Do you let your LO's play in your entire house?

busybea · January 2011

Yes, I sorta do and I think i'm starting to regret this, especially with two more, who in a few months, will be all over as well. N has pretty much had the entire house as his playground, we do close the bathroom doors, lock the garage door and lock the back TV room (which has the kitty litter and all of DH's excercise equip), but overall, he's had the living room, kitchen, dining room, his bedroom, the office (now the twins room) and our bedroom as his little playground. Now, don't get me wrong, he's actually pretty respectful regarding his toys and keeps most of his toys in either his room or the living room, where his other toy box is located.

As he was growing up, I always though that i'd "limit" his play area to a second dining room that we have (adjacent to the living room and the kitchen so I could keep an eye on him), but the large opening meant that I had to buy an extremely expensive gate (yeah, i'm cheap) and it just never happened ....but now i'm starting to worry about safety when the twins start their crawling and then eventually walking. After all, I only have 2 eyes! LOL

and of course the entire house is babyproofed, but i'm talking about actual area. OK, so I know I have plenty of time to worry, but, still I have to ask. What are your "arrangements" for your LO's as far as play area's, kid friendly area, etc in your home?

Thanks!

Sassystace · January 2011

When both kids are 'roaming free' we definitely block off certain areas of the house that they need to stay in to play. Depending on where we are in the house (we have three level townhouse), we use a gate and restrict the kids to certain parts to eliminate dangerous areas or places they shouldn't be in or just to contain them in a space where they are more easily watched. It's hard enough to keep my eyes on two--when you have three mobile boys it is going to be a true challenge for you.

kimisuejoia · January 2011

L has pretty much free roam in the front half of the house (Living Room, Dining Room and his bedroom) But we have a gate up that blocks the back half of the house (bathroom, our room, office and laundry room). If we are in the kitchen then we let him in with us, but otherwise it's gated off too.

My thought was that he has plenty of space to play in the common areas, no need to introduce him to the areas that I will eventually want him to stay out of...

rsd12 · January 2011

We have a small cape, so pretty much they go everywhere, except we don't allow them in the dungeon (er, basement). But when Keegan was just crawling - the stairs were off limits to him by a gate he figured out how to open. Thank goodness he learned to do stairs quickly!

I don't like them to play in the dining room or living room - so they pretty much keep it to the family room & their bedroom upstairs - but I find toys everywhere! Even found a hot wheels car in the fridge tonight ; )

stever · January 2011

I'm embarrassed to say that M has very little access around the house. We let him run around anywhere supervised, but the only place he can run around without us breathing down his neck is the living room/dining room. The kitchen and stairs are gated, the doors to the garage and bathrooms are closed, his bedroom isn't yet totally childproof(he still sleeps in ours) and our bedroom used to be childproofed but he's too big to roam freely in anymore because it's where DH works and M is big enough to reach all over his desk.

Peppernut · January 2011

We only have one gate. We really need a few more, but the one to block off the kitchen would be expensive so we haven't done it. I kind of just chase her around. This is not optimal.

Married2003 · January 2011

We have a split level house....Thomas has free roam of the upstairs of the house but the down stairs he is off limit - the dogs are there so there are ton of dog hair. Unless he's being carried we don't allow him to crawl around downstairs.

superaunt · January 2011

bathrooms and our bedroom is closed off- and the office when we're not in it. we also put up a gate so she can't get into the kitchen & laundry room though she started to drop down and army crawl under it (need to leave several inches so the cats can get under as their food is in the kitchen and shitbox is in the laundry room next to the kitchen).

ateytelb · January 2011

We are still using gates a lot with Jason. Basically, when he is upstairs with an adult we close the gate so he can't get downstairs. When he is downstairs with an adult we also close the gate so he can't get upstairs. This way he is constantly suprevised. We also have a play room in the basement but I think houses in Florida don't have basements (At least our other house on the west cast of Florida doesn't. That house is nt babyproofed but we don't go there often.)

vanverth · January 2011

We live in a split level with four floors including the basement. Right now Michael is not the best at crawling. He can lunge about a foot. Our family room is on ground level and is where all his toys are. He has not made a move to the stairs yet so we have not put up the gate yet. I feel that we are about 2 weeks away from needing that gate though. We have only partially baby proofed as well. Embarrassed

LyndaCarter · January 2011

When DD#1 first started roaming and became able to open doors we put knob covers on the basement door and bathroom door and put a baby gate 2 steps up on the stairs to the second floor. Now we only have a knob cover on the basement stairs (too much not safe stuff down there). We'll do the same for DD#2 once she starts moving except for the bathroom knob. DD#1 needs to be able to get in there to go to the bathroom. We safety latched the cabinets under the kitchen sink and bathroom sink and that's about it.

robynlesley · January 2011

Until next week, we live in a rented ground floor condo. Aaron's room is small and he's mostly been playing in the "living room" space.

When we move next week, it will be a split level house. The ground floor is a dining room, foyer, kitchen and small "family" room (no open floor plan as the house is 40 years old). My parents' suite is also on the ground floor behind the family room. There is a mid-level living room, which we hope to keep more "adult" oriented but I don't doubt toys will make there way there.

Most of the toys will be in Aaron's room, but I do expect to leave some downstairs in the room between the kitchen and my parents' suite because Aaron will play while I'm making dinner and my mom can keep an eye on him (though with her disability, it will mostly be supervisory).

We have no issue with Aaron being in any room in the house, but we want to keep the toys contained to only two spaces. The only place he won't be allowed to go in, is our basement. It's currently a danger to him and we plan to store our cleaning supplies there.

itsmexine · January 2011

Rachel isn't mobile yet but once she is I'd like to keep her play area confined to her room, the living room and dining room. Sure there will be times where she will play in our bedroom when we are in there with her but otherwise I want it to be off limits. Same goes for my office but that is in a loft just off of her bedroom so I don't think keeping her out will be possible.

Pesky · January 2011

Yes and no. They are currently contained on the main floor -- they get to be in the den and the kitchen (with eat-in area). It was too hard to baby-proof the dining room and living room/library and office so we have gates up to keep them in the designated area. Upstairs they do have free rein with just a gate at the top of the stairs unless we shut doors (which we do sometimes). In the basement, pretty much free rein of the main area. We don't let them go in the furnace room or the like.

leffe1 · January 2011

Yep we do. We have an upstairs that is gated when we are downstairs. I do have to shut the bathrooms because she likes to get into the toilet!

fiazo · January 2011

Heck no. Right now we live on one level so not too bad. I shut the bathrooms, office & bedrooms. She has the run of the living/dining room & kitchen. I'd go nuts otherwise.

mtnrider · January 2011

Simon has free run of the entire house except I keep the bathroom doors closed and one of my dogs (the old, grumpy one) in a separate room when I'm not supervising. He's past the age of putting stuff in his mouth and honestly I'm not worried about him hurting himself in the couple minutes it takes me to shower or run out to the car to grab something. Our house is only 1300 sq feet and it's a single level. The only babyproof things I have are outlet covers and covers on the stove knobs and some cupboard locks.

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