# Child proofing--whats really necessary?



## DoulaLes (Dec 29, 2006)

I think I have been in denial that we need to child proof our home. Our DS is 10.5 months and all I have bought is outlet covers and now some cabinet locks---but he began walking this week and I am feeling panicky about all he REALLY can get into or cut his head open on! I have up to this point not been a mom who cushions his every fall or watches him like I hawk. We have laminate floors, so I know he is going to have some bruises and I for the most part let him figure it out on his own.

But yesterday he started pulling plugs out of the wall and knocked into the fireplace hearth...oops.

So--tell me all you experienced moms--what is really necessary or what really works in trying to prevent any "preventable" accidents.
Do I need to buy a fire place hearth cover--and do they work? ( man some are expensive!)
What about outlet covers for cords?
I have a friend who spent over $300 on child proof stuff--I dont want to do that nor do we have the means to do so!

I did clean out one kitchen cabinet and put all plastic containers and bowls in there so he could play ( gasp--plastic I know!)
But there is so much out there--furniture straps, fridge door hooks, toilet seat snaps, etc....
HELP!!!







:


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## trini (Sep 20, 2005)

The only "official" childproofing stuff I've ever bought were outlet plugs, a couple of cabinet locks, and come of the doorknob covers so he can't open certain doors. Most of my childproofing has involved rearranging some furniture so that lamps and cords are behind other furniture. I have also put many things up high out of reach. The only cabinet that has a lock is the one under the sink that has a few things in it that could be really dangerous. I took the sharp knives out of the drawer and they are in a container on the counter. Any type of household cleaners are on a shelf above the washer and dryer that *I* can barely reach myself!

That level of childproofing worked fine for ds until recently - around 2 1/2. At that point he started really deliberately doing things he knew he wasn't supposed to. He would close the door to the room that I was in and go into another room and push a chair over and climb up and get stuff. It was driving me crazy and I felt that I was doing a horrible job of supervising. Then I finally figured out to put the doorknob covers on the INSIDE of the door. That way I can keep him contained in the room that I was in.

Our downstairs floorplan is pretty open, but I do keep the upstairs doors closed for every room except his and all bathrooms plus the pantry are not accessible to him.

Furniture straps are one thing I'm kind of wishing we did. (Not that's it's too late to do them now, though.) He has not tried to climb up dressers or bookcases, but that just seems like the scariest thing to me.

We don't have a fireplace, so I can't help you there!

As for other things - such as opening the fridge, I just keep explaining to him that it needs to stay closed because the cold air is coming out. He has helped himself to food a few times and I just tell him to please ask one of us first.


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## thepeach80 (Mar 16, 2004)

I think it depends a lot on the layout of your place. For us, the only real necessity was just getting all the breakable, bad stuff for the kids up from their level and gates (when we lived w/ stairs). We have some outlet covers now that we've moved and have unused outlets everywhere. None of our cabinets have locks on them, but all chemicals are put up high so getting into the cabinets is just inconvenient for me at worst.


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## cutekid (Aug 5, 2004)

Well I didn't completely child proof my home. In some cases I home proofed my child. I didn't put all of the breakable stuff out of his reach..and I didn't move the "good books". What I did do was use a lots of redirecting to his things and his areas. I started dong this when he started cruising at about 9 months old. I just couldn't live in one of those houses that screamed "WE HAVE YOUNG KIDS AROUND"

As far as real child proofing. I used swivel outlet covers, not the two prong ones. My DS knew how to defeat those very quickly. I also got some outlet covers to go over things that were plugged in as those were very tempting. I also had cabinet locks, but those were more about sanity than safety. I didn't want pots and pans all over the kitchen. The other thing I had was a pressure gate for the hall way and stair mounted gate. I also locked the bathroom cabinets as well. I also fully switched over to "natural" cleaners. So if he did get his hands on a bottle he'd end up ingesting vinegar and water. The other nasty stuff like Bleach was also stored on teh top shelf in the utility room. Meds were kept extremely high, but not in a medicine cabinet.

