# Toilet lid locks, stove and door knob locks--really?



## justKate (Jun 10, 2008)

When I was growing up, yes, in the '80's







my parents were very safety conscious--doors were locked, outlets plugged, water heater turned down, car seats & boosters, stranger safety, etc. But we never had toilet lid locks, stove knob locks, door knob locks, refridgerator alarms, washer and dryer door locks, furniture tethered to the walls. They did have child locks on the medicine cabinets and the cabinet under the kitchen sink, but everything else was open and accessible.

Now that my almost-9 month old is becoming more mobile, I'm wondering whether these things are necessary. I know the "I survived" attitude is not a good approach, but realistically, do I _need_ to lock my toilet shut? How much of a danger is it, really?

At this point I'm planning on plugging outlets, putting safety gates on the stairs, and locking cabinets with chemicals/choking hazards. Of course choking hazards and "attractive dangers" will be kept out of reach. Beyond that, I'm not sure what else is really necessary.

Any thoughts?


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## lifeguard (May 12, 2008)

I've been using ds' development as my lead. As soon as he was mobile we put covers on the electrical outlets & moved things out of his reach. When he showed interest in going into the kitchen all. the. time. to play with the dog's water we put a gate on the kitchen. Now that he will NOT leave the stairs alone (wants to go up all day long) we put a gate at the bottom of the stairs.

Some babies do need more childproofing then others, whether because of their personalities or the level of supervision available. I don't know anyone who needed to use toilet locks or fridge locks or secured their furniture to walls, etc. But I'm sure there are some people who have needed to, even if it is just for their own ease of mind.


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## Krisis (May 29, 2008)

We use electrical outlet covers, baby gates for our stairs, and cabinet lockers so DS can't get into our trash. For DS's room, because he has quiet time in there by himself, his bathroom is also childproofed. We got a toilet lock so he can't play in the toilet, we put pinch-guards on his bathroom door so he can't lock himself in the bathroom, and for the drawer we keep his medicinal stuff in we have 2 drawer locks installed.

Other than that, and that's really not much, we don't have anything in the way of childproofing. DS keeps knocking his head against the corner of our table and I feel bad, but I'm not going to go spend a ton of money to make sure all the edges in my house are padded. He'll learn to be more careful, grow out of his clumsiness (maybe!) and I won't have to worry about buying all this childproofing stuff anymore.


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## isign (Jan 17, 2008)

If they make it, we own it, for the most part. I have door locks, cabinet locks, plugs, locks on my fridge, dishwasher, oven, and drawer under the oven. I don't have them on the toilet b/c they are on the doors. My DS is a climber and is extremely curious. We have a small 1000 ft house, and 2 kids. I can not keep my eyes on him ever second of the day, and these are a great way to keep him safe. I am having to replace my fridge one - he some how took the thing apart.

My mom's co-worker had to go with her grandson (he's 2) to the ER a few weeks ago. He's a climber as well and their oven tipped over when their 5 year old climbed on it.


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## greenmansions (Feb 16, 2005)

We used the outlet plugs, a few cabinet/drawer locks - because of breakable items, and doorknob covers. I had a baby gate for the bathroom door, mostly because of a friend's child who could not resist the bathroom when they visited.

That same child climbed up his parents' dresser at 2 1/2 yo, and it tipped over on him; the TV on top just missed falling on his head on the way down. He has also climbed up the bathroom counter and sprayed air freshener in his eyes, and a whole host of other things - my poor friend has called 911 for him several times in his short life. My kids on the other hand maybe tear up a newspaper. It just depends who you're blessed with, and you can start simple and add more childproofing if you find you have a climber or whatever.

I put anything chemically out in the garage in a high cabinet rather than use cabinet locks in the house for those - you never know when your child or a friend's child will figure out how to open the locks.


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## betsyj (Jan 8, 2009)

When ds showed me he could turn the gas stove knobs all by himself we got guards.


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## Yooper (Jun 6, 2003)

It really depends on the kid. No kid really "needs" all of this stuff, but the parents might to stay sane. We did not use much. A few outlet covers and anti-tipping straps (dd was a climber). But I have met children that are very hard to watch all of the time. I can see why the parents might want some of it, even the most bizarre ones.


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## northwoods1995 (Nov 17, 2003)

My sister passed along a bunch of stuff that she had used with her kids. I used the outlet covers right away. I wasn't planning to use the doorknob covers and didn't need them until my 2nd child came along. She is an extremely stealthy escape artist though and now I'm glad to have knob covers on our exterior doors!

