What Baby Proofing Is Necessary?

mga1015 · March 2014

Hey everyone:) So I'm a first time mama, and my son is due in May. DH and I are putting the last few items on our baby registry, and one of the last "categories" we needed to cover was baby proofing stuff. We are looking at all these different, (most of which I have never seen or heard of before) and I'm wondering if some of this stuff is really necessary? I know obviously we need baby gates on the stairs, outlet covers, maybe even a few latches on kitchen cupboards. But do we really need refrigerator, toilet, and oven locks? And TV straps? I know my parents never had things like that around our house when I was a kid, and tbh, I have never really seen anyone else have them. So long story short, I was wondering what you mamas think is necessary and unnecessary for little ones once they start getting in to everything? Thanks so much!

RondackHiker · March 2014

We strapped all furniture to the walls and hung the tv rather than having it on a stand. We did use outlet covers and then toilet locks after DS flushed the car keys... It was an expensive mistake.

If your stove knobs are reachable you'll want that and possibly an oven lock.

Our parents my not have had this stuff, but that doesn't mean it's bad or overprotective.

nanabanana06 · March 2014

Yeah, there is no need to baby proof until they are crawling. We have a couple baby gates set up to keep the kids in one area, a gate around our TV stand, and some cabinet locks. Nothing super crazy, but nothing you need to register for.

mga1015 · March 2014

Thank you ladies so much! I really appreciate your feedback and opinions!!

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lollitots · March 2014

We didn't do too much initially, outlets covered, some kitchen cabinets locked. We did things as needed (the furniture didn't get strapped until we discovered the climber, we didn't put the knob-locks on the stove until we found out she was turning them on). One thing that I wish we has left longer was the padding around the brick hearth. We took it off when DD was 3, and wouldn't you know, she head dived into it the next week. She will now sport a nasty scar above her eye for the rest of her life.

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Maebb · March 2014

We didn't baby proof at all until he started crawling. Be careful of the baby falling off the bed (they might start rolling or inch worming earlier than you would expect), but that's more of an awareness thing rather than buying equipment.

DS is 15 months now, and we put rubber bands around the kitchen cabinets with the cleaning supplies to keep the doors closed. It might be nice to have one of those shields to keep LO from messing with the kitchen stove knobs, depending on how yours are configured. We moved the breakable kitchen items to the high shelves, and all of the things within his reach are things like wooden bowls, pots and pans, and plastic ware. We don't have stairs, but I might get a gate if we did. Fireplace screen. Don't put hot drinks or things that can break or hurt him on tables that he can reach or pull over on himself. That's all we've done so far.

TiffanyBerry · March 2014

We did minimal baby proofing and lots of redirecting. With DD, it was fine. We did outlet covers, a few cabinet locks (chemicals and glass), put up blinds and blind cords, and baby gate. I had some 10lb sandbags from my yoga studio around one fireplace, but not the other. Never had a injury due to lack of baby proofing.

It depends on your kid, and I'm all in favor of the least amount of baby proofing you can get away with, so the kid learns about their real environment. (This is not to say that child proofing is irrelevant - just that can be overdone.)

chardonnay24 · March 2014

We started with outlet covers and baby gates. We mounted our TV, secured large furniture, and locked cabinets (garbage and cleaning products) as we needed to. We also have our medicines in a locked cupboard in a locked box in a room that he cannot access. We live in a 2nd floor apartment so all windows are secured, as well.

I was all for "less is more" childproofing when he was little but I have one of those kids that a) is curious and b) never listens and c) has no sense of danger. He was just diagnosed with ASD but we didn't know that when he was tiny. He once climbed over a baby gate, went into the master bedroom, opened the bathroom door, climbed up on the toilet, took Excedrin out of the cabinet, opened it, and swallowed pills in less than 3 minutes (he had just turned 2). He also got into the locked dishwasher, took a chef's knife out, and ran with it while his OT and I were talking in the living room. We now have a "more is better" philosophy. Everything that is potentially deadly is either extra-childproofed or he is not allowed access at all, but I never went out of my way to do things that would protect him from simple injuries or keep him out of things that were inconvenient but not deadly.

chardonnay24 · March 2014

Oh, and I always kept a gate at the bathroom or just closed the door. Now that he can climb over gates and open doors, he is old enough to be relatively safe in the bathroom. We do keep some cleaning products under our sink, so that cabinet is locked, but we never had a toilet lock.

MallardDucky · March 2014

The only thing we did was a fridge lock because ds1 was a little piggy and would snack all day of we let him.

Oh and a lock at the tops of the door out of reach.

allrightmeow · March 2014

We did standard stuff when she started being able to move around. Our stove is gas so we got covers for the knobs. Moved lamp cords to the back of the tables were she couldn't reach them. Didn't do toilet locks since we tend to keep those doors closed.

LaurelBee · March 2014

I just want to share my experience- we decided to not babyproof the master bedroom bc Ds would never be alone in that room. Aka he'd always be supervised, so he couldn't pull the dresser down right? Wrong. Majorly wrong.

Ds pulled the dresser down on top of himself. Dh and I were both standing right next to him! But it happened SO fast. Ds escaped with a huge bump on his head and a bunch of scrapes from the glass objects in top that shattered on his face. But it could have been much worse...

Strap every single large furniture item to the wall.

Spin313 · March 2014

Outlet covers and locks for any cabinet with chemicals...otherwise, just childproof as you go.

NOTE: check under your couches and check for loose furniture staples.

ASmallWonder · March 2014

There are two ways to approach this: Baby proof only that which can hurt/kill your kid (however unlikely you think it is) or baby proof the harmful stuff as well as the stuff you just don't want them to ruin.

Chemicals = baby proof. Tippable furniture (this is basically anything higher from the ground than a sofa)/tv = baby proof. Outlets and cords = baby proof.

You'll figure out later if you need to baby proof stuff like the oven and toilet. Don't worry about it early on.

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