# How much do you 'babyproof' vs just teaching them no?



## brightonwoman (Mar 27, 2007)

I'm hoping this is the proper place to post about this--I thought about posting in toddlers but I think this applies across age groups...

My DS is currently 23m. He has recently gotten strong enough to open the fridge. I'm mildly worried about him pulling something off a shelf and making a mess or dropping it on his foot, but I'm more worried about him trying to hide in there and getting shut in or something like that. I have never seen a kid so determined to crawl into little spaces, you know? Yes, obviously I pay attention to him, and thus far I've been telling him no, we can't play in the fridge, and then distracting him with something else... but it's gotten me to thinking about all the childproofing gadgets out there, and which ones are worth it vs when to teach them no (w/o gadgets)

I've got the little plugs in my electrical outlets, but a couple of times I've forgotten to put them back in and he's never shown any interest in the outlets...
On the other hand, I have the little catches on all my lower kitchen cupboards, because he constantly is trying to get into those.
I'm contemplating a fridge latch, but I'm not sure how they work, where to get one, or whether it would work since we have a rental (ie, will it be stuck on the fridge forever?)


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## treemom2 (Oct 1, 2003)

What did I babyproof in the kitchen? Well, I put a lock on the knife drawer; tried to put things that might break up high, and put a lock on the fridge after my DD broke a couple dozen eggs. The lock on the fridge was an adhesive type. You really need to make sure the area is clean under the adhesive before putting it on. Ours lasted a few months before her pulling on it broke it and we had to get a new one. It does leave some adhesive residue on the door, but we've never had a problem getting that off (a knife or some goo gone). We never did lock the oven or put things on the oven to keep hands away, we just said HOT and our children tended to stay away (well, DD did get burned twice by putting her hand on the hot burner, but then she never did that again). In our house we also put in plug protectors and kept chemicals/breakables up high. I'm not a big fan of saying NO a lot, I would just rather keep things out of reach that my child isn't allowed to play with. I don't tend to freak out when my child empties drawers, cupboards, makes messes with flour or rice. . .I just never wanted them to get seriously hurt or break something with sentimental value.


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## Jessy1019 (Aug 6, 2006)

I didn't really baby proof much of anything.

I put outlet covers into a few of the outlets, but that was really it. Our chemicals stayed in place, I didn't use any drawer or cabinet locks, and we didn't really remove anything from its usual place.

The only thing I would like to do is anchor some dressers to the wall . . . but my son is almost three and it's probably not necessary at this point.


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## pixiepunk (Mar 11, 2003)

we have never baby-proofed the fridge. they do get in there sometimes, i guess, but it hasn't been a big problem as it's always when i'm in the room with them.
outlets are something that do scare me, as my brother stuck car keys in an outlet once and it sent him flying across the room (he was OK otherwise). but instead of those little plug-in covers which my kids can totally just pull out, we bought new outlet plates. the holes that you plug into slide - so you have to put the plug in the holes, then slide it to the side to plug anything in. this way they're totally inaccessible to a kid, i don't have to remember to put a cover back in, etc. much handier and safer.

we also keep a lock on the cupboard where we keep some cleaning supplies. and keep stuff we really don't want them to have up and out of reach and view. but i find it's good for them to learn about being gentle with breakable things for when they go to other peoples' houses (like grandma's) where nothing is babyproofed at all and there's lots of little breakable stuff to get into.


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## amj'smommy (Feb 24, 2005)

all the dangerous things ie outlets, cleaning supplies (although we mostly just use vingegar and water but still) have childproof locks/latches on them. I don't use a toilet lock or fridge lock and we do have a lock on the stove but I think it's broken but our kitchen is right off the living room and the lo's are never downstairs without me or dh (they're 4 and 20m) as for the rest of the house I feel it's their house too so anything is game. I tell my 2 older dc that they need to be responsible for their things that they don't want the younger boys getting into and keep them up in their rooms. As for breakable knick-knacks I don't care much for that type of clutter. Anything that the lo's can get to is ok for them to play with.


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## majikfaerie (Jul 24, 2006)

i never baby-proofed anything.








I also never said "no" to anything. I spent a lot of time with my child, explaining *why* things are dangerous,
ie: that knife is really sharp. if you touch this end, it might cut you and hurt.
I found my child could understand things like that from very early on. i guess from about the age she was big enough to try picking up a knife from the kitchen counter (15mo maybe).
saying "no" all the time becomes quite meaningless, and kids learn really fast if they understand the ins and outs of things.

