Babyproofing!

drudolph11 · January 2015

What needs to be done?

Whats necessary?

Whats not necessary?

When to start?

Haalllp!

I was all set to start baby proofing my house but then started being told (by my mother who hasn't had a baby in 24 years!) that it isn't really necessary this early on because the baby will not be up and about and roaming though the house to get hurt. I know that regardless, even if that is the case, that it isn't a bad idea to get started early but is it necessary to do so this early on? So whats your plan for baby proofing? Are you starting now or waiting? What exactly are you guys planning on baby proofing? Anything would be helpful!!

finallyourturn2 · January 2015

We will have door knob covers on the bathrooms, the laundry room, and the door to go out back (they could not get the screen door in the front unlocked so we aren't worried about that), put outlet covers in the nursery. Get a gate for the nursery to block them in there if necessary, secure cabinets to the walls, get a gun safe, and get cabinet locks for any cabinets with chemicals.

We won't be making sure it is done before the babies get here, but we will start working on it soon to get it done slowly.

DragonflyDreaming · January 2015

We purchased outlet covers, but aren't planning to use them until baby is much more active. No immediate plans to baby proof anything, ourselves. The villa we are renting will install baby gates at the top and bottom of each stairs and anti slip strips on the stairs. So we're having them do that soon. (Since they custom make the gates, I believe)

lynndavid6912 · January 2015

I am a terrible mother. The only baby proofing we did with DD was outlet covers. And not until she got more mobile. All her toys are on lower shelves, our TVs aren't really set up in a way that it would be possible for her to pull over, and we live in a ranch so no steps for her to fall down, other than the basement and we've always kept that door closed anyway. At 2.5, she still can't really turn the knobs to open doors, mostly because our doors/knobs are old and sticky.

I'm a little more worried about it this time around, because DD1 is old enough to have some toys that could be dangerous for DD2, so we'll see how that goes. I'm guessing I'll just have to confine the "big girl toys" to DD1's bedroom?

mudbug84 · January 2015

I got some outlet covers from my baby shower just yesterday. I just put them on right away... because I can't help myself. I figure it's no big deal if they're there without need yet, because they're not hard to remove if I need an outlet. As far as cabinets and doors go, I'll probably wait.

LadySnowblood · January 2015

lynndavid6912 said:

I am a terrible mother. The only baby proofing we did with DD was outlet covers. And not until she got more mobile. All her toys are on lower shelves, our TVs aren't really set up in a way that it would be possible for her to pull over, and we live in a ranch so no steps for her to fall down, other than the basement and we've always kept that door closed anyway. At 2.5, she still can't really turn the knobs to open doors, mostly because our doors/knobs are old and sticky. I'm a little more worried about it this time around, because DD1 is old enough to have some toys that could be dangerous for DD2, so we'll see how that goes. I'm guessing I'll just have to confine the "big girl toys" to DD1's bedroom?

I'm a terrible mother too. I haven't done much more than outlet covers either. I did put a cabinet lock for the cabinet under the kitchen sink where we keep our cleaning supplies. We also have a gate across the door for the laundry room where we keep the litter box (although that's more for the dog so she doesn't eat kitty krunchies).

rm2013 · January 2015

You don't really need to do any baby proofing until your child is crawling.

We have outlet covers, cabinet door locks, and gates. The biggest thing is to make sure the gate that you get for at the top of stairs is specifically rated for that purpose - you have to have those stronger and more secure than an ordinary use gate.

cafecreme · January 2015

We started with the outlet covers. Then once she was mobile we put locks on the pantry and bottom drawers (where there's kitchen and bathroom products). Every other drawer we made sure there wasn't anything she could choke on or get hurt with. We live in a 1 story apartment, so no need for baby gates, but you should install baby gates once they start crawling too.

stine28 · January 2015

We'll be doing a bit because most of my friends kids are 1-2, and we will probably end up seeing more of them now. So maybe a lock for the medicine drawer and liquor cabinet (both way down low), outlet covers, and we'll start securing furniture starting with the most dangerous. I'm also considering a movable baby gate so that we can corral the kids into our great room when we have ppl over.

