Babyproofing

bellie1223 · April 2016

I thought I got a head start on baby proofing the house before lo came by getting outlet covers and replacing corded blinds with curtains, thinking our house was already pretty kid friendly. Sounds naive now. Now that she's rolling and soon to be crawling I started looking around at all the million things she could get into and now it seems like crunch time!

I thought this could be a good place to get advice from experienced moms and first timers who already started the process at their house.

For example, what's the recommendation on types of cabinet locks, door handle covers, etc? Creative ways to hide the cords hanging from mounted tv's? Weird things that your kids got into in the past that you might not think would need to be baby proofed? Do I really need the toilet seat cover lock thing?

Thanks in advance!

VexedMommy · April 2016

Toilet lock is necessary!! There's obviously the possibility of drowning, but there is also the absolute certainty that without it, your toilet will be clogged with the most fascinating assortment of things.

bellie1223 · April 2016

Haha @VexedMommy didn't think about all the toys going down the drain. You're totally right, that's the kind of thing I would never have thought of!

MoRay05 · April 2016

If you can I would just baby proof their room and the living room or play room. You don't have to necessarily baby proof your entire house just the rooms the child will have access to. We bought a kit from babies r us that came with outlet covers, door knob covers and cabinet locks. We also have the multi purpose locks to use on trash cans, drawers etc. We have a few of the baby gates that has a push/pull lock. My 3 yr old still hasn't figured them out. My friend had the button ones and her boys figured them out by age 2. We have the rubber edge kit on our tv console. We also have the furniture straps and the stove knob covers. ou don't have to do everything right away. Just the things that are accessible at crawler height then baby proof other things down the road. Here are links to items we purchased three years ago that are still going strong.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00UE7RLJM/ref=mp_s_a_1_6_a_it?qid=1460932377&sr=8-6&keywords=baby+proof

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00FG6G7XM/ref=mp_s_a_1_5_a_it?qid=1460932377&sr=8-5&keywords=baby+proof

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001OC5UMQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_a_it?qid=1460932504&sr=8-1&keywords=baby+gate&pi=SY200_QL40

Hope this helps!

snowflake143 · April 2016

We got 2 baby gates like these to make a giant play yard in our living room.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0154FF90Q/ref=mp_s_a_1_54_a_it?qid=1460937870&sr=8-54&keywords=Summer+Infant

I'm hoping that cuts down on how much i have to do initially because our house isn't set up for baby proofing. I don't even know how we're going to manage a lot of things like low sitting fishtanks as he gets older.

VexedMommy · April 2016

My DD1 should have been a product tester for baby proofing products. I agree somewhat with pp who said baby proof as you go, but keep in mind that your baby will often be a few steps ahead of you if you do things that way. Your needs will change as they grow, so keep in mind what worked for your 6mo old will probably not work for your determined two year old. I also agree with pp who said babyproof the rooms the baby will have access to. My children aren't allowed to hang out in my room without me so I never made my room/bathroom child friendly. I did a bit in the kitchen (lower cabinet locks) but didn't go crazy because I mostly blocked that area off.

Doors - Get the knob covers because they're great for babies, but they're pretty easily defeated by a toddler hulk smashing or hanging off of them. My rec is a short chain lock or deadbolt placed at your eye level. (Skinny toddlers can still escape through doors with longer chains!)

Gates - I'd recommend not buying the cheap ones. They're not worth it and will fall on top of your child as soon as they've got their little faced pressed against it protesting that you've left them all alone (for 30 seconds) so you can pee. Just suck it up and buy the super sturdy thick plastic ones or ideally the type that screw into the wall. The ones that screw in will hold up to toddler tantrums.

AmoLovesAud · April 2016

Yeeeah, babyproofing, about that....

This house was NOT set up with small children in mind. Three story spiral staitcase, second story balcony with too-wide-to-be-safe bars along the rail, wood stove, oven is low to the ground and button operated. We're planning on just a few "baby safe zones" through the house: a playroom (with doorways into the kitchen and living room, so I can see her in either room), her room and bathroom, and maybe a small gated area in the family room. We'll have to expand past that at some point, but the goal is to just have containment while we "safe" one room at a time.

Escheffler34 · April 2016

My house has a huge open floor plan so idk what we are gonna do! Besides the obvious outlet covers etc. I am just going to have to lock everything away that's not baby safe in the garage

doodleoodle · April 2016

My whole first floor is basically one room. We bought it when I was pregnant and at the time I thought it was a good thing because I'd be able to see the baby play while I cook or whatever. But now I'm scared lol I don't think she would appreciate being corralled in a baby jail. She already screams at me, pretty sure she's cursing me out actually lol whenever I set her down and walk away. At least we don't need to worry about outlet covers because these outlets were designed with internal outlet covers so that if you try to stick something in one side only it won't work. But other than that I guess we need to do all of the baby proofing available.

bellie1223 · April 2016

Our house is also an open floor plan, so trying to keep her to a limited area will be difficult. Part of the problem is my husband's (in home) business involves computers so there's tons of computers, monitors and cords in the office where they spend a lot of the day and his hobby is fish tanks, so the rest of the house is full of hazards (from a baby's standpoint--our house is not inherently dangerous, haha) from that.

I've been looking up ideas for tucking cords away on Pinterest and found a few good ideas. I'm thinking about routing a lot of them through PVC pipe or something similar and getting covers for the power strips.

I also need to get locks for cabinets in the kitchen, bathroom and fishtank stand and I'm debating between the plastic ones you push down to disengage (they seem cheap, which i don't really like) or the magnetic ones (worried about losing the key).

VexedMommy · April 2016

bellie1223 said:

Our house is also an open floor plan, so trying to keep her to a limited area will be difficult. Part of the problem is my husband's (in home) business involves computers so there's tons of computers, monitors and cords in the office where they spend a lot of the day and his hobby is fish tanks, so the rest of the house is full of hazards (from a baby's standpoint--our house is not inherently dangerous, haha) from that.

I've been looking up ideas for tucking cords away on Pinterest and found a few good ideas. I'm thinking about routing a lot of them through PVC pipe or something similar and getting covers for the power strips.

I also need to get locks for cabinets in the kitchen, bathroom and fishtank stand and I'm debating between the plastic ones you push down to disengage (they seem cheap, which i don't really like) or the magnetic ones (worried about losing the key).

The plastic ones are cheap, but they're pretty effective. Your child will likely be an older toddler before they figure out how to defeat them since it's less a brute strength than a fine motor skills issue. I would strongly suggest anchoring the fish tanks and anything they're sitting on to the wall.

Babyproofing

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