OP, if your child is especially interested in the fridge, I'd probably start with opening the door for him, and letting him have a good long play in there (with the door open, of course). plan ahead so you can do it on a day when you don't have stuff that will immediately spoil, move as much to the freezer temporarily as you can. talk to him about the fridge, what it's for, how it works, what would happen if someone were to be shut inside, etc etc. I've found that letting a kid safely explore what it is they're fascinated with solves the problem in most cases.
if he's still into crawing into small spaces, perhaps get him a big cardboard box to hide in?


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## Smalls181 (May 12, 2006)

When it comes to safety, we never relied on my childs ability to control her impulses and not do something she was determined to. We always baby/toddler proofed anything that was dangerous for her. I just couldn't take the chance.


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## majikfaerie (Jul 24, 2006)

really? _everything that was dangerous?_ how could you do that?


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## Jessy1019 (Aug 6, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *majikfaerie* 
i never baby-proofed anything.








I also never said "no" to anything. I spent a lot of time with my child, explaining *why* things are dangerous,
ie: that knife is really sharp. if you touch this end, it might cut you and hurt.
I found my child could understand things like that from very early on. i guess from about the age she was big enough to try picking up a knife from the kitchen counter (15mo maybe).
saying "no" all the time becomes quite meaningless, and kids learn really fast if they understand the ins and outs of things.

I think that's a really reasonable approach.


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## thepeach80 (Mar 16, 2004)

I need a fridge lock, but for my older kids! They like to eat all the food in the fridge, lol. Ilana can get in as well, but has never played in there etc, she usually just grabs a cheese stick and gets out. I did see her trying to drink out of her rice milk carton yesterday!

I take a middle approach, we child proof some things, like stairs always have gates, 1/2 the outlets are covered, and we try and put things out of their reach etc. My 4yo still doesn't get not to run in the parking lot and in front of cars. I'm not going to trust them not to play w/ knives and not to fall down the stairs etc. There are some things that are so easy to 'proof' that it doesn't make sense to do it IMO and then worry about other things. We have a fireplace, there's only so much we can do to make it safe so we use education and setting limits on how close they can get etc.


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## MadameXCupcake (Dec 14, 2007)

My DD is only 9 months but she is crawling and cruising. We do not plan on baby proofing we plan on doing the explaining of why something is dangerous, which we have started already. That said we do have duct tape[we're cheap.







] over the outlets in the living room so I can run to the bathroom and know she is okay.

I have brothers that are 12 years younger and remember we did not baby proof for them, I don't see it as necessary.







:


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## mamazee (Jan 5, 2003)

I did lots of babyproofing, but not the fridge. She had a few things she knew she could have out of the fridge if she was hungry by 2 and I wanted her to be able to get them. If I heard the fridge open, I went over and watched what was going on there. But I babyproofed a lot of stuff - the gas controls on the oven, outlets, stairs, etc.


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## KristyDi (Jun 5, 2007)

We've blocked off the stairs, moved breakables out of reach, and put plug covers in.

That's really about it. I did put a door latch thing on one of the cabinets, but that was because I was sick of cleaning up after dd pulled out all my canning jar rings and serving platters.

I don't mind the word no. No is a part of life. In our house no is usually followed by an explanation ie "No, we're not going to play with that knife because it's sharp and might cut you." Even though dd is too young to understand yet, I still explain so I get in the habit.


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

I babyproofed the major dangerous things (garbage/chemicals(up high)/sharp objects/glass baking pans that could break/the stairs/medication/etc.) and then just things that annoyed me. We have locks that mount to the top fo the fridge and can be disengaged. I pretty much only use them during power outages so that we don't forget and open it more than anything. If my 1 year old got into the fridge, I might use them more often. I HATE wasting food. This is what we use on the fridge: http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/...mSource=Search


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## Porcelain Interior (Feb 8, 2008)

I think it depends on the kid. My kids are both super laid back, non risk takers. We didn't babyproof. They never ventured into the fridge/toilet/road. They've always been highly reasonable and not interested in testing me. (This is luck for the most part I assure you!)

One of my neices though, wow she was one of those very curious testers. She would walk out the door any time of the day or night, she'd mess with water, dangerous things in the kitchen, cords etc. We totally 100% had to babyproof with her, she was sly and quick.

