Product Spotlight: Babyproofing

lyse01

Gotta keep the kid safe, or mom guilt.

When do you start babyproofing? 

What products do you consider necessary vs nice to have vs annoying? Does it depend on your house’s features?

Any recs on specific products? Give us links.

Are these things you’d put on your registry?

Give us the pros and cons of what you have, or ask about what you want.

FTMs: when you look at babyproofing, what’s overwhelming or confusing? Ask away!

Want to discuss something else? Recommend it here, or second some recs by loving someone’s post (I’ll try to prioritize): https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12734953/product-spotlights-upcoming-or-requests

All product spotlights can be resurrected at any time for further discussion - type “Product Spotlight” into the search bar at the bottom of the page to find previous threads.

kaitykins

When do you start babyproofing? We did it in bits. First, safe place for sleep. Then, safe place for tummy time. Lots of vacuuming. Once she started moving we put outlet protectors in and cabinet locks and such. And then as she got taller each shelf became baby proofed. Now we teach her she is nearly 3. And she’s always been good at stuff like obeying. 

What products do you consider necessary vs nice to have vs annoying?
Outlet protectors and door knob covers for key locations are great. 

Does it depend on your house’s features? My front door has the lever style handles and we just can’t find a his proof option that works. But, we just taught her. to leave it alone

Are these things you’d put on your registry? With baby #1 I did. 

Give us the pros and cons of what you have, or ask about what you want. I like the magnetic cabinet locks but we couldn’t afford them

mymbest advice for new moms is domitnas needed and teach your baby what no and stop mean for those times they still get into something. Which happens. No matter how vigilant you are. 

phoenix92885

I'm going to be following this thread. I know the baby doesn't start moving around for a while but I like to be prepared. I am a FTM but my 91 year old grandma and my 10 year old niece (both her parents are incarcerated) demand a lot of my attention so I know once my little one starts scooting around, there are inevitably going to be times my back is turned.

I have animals though so if anyone has smart baby proofing ideas that help with the cats and dogs too, let me know. 

blueberrymomma

When do you start babyproofing? 

What products do you consider necessary vs nice to have vs annoying? Does it depend on your house’s features?
Necessary; outlet covers, cabinet locks(for the ones you keep cleaning supplies, medicine and breakables). Baby gates, especially for stairs 
Annoying; toilet locks and door handle locks. 

Any recs on specific products? Give us links.
https://www.buybuybaby.com/store/product/north-states-superyard-colorplay-playard/205258?categoryId=32488
I have two sets of these(but in white) They’re so versatile. We use them as a play pen, to block off entire rooms, and outside.


Are these things you’d put on your registry?

kaitykins

phoenix92885 said:

I'm going to be following this thread. I know the baby doesn't start moving around for a while but I like to be prepared. I am a FTM but my 91 year old grandma and my 10 year old niece (both her parents are incarcerated) demand a lot of my attention so I know once my little one starts scooting around, there are inevitably going to be times my back is turned.

I have animals though so if anyone has smart baby proofing ideas that help with the cats and dogs too, let me know. 

I’d look up the Cesar Milan article on introducing baby and dog. We found it very helpful and things went smoothly. Cats are trickier. I’d say don’t allow them on any baby things and be consistent and it will help. 

As as far as baby and dog regularly, play pens are good for when baby can’t move and is in a bouncer or laying there to keep dogs out, we ended up fencing off the hallway and putting the dog in there when I was working around the house and wanted to let baby roll around once she was more mobile. 

HGRich

I didn’t do any baby proofing until DD started crawling. Which was on the later end of average. All I’ve done is put plastic outlet covers in all my outlets, a gate at the top of the stairs, and locks on the bathroom and kitchen cabinets that have meds or chemicals in them. The rest of the cabinets with Tupperware and pots and pans I’ve left alone. And she doesn’t currently care about the toilet or try to stick anything in it, even at 20mos. 

