Houseproof the baby vs. babyproof the house?

stepgirl21 · June 2011

I've been reading a few different ideas about babyproofing. I like the idea of teaching the child where he is allowed to play and with what he is allowed to play but I'm also realistic and know that even if you try your best to teach "No, No", sometimes your baby is just going to open up the pantry and pull everything out.

So far, I'm moved all the harmful things (cleaners, sharp objects) out of reach and I allow him to get in the pots and pans and tupperware etc. What have you done? What has been your idea of baby proofing?

Cassian · June 2011

We have our entire family room gated off and babyproofed and that is where she spends most of her time. I am with her in the other parts of the house that are not completely babyproofed and I watch her closely, and remove any hazardous things in the area. I find it easier to do that just becuse, at this age, she doesn't know what to play with and what not to play with, and her natural curiousity will be stronger than her response to any houseproofing or teaching, at least right now. Even when she does get a clear idea of what is and isn't appropriate, if she is anything like me when I was a kid, it won't matter, she will explore it anyway

lnle · June 2011

we have basically babyproofed our entire main level (LR, DR, kitchen, nursery) so that it's safe for them to roam around - we can't keep an eye on all 3 all the time. We keep the doors closed to bathrooms, master bedroom, and closets/pantry. We have outlet covers and have moved everything dangerous up high (sharp things, cleaning products). We have cabinet locks in the kitchen but if we forget to close them, most of the lower cabinets don't have anything too breakable in them. We have a gate at the stairs.

pinkcallalily · June 2011

We do a mixture of the two. We turned our living room into a playroom, gated it off and completely babyproofed it. Ideally he could spend time in there alone while we are nearby making dinner or something, in reality he screams if we leave him alone in there long enough to use the bathroom. We lock cabinets we don't want him, gate off the stairs, use outlet covers, and have done a few other things, but it's definitely not completely babyproofed. Some things we are trying to teach him not to play with because we don't have a good way to babyproof it, other things we are babyproofing as he discovers them. The only time he is ever out of our site is if we leave him in the playroom to use the bathroom or when he's asleep so we do a lot of redirection when he's doing something he shouldn't.

futrkingsley · June 2011

We used outlet covers, closed doors, and gates to make our house safe for our son to explore. The biggest thing for us past safety was that we removed stuff we didn't want him to get into. Breakable stuff was put away. If it was out, he was welcome to explore it with supervision.

RoxBride · June 2011

Houseproof the baby.

We spend too much time at my sister's, my parents', friends' to think she can live in a baby proofed world.

If it could kill her or seriously hurt her or would break my heart if it was ruined, we baby proofed it. Otherwise, we taught her and did just fine.

Mouseygail · June 2011

so far we haven't done much beyond baby gates and outlet covers. he's just starting to get interested in/figure out that cabinets can open and that there are neat thigns in there...I think we will put locks on the ones that have things in them that he shouldn't play with..but like you, I'm not too worried about pots and pans. For the most part, he doesn't leave our sight at the moment...if I walk away, he immediately crawls after me, so I don't have to worry much. As he gets more independent, we will likely be putting more things out of reach.

dusk42 · June 2011

We did the easy stuff (gates, outlet covers, moving cleaning supplies, shutting doors), but honestly, the most likely ways for her to get hurt are by climbing on furniture, her toys, etc. So we'd have to leave in her a completely empty room.

And with the dogs, we have to be right there supervising in case she does something to accidentally hurt them.

However, we are very lucky and she hands us anything she finds on the floor (usually fuzz or a leaf but one time a nail - eek!) and she likes to take us on walks around the house, so she is rarely out of sight. Not sure what to do if we have another.

queenbone · June 2011

I guess we mostly house-proofed the baby. We have outlet covers, baby gates, and latches in the kitchen but that is about the extent of it. They can't go into the L/R or D/R w/o supervision. There are different rules in those rooms than in the rest of the house. Those rules apply most of the time when were are out in public or other people's houses.

I sometime have a hard time with friend's whose rules are much more lax than mine, ie sliding down the stairs, jumping off sofas, standing on tables.