For me if I had climbers/testers/super active kids I'd do some simple babyproofing, or risk minimizing (getting rid of glass stuff etc).

I like to be comfortable in my own home though and if I was on pins and needles all the time I wouldn't be very comfortable.


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## bscal (Feb 13, 2006)

I agree that it depends on the child. It can also depend on the situation. I have had to do some creative babyproofing in my house for my 3rd child that I didn't necessarily have to do with the other 2 kids. I have always done a few basic things. I have baby gates to keep the kiddos in the living room with me if I need to return emails or tend to another child (nursing, etc). Our living room is very family friendly. I also need to be able to baby gate the kids out of our home office... DH works from home quite a bit and there are so many computers and electronic equipment that we do not want the kids messing with in there. I gate stairs and I have latches on exterior doors b/c my oldest would walk out of the house at age 2 if I went to the bathroom. My youngest LOVES to splash in the toilet and I caught him trying to eat yucky toilet paper one day. So we have a BIG rule in our house to shut the bathroom door after you're done. I can't gate him away from the bathroom or my 3 yr old would have a problem getting to the toilet. He also likes to climb.

For me, it's easier to have a baby or toddler friendly room - my living room downstairs and the nursery upstairs - in which to gate the baby for a minute if I have to go potty or clean up something gross (dog pee in the kitchen for example). Then I don't have to worry about him while I clean up or whatever and he can still see me and talk to me. For the most part I keep the kids right with me so that I can make sure they are safe. (Not in a creepy helicopter mom kind of way though.) If I'm doing laundry then they are usually helping me sort socks or fold towels, if I'm cooking dinner then chances are they are either washing produce or making a band from metal mixing bowls and big spoons. I KNOW that they aren't getting into the medicine cabinet b/c they are literally at my feet.

Oh, and I try not to say No all the time. I prefer to use words to describe things... if I'm moving them away from the stove I say Hot or Ow. I use the word Danger very sparingly but only for truly dangerous situations - running out in traffic, that kind of thing.

Beth


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## lolar2 (Nov 8, 2005)

We haven't done a lot of baby-proofing, but I always wish we'd done more.


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## brightonwoman (Mar 27, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *majikfaerie* 
i never baby-proofed anything.








I also never said "no" to anything. I spent a lot of time with my child, explaining *why* things are dangerous,
ie: that knife is really sharp. if you touch this end, it might cut you and hurt.
I found my child could understand things like that from very early on. i guess from about the age she was big enough to try picking up a knife from the kitchen counter (15mo maybe).
saying "no" all the time becomes quite meaningless, and kids learn really fast if they understand the ins and outs of things.

OP, if your child is especially interested in the fridge, I'd probably start with opening the door for him, and letting him have a good long play in there (with the door open, of course). plan ahead so you can do it on a day when you don't have stuff that will immediately spoil, move as much to the freezer temporarily as you can. talk to him about the fridge, what it's for, how it works, what would happen if someone were to be shut inside, etc etc. I've found that letting a kid safely explore what it is they're fascinated with solves the problem in most cases.
if he's still into crawing into small spaces, perhaps get him a big cardboard box to hide in?


I agree with explaining rather than just saying 'no'--I guess I did not express myself that well in the OP, but I meant talking about things vs using babyproofing hardware...
I do try to keep most dangerous things out of reach, but not everyone in the family is good about that, and DS is a *master* of climbing







:
We have let him look around in the fridge a bit--lately he's wanted to climb the shelves to reach the button on top that turns off the light...yeah, climbing fridge shelves is one of thsoe things that I consider not safe.







I guess I could let him bring over the step stool and push the light button a few times. I have a few boxes around, perhaps I'll have to designate one as his.


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## Sharlla (Jul 14, 2005)

I didn't do any baby proofing really but neither of my boys really gave me a reason not to. Both were pretty good about not getting into stuff that they weren't suppose to and they weren't left alone to have the opportunity to either.

Quote:

ie: that knife is really sharp. if you touch this end, it might cut you and hurt.
Yep that works well for us too.


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## OkiMom (Nov 21, 2007)

I agree it depends on the child. I was going to just not bother with babyproofing and explain why we don't play with certain things. However, DD1 is very determined and the more I explained about some things the more she wanted to play with them. So, Ive done limited babyproofing. The pantry and cleaning cupboard has a lock to them, otherwise no matter what I do shes in them. The fridge got a lock when she bite into a raw egg. The toliet has a lock thats never locked but there if it had to be. Other than that we haven't done anything else. We keep sharp things and breakables up high, she has absolutely no interest in outlets. We don't use baby gates, wouldn't work anyway, she climbs right over them.


