for the house. We needed new ones anyways so we figured it was a good time to bite the bullet and buy them.

 Trying to decide what else to childproof. I saw toilet locks, stove locks and knob covers, door knob covers, outlet covers, and fridge locks during my searching. Thoughts on if all of these are necessary? 

I literally just bought magnetic ones yesterday!  The big issue is keeping track of the "keys" to unlock the cabinets. Lol. So we shall see how it goes. We also bought cheap outlet covers because they were only $3 for like 36 of them. Not sure f everything else is necessary....yet. 

vintagevix2016

vintagevix2016 said:

adiaz132003 said:

Are there any door type baby gates (the ones that swing open so you don't have to step over it) for really narrow old doorways?

Yea! A girlfriend of mine has one...took me forever to get the hang of it but it was nice not having to hurdle over the gate...my legs are too short for that! I'll ask her about it.

Babies-R-Us has Brica, Safety 1st, and Summer Infant gates that swing open based on what's listed on their site.

rlbrooks84

Toilet locks are useless in my opinion, we bought one with our first and then never installed it. I think the dogs water bowl was more interesting.

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Eaton 10-Pack 15-Amp 125-Volt White Indoor Duplex Wall Tamper Resistant Outlet

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If you're up for it these are so much better then just having outlet covers that the LOs figure out how to remove. It's a little hard to plug stuff into them but that's the point.

meggyme

rlbrooks84 said:

Toilet locks are useless in my opinion, we bought one with our first and then never installed it. I think the dogs water bowl was more interesting.

Buy 10 Get 16.1% Off

Eaton 10-Pack 15-Amp 125-Volt White Indoor Duplex Wall Tamper Resistant Outlet

Item # 291777 Model # TR270W

If you're up for it these are so much better then just having outlet covers that the LOs figure out how to remove. It's a little hard to plug stuff into them but that's the point.

Is that what that's for?! I think I have some of those in our new house, but I never realized they were harder to plug into because they were tamper resistant. I've seen the ones where you slide the thing to plug in. I'll have to recheck all the outlets I just put covers on.

rlbrooks84

@meggyme yup that's what those are for, it should have taken a little extra effort to plug into the outlets. My oldest was a very persistent toddler and figured out all the baby proofing stuff. He figured out how to pull off the door knob covers that made it so he couldn't open doors, he mastered opening a baby gate, and loved pulling all the plug covers off the outlets. By the time he was 18 months we just gave up baby proofing. I did find a lock to put on the baby gate that he couldn't open but he's a very determined child. 

vintagevix2016

Any ideas on how to keep Damien away from base heaters? I can't put anything on it for obvious reasons but don't know if a gate is feasible.

StayingFocused

I'm going to have to rig something on one of the dog kennels.  My beagle tore his ACL and so the next several weeks pre and post surgery he is on kennel rest and leash walks only.  Levi would of course figure out today, how to let him out.  

laurendiaz02

StayingFocused said:

I'm going to have to rig something on one of the dog kennels.  My beagle tore his ACL and so the next several weeks pre and post surgery he is on kennel rest and leash walks only.  Levi would of course figure out today, how to let him out.  

We use carabiner clips to put on our crates as an added measure.  Then again, our crates also have two latches on the door instead of one. Lol. So we have triple protection. 

StayingFocused

Yea mine has a door on the side and one one the end, each with two latches and he figured them out.  Those clips are a good and easy idea!