Here are the links:
Locks: Magnetic Baby Safety Locks for... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017W1V41I?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

We like them because they work well, DD hasn’t been able to open them, and they’re not annoying to use. It’s habit now to just grab the magnetic key and open them in one quick movement. 

Baby gate: Summer Infant Multi-Use Deco... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000XT30G4?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf
We like it because it looks nice and works great. Guests sometimes have trouble opening it but only at first. The one con is that since it’s tension mounted, the wooden rail at the top of our stairs that it’s mounted to is starting to become dented, but that’s likely a flaw in the crappy wood itself, not the gate, because the other side is fine, where the wood is better. 

Honestly I haven’t had to babyproof a ton because DD isn’t very adventurous and has listened when I’ve told her you can’t put stuff in the potty. This next kid may push all the boundaries and require more babyproofing. Haha. My advice is to just wait and see what you need. You will almost definitely need a baby gate or two, though, so go ahead and put those on your registry and see if someone will buy them for you, or at least use your registry completion discount on them. 

HGRich

Oh and as far as pets go, we just move the dog’s bowls out of reach until naptime and bedtime. I give the dog her water off and on when she asks for it though. But she has no problem waiting until naptime to eat, if she didn’t bother with breakfast before DD gets up. 

Our dog has been really good with DD and hasn’t needed to be crated around her at all. Super patient and sweet with her. I do think it’s important that pets be able to escape from little ones though, so they never feel cornered or frightened. Our dog has a spot behind the couch that’s all her own and she knows she can go there whenever she’s feeling annoyed. 

professormama

Outlet covers only until recently. We keep meds and chemicals on a high shelf. The only other thing we’ve done recently (son is 4) is to add high locks on our doors that go outside. We did this since he sleeps in his own room and sometimes comes out at night to come to our bed. I don’t think he would ever leave the house, but he is capable of opening the doors without the high locks, and we don’t want to risk it. 

lyse01

It’s funny so many of you list outlet covers as a need. We’ve never had and the only things DD has ever tried to put in outlets are plugs that belong there. She’s also obsessed with electricity, and we also installed tamper-resistant outlets throughout the house.

When do you start babyproofing? 
Honestly, I take my lead from DD, and get products when she figures out how to do things. Eg, once she was on the verge of learning to open cabinets, like accidentally opening but not sure how she got there, we needed a solution to keep them closed, or at least the cabinets with chemicals.

DH thinks everything needs to be babyproofed forever and a day before she needs it to be or we’re being negligent. It’s a source of tension.

What products do you consider necessary vs nice to have vs annoying? Does it depend on your house’s features?
We don’t have a fireplace or many tables with sharp corners, so we skipped the foam barriers.

DH bought clear corner guards which I refuse to put on anything because they look stupid, because DD can peel them off before they cure, and because she usually hits her head in the middle of the table, not the corner. I guess they look less stupid than opaque corner guards.

We have baby gates up. DH claims it’s to contain her in a particular, safe space. I claim it’s to exclude her from a space that I just don’t want to have to pick up again and again and again. Of note, the gates do nothing to exclude her from running into DH’s office that is full of like, drill bits in open containers. Walmart has $10 wood/tan plastic tension gates that do the job, if you can’t find any for less in local buy/sell groups. There are much nicer versions out there, which often require drilling into my century old door frames, no thanks.

we have a couple of straps for keeping drawers shut that she defeats through brute force. My tactic is to not care about things in low drawers (kitchen towels, clothes), and put dangerous things out of reach (meds that DH for some reason insists on keeping anywhere but the medicine cabinet). 

Lever handles on most doors which she can open. Solution: gate off an opening to outside while teaching her not to leave without a parent.