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## octobermom (Aug 31, 2005)

I baby proofed the what if areas.. You know those places where the what if she got into across/access to this area how could I replace said object or get her to the hospital fast enough ect if there was a what if worry then I baby proofed. This didn't mean we still didn't teach a gentle no but it eliminated the overly panic and worry of her getting seriously hurt or important expensive objects getting hurt.

Deanna


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## octobermom (Aug 31, 2005)

Quote:

I found my child could understand things like that from very early on. i guess from about the age she was big enough to try picking up a knife from the kitchen counter (15mo maybe).
Your child didn't pick up a kife till they were 15 months? lucky







On a serious note though I do overall agree in the end we did very little actual "babyproofing" I took the knobs off the stove (gas) we had a special child lock on a cabinet that holds a bunch of extra china and crystal (a lower cabinet right at her reach) and for our sanity we had a special guard that prevented her from turnin on off the TV 39,000 times a day. Knives ect were stored outta reach and other basic common sense but really not much was child proof. We did have an early walker (8 months) and that kinda forced us to protect some areas.

Deanna


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## _betsy_ (Jun 29, 2004)

DD is crazy active, but not a climber or a take-apart-er.

The kitchen is usually off limits to her though. Baby gates are the only way the cats can eat and use the litterbox without her "helping." I have no place else in our 2-bedroom condo to put the litter box, and it isn't as gross as it sounds, because of the layout of the hall/kitchen entry. Anyways, she's never in there unsupervised.

So long as she's invited to "help" (ie bang a spoon in a pot, play with tupperware, play at the fridge with magnets, etc.) she doesn't try to get into cupboards or the fridge. She seems content to do her work while I do mine, especially if every once in a while she gets to pour ingredients into the bowl or stir something together.


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## sweetpeppers (Dec 19, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *majikfaerie* 
i never baby-proofed anything.








I also never said "no" to anything. I spent a lot of time with my child, explaining *why* things are dangerous,
ie: that knife is really sharp. if you touch this end, it might cut you and hurt.
I found my child could understand things like that from very early on. i guess from about the age she was big enough to try picking up a knife from the kitchen counter (15mo maybe).
saying "no" all the time becomes quite meaningless, and kids learn really fast if they understand the ins and outs of things.

OP, if your child is especially interested in the fridge, I'd probably start with opening the door for him, and letting him have a good long play in there (with the door open, of course). plan ahead so you can do it on a day when you don't have stuff that will immediately spoil, move as much to the freezer temporarily as you can. talk to him about the fridge, what it's for, how it works, what would happen if someone were to be shut inside, etc etc. I've found that letting a kid safely explore what it is they're fascinated with solves the problem in most cases.
if he's still into crawing into small spaces, perhaps get him a big cardboard box to hide in?

I agree. We have plugs on the outlets, but that's it. Now I've showed him how to plug stuff in, so they're kind of a moot point. I don't think a kid would crawl in the refrigerator that was full of food.


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## Hazelnut (Sep 14, 2005)

I did a lot with ds1. Now though- not much. We do have gates at the bottom and top of the stairs, though I don't think falling is that likely. I have outlet covers in and that's about it. Oh and I have an oven lock. I would like to get stove knob covers. I tried a toilet lock, but they don't stay.

Mostly, I aim to always close the bathroom door, don't use the front burners, and I am just careful about what is in his reach. The cleaning stuff under the sink is just vinegar. I keep other stuff up high. Oh and I really feel like I have to keep an eye on him!


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## Hey Mama! (Dec 27, 2003)

I have 3 girls. I gated the kitchen off, and put cleaning supplies out of reach. For stairs I used gates briefly until they could manage to go up and down the stairs safely (this happened with all of the girls around 15-18 months). I'm not one to babyproof either, just a couple of strategically placed gates and that's it. I don't remember them really messing with the fridge. My youngest dd did go through a week or so of turning on the oven so I just removed the knob.