One of my friends swore by the toilet lock, but honestly keeping the door shut is just as easy. The other thing we had was a toilet paper saver. I used just a short bungee strap..but It kept our little explorer from exploring an entire roll of TP.

I also used caution words like HOT, DANGER, ect. Sadly my DS learned hot from real expeirence one after noon. We had an oven that got hot on the outside he touched it the same time said HOT!!!! He never touched it again without asking me if was hot.









HTH.


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## milkybean (Mar 19, 2008)

We kidproofed as we went along.

But the very first thing we did was secure the bookshelves, etc, to the wall. I was visiting a friend when her son and the neighbor kid pulled a HUGE TV stand down on themselves. We were outside, they were in the basement. In a crazy bit of luck, the thing was SO huge that they were contained inside one of the empty shelf areas, under the thing. But I'll never forget hearing that crash.

Plus, our boy is a climber and has been since he was 6 months old.

We tried plug covers, but he was absolutely never interested in outlets, and I was having a very hard time vacuuming.

If we had stayed in a place with a fireplace, we would have gotten the cushions for the brick around it. Since we weren't there all that long, we just put stuff around it (we never quite unpacked, and then we were packing to leave) and tried to keep him away from there.

We also put those drawer lock things where you push down on the thing while pulling out the drawer, but he figured that out ridiculously early. Then we just blocked off the kitchen with a baby gate, b/c being in the kitchen was absolutely not allowed. It was too small to put stuff up, and since he was a climber anyway...just too tempting.

And we did use the covers on doorknobs.

Tried the toilet lock! Yeah, he's so strong that he yanked that thing off pretty quickly. So we kept the bathroom doors closed with the knob covers.

Once we moved and he turned 2, we did have the knob covers, but the kitchen was open plan so we had to change that around...bathrooms were now open because he started to use the bathrooms. Still no outlet covers. Definitely secured shelves etc to walls.

Now we've moved again, and the shelves etc are on the walls, and except for sharp things put up and away from those shorter than me, and knowing that some cabinets are off limits, there's really no kidproofing, now that he's almost 4.

So it changes, depends on your home, depends on your stuff, depends on your kid!


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## bjorker (Jul 25, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *milkybean* 
But the very first thing we did was secure the bookshelves, etc, to the wall. I was visiting a friend when her son and the neighbor kid pulled a HUGE TV stand down on themselves.

Yep. Agreed.
I think the most important child proofing you can do is to bolt ALL of the furniture in the wall -- bookcases, tv stands, stove, dressers, etc. There are a number of different contraptions out there specifically for this (check out the earthquake holds, too, them things are strong!).

Also check all curtain & blinds cords. There are little plastic things available that the cord can be wound up in, or safer cords that can be purchased. And check that there is no furniture next to a window that can be climbed on enough to reach the window.

Make sure your front and back door locks will not be able to be reached any time soon. We are VERY careful to ALWAYS lock the deadbolt in this house, because it's way out of reach, and difficult to move. Otherwise dd could just walk right out the door.

Those, IMO, are the big ones. Outlets are tricky, because things that are already plugged in can pretty easily be pulled out. If that's an issue for you, I think there are even contraptions out there for that.

I know a little boy that was burned pretty badly on a fireplace. His parents said that they "never" lit the fire when he was awake, but it still managed to happen on a fluke. The dad even told me that he had the Target ad flipped open on his counter to the hearth covers when it happened.

Of course, there are so many stories out there, and we can't all live in a bubble, so I think you should just go with your gut on this stuff. A lot of the safety junk out there is just there to make money, IMO, and $300 definitely seems excessive. We never bothered with those rubbery table bumpers, or toilet locks, or baby gates, and other such things that just didn't fit our situation.

Besides all that, move the things out of reach that you really don't want messed with, otherwise it can create an unnecessary and frustrating situation or power struggle.


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## xthoms (Nov 8, 2016)

Hi,

I know this thread is old but I hope it's okay I share this major infographic we made on babyproofing your home:

When it comes to the question of how much is enough, I believe it depends on your kids. At least with our infographic, you'll know what it's a good idea for you to be on the lookout for.

Again, I hope it's okay I posted this infographic.


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