LBeez13 · January 2015

We did pretty much same as @chilibeansm0m and @cafecreme

We started with only outlet covers and then just babyproofed as our son got older. We are still learning what needs to be baby proofed as he gets older and is able to do more. Baby proofing for us wasn't really that necessary until he became mobile at 6 months. This time around, it may be harder because a lot my sons toys are not good for a baby that puts everything in their mouth. I will have to be more selective about his toys once she joins us and is able to start putting things in her mouth.

stine28 · January 2015

So a couple people have mentioned not having the crib too close to the window... I know that cords are dangerous, and at some point falling out the window could be dangerous. Is there any more to it than that?

We have our crib sitting ~4" away from the wall on its short side, with the corner of the crib meeting the end of the window. The curtains will pull slightly farther aside though, so that the curtain will tuck into some of that 4" gap. Dangerous or ok?

ETA: Gah, hit post too soon.

rm2013 · January 2015

@kadeelou‌ - we use these covers to prevent that (DD is super inquisitive). It replaced the entire outlet plate and in order to access the outlet you have to stick the plug in the groove, then slide the panel over, then push the plug in. Then when you pull the plug out the sliding panel automatically comes back over. DD can't figure it out

Http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JZJPO9O/

honkytonk_kid · January 2015

lynndavid6912 said:

I am a terrible mother. The only baby proofing we did with DD was outlet covers. And not until she got more mobile. All her toys are on lower shelves, our TVs aren't really set up in a way that it would be possible for her to pull over, and we live in a ranch so no steps for her to fall down, other than the basement and we've always kept that door closed anyway. At 2.5, she still can't really turn the knobs to open doors, mostly because our doors/knobs are old and sticky. I'm a little more worried about it this time around, because DD1 is old enough to have some toys that could be dangerous for DD2, so we'll see how that goes. I'm guessing I'll just have to confine the "big girl toys" to DD1's bedroom?

Another terrible mom here, we did almost nothing for DS either.

As far as when and what- like pps said you have time. I mean, it doesn't hurt to do now, but babyproofing won't really be needed until baby is mobile.

We have a magnetic cabinet lock under the sink where cleaning supplies are. Other than that we just arranged the house so that potentially dangerous things or things that can break or spill are up high. Kitchen cabinets are not locked because I don't care if he pulls out my tupperware once in a while. There was one chest of drawers that I padded the sharp edges to because they were RIGHT at face level to a cruising baby. My suggestion would be to wait until the kid is more mobile then see what makes you nervous and baby-proof accordingly, lol.

jpavenski · January 2015

The only baby proofing we ever did for my DS was outlet covers & a lock on the cabinet in the kitchen with the cleaner when he was prob around 9 months. He is 3.5 now & was a pretty laid back baby didn't try to get into much. Would make us laugh by randomly taking cans out of the lower cabinets but think about it between 1-2 you are constantly watching them. We also taught him how to do our small staircase really early. Of course I am always hearing that second children are crazy so we may be in trouble with this little guy!

ashleyrh661 · January 2015

Another mom who didn't baby proof much. We did it was we went. Visible outlets got covers. Cabinets in the bathroom and kitchen that had the cleaners in then got locks. And things got moved up and out of babies reach. My biggest concern for this time is keeping all of our DS tiny toys away from babies reach. We've got a lot of Legos on our floors often. DS is going to have to get used to playing with them in his room.

peeppeeppeep · January 2015

It's too late for babyproofing…I'm already pregnant. Ha ha.

We have a pretty open floor plan, so we are going to section off a few areas as we go - I like those super yard systems a lot and we registered for a couple of them (definitely going to use one for next year's X-mas tree!), especially for keeping dog and baby separated when needed. I also am a big fan of those magnetic locks, especially for the kitchen and media cabinets. One thing about outlet covers is that I feel so many kids I've looked after have been very attracted to them and can pull them out easily, so I will try to make sure the ones we get are impossible for me to get out

.

I think baby proofing is generally more about mom and dad's sanity then anything else. I agree, you still have to keep an eye on your kid at all times, but I am going to be anxious and I hope this will help me be more relaxed and help me avoid saying no three thousand times a day. I'll let you know how that works out!