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## majikfaerie (Jul 24, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *brightonwoman* 
I agree with explaining rather than just saying 'no'--I guess I did not express myself that well in the OP, but I meant talking about things vs using babyproofing hardware...
I do try to keep most dangerous things out of reach, but not everyone in the family is good about that, and DS is a *master* of climbing







:
We have let him look around in the fridge a bit--lately he's wanted to climb the shelves to reach the button on top that turns off the light...yeah, climbing fridge shelves is one of thsoe things that I consider not safe.







I guess I could let him bring over the step stool and push the light button a few times. I have a few boxes around, perhaps I'll have to designate one as his.









getting a step stool for him to have a good play with the fridge light is a great idea








climbing on glass shelves isn't safe, and totally explain to him about that.

when I said dd didn't pick a knife off a kitchen counter till she was 15mo, that's actually because we didn't have a kitchen counter till then. before 15mo, she lived her entire life in tents and tipis, backpacking around latin america. we had a camp fire in our tipi, and all our possessions were within her reach, and there wasn't much I could do to change it. so our of necessity, baby-proofing wasn't an option for us, even had I wanted to. So we worked with DD on teaching her to be safe herself. she was handling knives and manoeuvring around campfires from early babyhood. (with supervision).
I lived in third world countries for a long time, and you regularly see kids 2yo with their own machetes. the kids aren't playing with them, they know how to use them and handle them safely. these kids aren't special, or different in any way from our western kids. the difference is how they are treated. they are safe because it is understood and expected that they will be safe, and they understand that from a very early age.


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## MacKinnon (Jun 15, 2004)

We didn't baby proof much with DD but DS is a whole new game!! At 23 months he is a whirling dervish







He empties cupboards, shelves, climbs chairs, opens baby gates, opens doors, gets into DD's stuff... We have had to change our game, considerably! It really depends on the child!


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## Devaskyla (Oct 5, 2003)

We don't babyproof much. Probably not at all by most people's standards. Most of our 'babyproofing' is protecting our stuff from curious toddlers by moving it out of the way or blocking it off. With ds1, we had a baby gate between the kitchen & dining room because I didn't feel like constantly trying to get him out from under the table. We locked one cupboard so I didn't have to put stuff back all the time & moved the pans up because he liked to take them out of the stove drawer & sit in there. I also put a lock on one of my mom's cupboards & tied up her china cabinet with string while we were there. With ds2, we did get a fridge lock because he liked to open & slam the door, but it only worked for a few weeks.


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## Disco Infiltrator (Jul 28, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *majikfaerie* 
i never baby-proofed anything.








I also never said "no" to anything. I spent a lot of time with my child, explaining *why* things are dangerous,
ie: that knife is really sharp. if you touch this end, it might cut you and hurt.
I found my child could understand things like that from very early on. i guess from about the age she was big enough to try picking up a knife from the kitchen counter (15mo maybe).
saying "no" all the time becomes quite meaningless, and kids learn really fast if they understand the ins and outs of things.

Yes!!!

We have done some limited baby proofing - the under sink counter because of cleaning products, our plastics cabinet just because there are a lot of small things and DS was going WILD and driving me insane, and that's it. DS is 20 months and he understands when we explain that something is hot or dangerous. I feel that you can keep a child safe without removing access from most of your house.


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## Cardinal (Feb 6, 2006)

We definately were precautious... same as most people that I know... locks on cabinets with cleaning supplies and a gate or two here and there. (However, the gates became annoying for us and we found them to be more irritating than useful.) We put covers on outlets and covered all wires and also moved breakables, sharp objects, or things that were chokable. I didn't want to have to be saying "NO" all the time so I made my home safe and also fun for my son. I let him have the run of the house (most of the house but not every bedroom) by adjusting things temporarily. I didn't care that I couldn't have a bunch of knick knacks out. I just liked knowing that DS was safe and could be curious.

I think the number one baby proofing trick I learned was locking doors (those great door handle baby locks) so that a whole room was off limits. At first I thought I had to baby proof the entire house, then I realized that some rooms just couldn't be entirely safe so they became off limits and locked entirely.

The things DS got into and got hurt on -- those were things that couldn't have been baby proofed anyhow... he mostly just bumped his head a lot on everything --- he was just wild and would jump around and running here and there.

As others have said, I think it depends on the child.


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## brightonwoman (Mar 27, 2007)

Thanks folks, I appreciate the responses. It's nice to hear from some mamas who've been doing it a little longer that talking to a little one DOES work. I hear all the time about how he's too little to understand, and I *know* he understands a lot, but sometimes I worry if he understands enough to be safe, you know?