Are these things you’d put on your registry?
sure, but no one bought them. 

thatbaintforbetty

We did really minimal baby proofing. When she was little we lived with my parents and just watched her like a hawk. They don’t really believe in baby proofing apparently which is weird and annoying. (Apparently my sister and I listened well and if you told us no we didn’t do it, I don’t believe them but whatever) DD was never out of sight and we hand no stairs and doors she couldn’t open. She also had no interest in outlets not that you could find many anywhere we lived they always seemed to be behind furniture. 

My MIL is of the same vein and again we just never took our eyes off her. It wasn’t fun but it worked. The most she ever did was get a hold of a sharpie and color MILs couch. But that was on DH since he forgot to put them away. 

My parents still don’t have shit as safe as I would like but it’s more she’ll break something that they don’t think to put away and that’s on them. Since she’s 4 we really don’t have much around now except for our front door. She figured it out how to open it somehow and surprised us, so it has a cover. (It’s one of those round ball handles) 

I’m hoping since this one will be in our own place we can babyproof and make our lives easier but that will depend on what our new place is like.  

We’ve never had a problem with her around my parents dog, but he’s always been around kids. We just made sure to watch her and him and intervene if necessary,(if she was getting too rough or something) he could get away from her into my parents bedroom or onto his couch if wanted to. The cat has been fine, he’s always figured out somewhere high to sit if she was annoying him and wanted to get away. We just reinforce the gentle touches and don’t run at them, approach slowly, don’t pull on tails or ears etc. 

I think we pulled up the food/water bowls when she first got mobile, would put the bowls down when he ate and move them afterwards. The dog had an extra water dish outside and would let you know if he wanted out to drink or go potty. The cat had his up out of the way for awhile so she couldn’t get to them but he could. 

MRDCle

What products do you consider necessary vs nice to have vs annoying? Does it depend on your house’s features? I'm really surprised I didn't see this listed really - FURNITURE ANCHORS. That is my biggest one. We have all the furniture in his room anchored, and we have outlet covers on the outlets in his room. The rest of the house we have our tall bookshelves anchored, but that's basically it. We did lots of redirection. 

I'm sure with two this time, we'll have to step up our game a lot, but it worked for us to just teach him from the start what was off-limits. 

mrstmoose

When do you start babyproofing? We didn't start until DD started moving, so around 6-7 months.

What products do you consider necessary vs nice to have vs annoying? Does it depend on your house’s features? Gates for the stairs, outlet covers if you don't have the new safety ones, door knob ones, fireplace thing, and furniture anchors (especially in their room). OH! And kitchen cabinet locks. See my product highlight.

Any recs on specific products? Give us links. This is what we have for our kitchen cabinets. They are hidden, they are easy to use and you don't drill anything into your cabinets. I highly recommend them. 

https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Magnetic-Drill-Safety-Lock/dp/B071H4PRKG/ref=sr_1_13_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1545059543&sr=8-13&keywords=kitchen+cabinet+child+safety+locks

Are these things you’d put on your registry? Nope. Since they weren't something we needed originally, we just bought everything ourselves. It's really not that expensive.

Give us the pros and cons of what you have, or ask about what you want. We ended up taking gates down whens she was 1.5 years because she had mastered the stairs. We still have furniture anchored in (and FYI, just because you have it anchored, doesn't mean it won't come out of the wall. DD managed to get a 7 foot tall bookshelf out of the wall. It was anchored into the stud. We are super lucky it didn't crash on her and landed on her bed instead. Needless to say, it is no longer in our home).

kosmo86

Not much baby proofing is needed at first. 

its been mentioned but ANCHOR YOUR FURNITURE. besides that the only thing I did early on was plugs. 
We tried corners on a few things but she just ripped them off  

We still have baby gates at the top and bottom of the stairs that we keep closed. 

For her bedroom door and the pantry we have things on the door knobs so she can't open it but we didn't have to do that until recently. Going to need one on the front door since she just learned how to lock and unlock the door! 