DM718 · January 2015

My father is a retired firefighter in a town that doesn't have separate EMT service, so the FD gets all the non-police emergencies. He has a few biggies:

Secure / anchor furniture that can tip against the wall. In our house, this is mostly bookshelves & dressers plus a big TV stand, but could also include armories & china cabinets for others.
Secure / anchor / wall mount TVs. I think we'll use straps that connect to the back of the furniture it's sitting on.
Check all blinds and make sure they don't have loops your child can get caught in. My dad had a particularly tragic call for this type of accident years ago. I believe you can retrofit blinds that do have a loop, plus there are different types of "pulls" for new blinds - we just got some installed that have tabs on the bottom.

DM718 · January 2015

oh - we live in an old house and had a lead paint inspection when we moved in. We haven't deleaded, but we know where the risks are. There are definite pros and cons to this - our house is now "on record" as having lead paint until we officially delead (it was built in 1850, so that is to be expected). But I believe lead paint was in use in the US until 1977, so it's worth thinking about if your home isn't particularly new. If you rent, I'm not sure there's much to lose by checking out your state laws regarding landlords deleading units.

mamajack86 · January 2015

When my son was about 8mos old he became fascinated with outlets, so we plugged the outlets that he could reach. Then we put gates at the top/bottom of our stairs. That's about all the baby proofing we've done. Also one pack of outlet plugs was more than enough and I wouldn't plug them up ahead of time either because I've broken a few nails trying to take them off.

Ladylec · January 2015

We didn't baby proof anything until my son was mobile and then we just did outlet covers, door knob covers and kitchen drawer stoppers. We did put a giant gate across our living room to keep him from going into other rooms without us which was much easier than worrying about the stairs or anything like that, but we didn't do that until he could walk at 11m.

lifeisnot2fear · January 2015

stine28 said:

So a couple people have mentioned not having the crib too close to the window... I know that cords are dangerous, and at some point falling out the window could be dangerous. Is there any more to it than that? We have our crib sitting ~4" away from the wall on its short side, with the corner of the crib meeting the end of the window. The curtains will pull slightly farther aside though, so that the curtain will tuck into some of that 4" gap. Dangerous or ok? ETA: Gah, hit post too soon.

I am wondering about this as well. Our long side is near a window, but the cords and such are pinned up and way out of reach. ETA well, not everything is out of reach, the curtains are within reach...with 2 windows on the big wall of the smal room, this was hard to work around!

KD32412 · January 2015

I wish we had put some items on our registry, baby proofing is expensive! We got gates for the kitchen, top/bottom of stairs. Flexi gates around our entertainment areas. TV anchors, dresser anchors, outlet covers, plug cases, and foam padding (we have hardwood flooring). We keep bathroom doors closed and put everything else in our spare "junk" room. I would recommend doing it now, while you have the time - then it can be done slowly, at your leisure. Don't wait too long and give yourself stress with a toddler and safety issues.

JCWhitey · January 2015

I didn't even do outlet covers. We have annoying new outlets that are already supposed to be baby safe which makes them a royal PITA but des simplify things. Then we put a gate up so DS can't get to the TV. And that we didn't even do until 13 months.

genmccarley · January 2015

mel7806 said:
I had those plastic nubby corner pads for coffee tables. Mine is just below/just at knee level and right at face level for a toddler. They basically just turned into big, nubby teethers for dd2. They were constantly covered in drool and she kept biting them off! Of course, I also have teething marks on her crib rails and on window sills. As far as outlet covers, I got these https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001SKKW0E/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?qid=1421481458&sr=8-11&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70
I love them because they are easily accessible to me but also because you can wind up extra cord inside them, making less for baby to tug on. (Sorry for the link, I'm mobile)
Eta spelling

Why have I never seen these outlet covers before! These look amazing! We just have those pop in ones right now, which are fine until you plug something in which undoubtedly attracts the most attention to the outlet! I'm getting some of those asap! Thanks for the link.

lib1974 · January 2015

I'm not going to bother with it until they are mobile. That way I can see what she sees and do it right the first time. I have way too much to do now without adding that project to the list...whew, stresses me out just thinking about it

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