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## Pernillep (Jan 2, 2007)

we did all the cupboards he could reach for my sanity.
I was tired of cleaning up after DS and explaining to him that our food, the pots and pans etc. was not toys got old really fast.
Our house layout does not make it possible to have him out of hte kitchen so I took the steps necessary


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## Adventuredad (Apr 23, 2008)

Very good question. We proofed some drawers in kitchen with knifes, another closet with cleaning liquids, and some other minor items. Our windows canät be opened and when kids are on the baclony we make sure they canät climb over the reail. Although my oldest is now 5 and could do lots of bad things if he really wanted to.

We did not move anything in the house and instead tired to let our kids get a feel for everything. I my experience, kids are less curious and crazy about dangerous things if one explains how things work and also let kids explore them with supervision. I work very hard with letting them explore "dangerous items" such as knives, stove, etc. It works well for me but it demands some patience.......


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## DevaMajka (Jul 4, 2005)

I babyproofed the dangerous stuff- stuff that I thought could really cause damage on the off chance that ds got into it. I also did anything that was really easy to babyproof (outlet protectors). All the chemicals went up high in the linen closet, and all the towels went under the bathroom sink. All sharp knives went (still are) up high in a cupboard.

But ds was pretty good with explanations, and I really doubt he would have gotten into that stuff. It was just a "just in case" thing, yk? We never had a lock on the fridge, oven, etc. He was almost always right next to me, so it was easy to explain stuff, and he listened pretty well.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *majikfaerie* 
OP, if your child is especially interested in the fridge, I'd probably start with opening the door for him, and letting him have a good long play in there (with the door open, of course). plan ahead so you can do it on a day when you don't have stuff that will immediately spoil, move as much to the freezer temporarily as you can. talk to him about the fridge, what it's for, how it works, what would happen if someone were to be shut inside, etc etc. I've found that letting a kid safely explore what it is they're fascinated with solves the problem in most cases.
if he's still into crawing into small spaces, perhaps get him a big cardboard box to hide in?










Ds was obsessed with the fridge. It really helped when I decided to let him spend as much time looking in it as he needed/wanted. He spent less time looking in the fridge after that. It always seemed to me that every time I shut the door after a couple minutes, I left him with "unfinished business." But when he was able to totally satisfy his curiosity, it was all good.


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## cotopaxi (Sep 17, 2007)

I childproofed to the extent that teaching her to avoid it / use it safely wasn't working.

For non-safety issues, I try to work on just teaching her, but if I'm having to do it over and over again it's truly driving me insane, I babyproof it.

For issues in which one little slipup could be life or death, it gets babyproofed immediately, i.e. our scary, steep, staircase.

For the fridge if it were me I'd be tempted to get a lock because I think the concern about crawling in there and getting stuck is very valid. That would make me very nervous so for my own peace of mind I'd just do it.

Would he be at all interested in a toy fridge? I just made one for my dd (19 months) out of a big cardboard box, and she is thrilled with it. I cleaned out a real milk carton, gave her a sippy cup, some felt food, and she plays with it all the time. She is very serious about it, making sure to close the door after putting the milk back in, lol. I added a little velcro to the "doors" to make them latch better, because the opening/closing of the doors seemed to be a big part of the appeal for her.


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## Drummer's Wife (Jun 5, 2005)

we've never really done much as far as babyproofing. I mean, we don't keep dangerous things such as wiper fluid where the kids could get to but honestly, we don't have much as far as chemicals go since we clean with non-toxic stuff and use safer shampoos/soaps/toothpaste, etc.

We did try a baby gate a couple times after we first moved here because #4 was starting to walk and it was our first time with stairs, but it was a PITA and he would have figured out how to climb over it anyway. Also, I wanted him to be able to safely go up and down the stairs, which he mastered really quickly.

Sharp knives are up on the counter out of small children's reach, my older ones obviously know they aren't to play with.

The only thing I can think of is that it may be nice to have something to cover the knobs on the stove as it's gas and they are in the front right where my youngest can reach them. I just tell him to stay away, owie hot! works pretty well and I keep an eye on him while in the kitchen.

I've let him take out and put back in DH's cans of beer in the fridge when he gets obsessed with getting into it. That seems to keep him occupied for a little while and he doesn't try to climb up and grab the eggs!

i know my mom has bought me covers for the outlets several times over the years but as soon as my kids were old enough to manage sticking something into them, they could easily remove the covers, so I don't get the point. fwiw, no one has even been shocked, either.