For cabinets, we did the magnet ones and like them a lot. We still didn't do drawers but now that DD is 2 she can reach them and we need to do it soon! 

eli_belle

When do you start babyproofing? 
Start with the areas they will spend the most time. Make sure their bed/sleep situation is safe (no curtains or blind cords within reach of the crib, no bulky bedding). Keep a baby-safe area for tummy time (make sure all small choking hazards are cleared from the area). Once they are more mobile and/or pulling up on things then you will need to start in earnest.

What products do you consider necessary vs nice to have vs annoying?
Necessary:
Outlet covers in all kid-safe areas. I went as far as putting baby proof covers over any outlets that were in use, unless they could be blocked with furniture. We used something like this.
Hard mounted (attached with screws not just pressure) baby gates at the top of stairs. We really liked the KidCo Safeway gates and used them at the top and bottom of both flights of stairs.
Window guards on low second story windows. 
Flat screen tip-over straps. We used these.
Make sure to attach your tall furniture--especially dressers--to the wall!!!! 
Annoying:
I honestly think cabinet locks are more of a hassle than they are worth. We just moved anything dangerous or sharp from the bottom cabinets and drawers and kept all medicines and knives up high.
We never needed toilet or refrigerator locks because neither of my kids were interested in opening either until they were responsible enough to use them correctly.
I went out and bought knob covers for our gas stove since the knobs are on the front, but in reality they don't actually work (don't prevent the knob from turning if pressed). I've kept them on because I feel like it does make it harder to play with then knobs but if I had to do it again I wouldn't have bought them.
I have heard horror stories of adults getting locked into rooms because of over-exuberant door knob covers so make sure you research how they work before installing any.

Are these things you’d put on your registry?
You can, but most are pretty inexpensive and you won't really need them right away.

professormama

Oh, as several others have mentioned - we did anchor some of our tall bookshelves and dressers, totally forgot to mention that, but it's definitely important. 

mermaidca

HA!  I feel like a neglectful parent, but I did super minimal baby proofing.  I did put cabinet locks in the kitchen where the garbage and cleaners are.  I put up the baby gates because it was easier when I knew they were contained more than anything.  My girls were pretty good that I only had to tell them a couple times to not touch something.  Really, just anything I didn't want ruined or that could hurt them was moved onto a higher shelf but I'm not about to change my whole house for a few months of babies learning and exploring.

kangstadt

@mermaidca, I'm glad I'm not the only one.  We lived with my parents when DS was born, so other than putting fences around the woodstoves and cabinet locks in the kitchen, we didn't really babyproof at all.  I never used outlet covers, toilet locks, or doorknob covers.  Not to say some parents might not need those, we just didn't have issues.  DS never seemed interested in outlets and always asked for someone to go outside with him.

As he's gotten older and we're in our owh house, the only real childproofing we did was attach the TV and bookshelves to the walls and I switched his doorknob around so he can't lock himself in his bedroom (which he had done to keep us out once or twice...).

To each parent their own.  I definitely agree that childproofing can be done in stages as they start becoming mobile.

kaitykins

Interesting that so many mentioned anchoring furniture. I never thought about that as child proofing, but we live in an earthquake state so we anchored way before baby #1. 

My younger sister was never into outlets either. Until one day she found a butterknife that was the same size as the outlet hole. She was about 2 (I was 7) Anyway, that was scary. 

saraleigh2

@HGRich great recommendations! I love the magnetic locks! 

My first started crawling at 4 months and was very adventurous, we baby proofed a bit late for our needs and it was frustrating! I wish we had done it sooner like before he was born but I think each kid is different! 

Definitely put locks on bathroom, and kitchen sink cabinets!! Baby gates are great too and a must if you have stairs!

I also like door knob covers or leaver locks and high up bolts for exterior doors (my son could push a box over and open dead bolts by 10mo)! And furniture anchors- my son started trying to climb up dressers (and out of a crib) around 13 mo as well. However my son is very physical and was early with his physical development! I’ve been on the run (after him) since he was 4 mo!!!