But usually the rooms in which they do have free reign have all the breakables or small things removed or moved up out of reach. But I don't have bumpers or corner covers on anything.

schmoodle · June 2011

When it's a safety issue, we babyproof the house. When it's a convenience/annoyance issue, we houseproof the baby (or try). So, we have gates on stairs, hazardous items all locked up or out of reach, blind cords wrapped up (except in the TV room where we're always with him and they're almost out of reach anyways), etc. But things like breakables/valuables (of which we don't have a lot) not messing with electronics, turning on faucets, opening doors, etc. we just tell him no when he tries to play with something inappropriate and after a while he loses interest in most of it.

SeaSoul · June 2011

We babyproofed the house, but didn't go crazy. There are/were plenty of things that we have to discourage him from approaching (cords plugged into outlets, table corners, etc.). I think it's a good idea to babyproof the most dangerous things, plus I think it's in the best interest of the baby to be able to explore without constant discouragement, since it is in their nature to do so. So, for example, rather than put locks on every single drawer/cupboard in the kitchen, we made sure that certain safe items were accessible (tupperware, pots/pans, etc.). That way, he had areas where he could explore and play safely.

muppet.fan · June 2011

lnle:
we have basically babyproofed our entire main level (LR, DR, kitchen, nursery) so that it's safe for them to roam around - we can't keep an eye on all 3 all the time. We keep the doors closed to bathrooms, master bedroom, and closets/pantry. We have outlet covers and have moved everything dangerous up high (sharp things, cleaning products). We have cabinet locks in the kitchen but if we forget to close them, most of the lower cabinets don't have anything too breakable in them. We have a gate at the stairs.

Ditto this. Elizabeth is free to roam our downstairs (kitchen, dining room, family room, den). We babyproofed the whole level (outlet covers, cabinet locks, stair gate, but nothing over the top) because our kitchen is not open to our family/living areas and I didn't want to constantly make her stop and come into the kitchen with me (our new home will definitely have a more open floor plan!)

Now that she's a little older, she knows what she can and can't touch/get into, but it was much easier as a new toddler to make it safe for her instead of me having to say "no" all the time and constantly redirect her. She was much less frustrated...and as a results, so were we.

laura&dan05 · June 2011

I think every child is different and you need to do what is safest for them. I baby proofed my DD. We don't own a baby gate and live in a 2 story home. We taught her how to go up and down the steps when she turned 1. She fell down a few steps twice when she was learning and that's been in as far as accidents on the steps. Sharp knives aren't in reach and the cupboards with cleaning supplies have baby locks (a total of 4 baby locked cupboards in the house). We have outlet covers on most of the outlets in the house. That is all I've done to baby proof our home. I may have to change things once DS is mobile but it will all depend on his personality.

Mrs.Reem · June 2011

I really feel like it's important for my kids to be able to live in their own house (and this is just what work for US, not everyone.) so I make the house safe for them. I gated the stairs when I had wobbly walkers and we take care to keep breakables out of reach. Having kids means having their friends over too, so there's always someone to get into your "pretties." It just makes sense for us to babyproof the house. I also don't believe in saying no 100 times each day in order to teach the boundaries. How would I feel if I couldn't enjoy parts of my own house? Part of this comes from being the mom of 2 also. I can't possibly watch both every second of every day, so babyproofing the house acts like the eyes in the back of my head.

emmyloustu · June 2011

RoxBride:
Houseproof the baby.

We spend too much time at my sister's, my parents', friends' to think she can live in a baby proofed world.

If it could kill her or seriously hurt her or would break my heart if it was ruined, we baby proofed it. Otherwise, we taught her and did just fine.

100% this!!

We have outlet covers, secured blind cords, a gate at the top of the stairs, & cleaning products with a cabinet lock - that's about it. She mostly has free roam. I make sure the lower level of the pantry and cupboards house the things she can play with/explore.

SeaSoul · June 2011

Mrs.Reem:
I really feel like it's important for my kids to be able to live in their own house (and this is just what work for US, not everyone.) so I make the house safe for them. I gated the stairs when I had wobbly walkers and we take care to keep breakables out of reach. Having kids means having their friends over too, so there's always someone to get into your "pretties." It just makes sense for us to babyproof the house. I also don't believe in saying no 100 times each day in order to teach the boundaries.

This is what I was trying to say.

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