ETA: okay, so generally I don't worry about much but after I typed this out I searched and am putting in an order for these to cover my knobs


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## PGTlatte (Mar 7, 2004)

We babyproofed anything either of them seemed interested in that was either dangerous or just a pain to deal with them having access to.

For our gas stove, I just removed the knobs. I put a knob on when I need to use a burner. All of our bottom cabinets and several of the drawers are locked.

We even had to put a lock on one of the upper cabinets...the one with the vitamins and medications....after one day DS2 pushed a chair up to it and opened a bottle of melatonin and crunched several of them. Thank goodness it was just melatonin he got into !! (BTW it only took him about a minute to do that. And I was just a few feet away with my back turned folding laundry. He used to scoot chairs around all the time so I wasn't alarmed by that sound. )

We have a knob cover on the laundry room door to keep DS2 from throwing things in the garbage (like my KEYS) or having access to the garage. We have hook and eye latches on the tops of the front and back doors to keep him from walking out whenever he wants to. And we used gates at the tops and bottoms of our stairs until he mastered them.

Our fridge is not locked though.


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## PrettyBird (Jun 19, 2005)

We did not babyproof all that much. What I did do was have one room that was entirely off limits. This room had the litter box, sewing machine and supplies, DH's desk/computer, and a bookcase with heavy books. All stuff I did not want to risk her getting into, so it was easier to just keep it blocked off. I covered the outlets too.


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## Ironica (Sep 11, 2005)

We used a mix of the approaches described here:

* Watch the child. What are they fascinated by? What do they ignore? Only worry about the stuff that they're interested in.

* Teach them how to use things properly whenever possible. DS1 always wanted to flush the toilet; we taught him (at around 15 months) that you ONLY flush the toilet after peeing/pooping in it, and then it was always "his job" whenever it needed flushing. We'd call him from elsewhere in the house if the toilet needed flushing, because if it got flushed and he didn't do it, he'd wail. ;-)

* Let them explore fascinating stuff with supervision. Sometimes, when something has been sufficiently explored, it ceases to be interesting.

* Create a "yes" environment by making inappropriate activities impossible, aka babyproofing. For DS1, our primary babyproofing measure was to attach panels from a baby enclosure to the bottoms of the bookcases, so he couldn't methodically pull books off the shelves and put them behind the couch. ;-) We also used clear packing tape to adhere a speaker to the wall, because otherwise it was repeatedly knocked over for fun. The kitchen was gated off, and was only accessible with supervision; that's where we kept the cat food and anything that we couldn't secure (like Halloween costumes in progress). Cords, outlets, etc. were uninteresting and did not get "babyproofed."

For DS2, babyproofing will look VERY different, as he has different interests. Cords are about the coolest thing ever. Rocking chairs are too. And he's happy to crawl out the front door in a diaper and t-shirt no matter how cold it is (granted, it doesn't get that cold here, but still). As he gets older, I imagine that we'll be showing him how to plug in cables, and then making that "his job" like we did with flushing the toilet for DS1 (and I can tell you, I'm just a little bit excited about the prospect of not having to bend under my desk to plug/unplug my laptop ;-).


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## brightonwoman (Mar 27, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *cotopaxi* 
Would he be at all interested in a toy fridge? I just made one for my dd (19 months) out of a big cardboard box, and she is thrilled with it. I cleaned out a real milk carton, gave her a sippy cup, some felt food, and she plays with it all the time. She is very serious about it, making sure to close the door after putting the milk back in, lol. I added a little velcro to the "doors" to make them latch better, because the opening/closing of the doors seemed to be a big part of the appeal for her.

That is a fantastic idea! We are smooshed in a very small apartment right now and literally could not fit such a thing anywhere, but I'll have to keep that in mind for this fall if he's still into fridges (we should be moving this summer). He has come crochet food that a friend did for me last year--it's adorable but he doesn't play with it that much now--the carrot was his favorite teething toy for a while







anyway, if he had a fridge to keep it in I bet it would be adored. I could make some felt food for other items too--condiments are his favorite. He's always trying to get a swig from the lemon juice or the worcestershire sauce







: I let him get a real swig from the lemon one day and that's when he switched to the worcestershire bottle


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