We haven't used cabinet locks or toilet bowl locks. They never messed with the toilet bowls. I only put baby safe items in our 3 lower cabinets.


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## IntrovertExtrovert (Mar 2, 2008)

As with so many other things, it depends entirely on your and your kid's personality. I've heard stories of (careful, concerned) moms finding their extremely adventurous 2 year olds _on top of the fridge_. One woman told me about her son prying off all the outlet covers in one room within 2 minutes.

We tried a toilet lock, but couldn't get it to work and just closed the door of the bathroom during the short age that he might have gone in there by himself _and_ tried to get into the toilet.

We did get an oven lock, and he did actually try to open the hot oven once or twice. We probably don't/didn't need it, really.

My son has tried to climb bookcases, and I caught him 1 or 2 shelves up. We do have the furniture anchored (but we also live in earthquake country), and the one piece of furniture I thought was anchored but wasn't, he pulled down on himself at 3 years old. (he was fine, but only because of his age. Any younger and he would have at least broken a bone.)

He hasn't tried to climb into the washer or dryer, but there are definitely kids who would/have. If I had 2 close in age I might get a dryer or washer lock, as that situation is often an older toddler/preschooler putting/encouraging a younger sibling in and accidentally starting the machine.


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## IntrovertExtrovert (Mar 2, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lifeguard* 
Some babies do need more childproofing then others, whether because of their personalities or the level of supervision available. I don't know anyone who needed to use toilet locks or fridge locks or secured their furniture to walls, etc. But I'm sure there are some people who have needed to, even if it is just for their own ease of mind.

I recommend securing a toddler/preschooler's dresser to the wall, as older toddlers/preschoolers like to have some independence and get their own clothes. I know a few kids (including my own) who have gone to their rooms to proudly pick out clothes "by myself!" and accidentally pulled their dressers onto themselves. In my son's case it was because he opened all the drawers together, totally changing the dresser's center of balance. My niece at 3 pulled out all the drawers carefully, and then climbed up the dresser to get a toy that was on top.


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## LaLaLaLa (Oct 29, 2007)

We were on the pretty low end of the spectrum in terms of childproofing. When the kids were little we had a doorknob cover on the door leading down the basement steps and the doors leading outside. We had outlet covers in their bedroom, but I don't think we had enough to cover the rest of the house. Medicine was on the top shelf of the (unlocked) linen closet; chemicals were on the top shelf of the (unlocked) hall closet.

Nothing dangerous was in the bottom cabinets, so we never bothered to lock them. We also didn't lock stove, oven, dishwasher, toilet, refrigerator, etc. They had and still have wide, low dressers instead of tall skinny ones.

My kids, though, were never climbers and not terribly curious about stuff like what would happen if they licked an electric socket.

For awhile when DD was crawling and learning to walk, we had a couple of those playpens where the sides hook together to make an octagon or whatever, and we ended up making a long continuous line out of those panels that we used in our living room to block off the stairs, the TV, and the computer cords. It was a huge pain while we had it up, and DS didn't didn't really need the same sort of limit for some reason.


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## weliveintheforest (Sep 3, 2005)

We don't have a lot of safety stuff, but I'd love a fridge lock. I think it depends on your children and house how important it is. Something I keep in mind, is it only takes once for an accident to happen. Once when we were travelling, and I was _right there_, my dd pulled a huge dresser over on herself. I managed to stick my arm out in time and stop it, in one of those mama-bear adrenalin moments, but I was sore for days, and I know she would have been badly hurt or worse if she had been alone.


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## bobandjess99 (Aug 1, 2005)

For us, the toilet locks aren't out of safety so much as not wanting EVERYHTING we on to be throw in the fricken toilet. Which is what ds would do. He would also attempt to play in it at EVERY opportunity. Eeeewwww.

We don't have knob or oven guards, but i can see how they woudl be needed with some kids. Ds has turned oiur (gas!) stove knobs a couple times, luckily i was rigth there to see it....now we just gate off the kitchen entirely, it was easier.


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## elmh23 (Jul 1, 2004)

We have:
outlet covers

stove knob covers because they are right at child height and just begging to become wheels to a ship and I don't want to have to deal with that all the time!

door handle covers on the pantry door (because I'm tired of him rampaging through there) and one in reserve for when he figures out how to unlock the front door

a "pool lock" on the back sliding glass door to keep him from getting in the backyard without anyone knowing (we don't have a pool, but it'd be easy for him to escape the backyard.)

two removable tension gates to block off doorways and hallways when needed

We didn't get the pool lock or door covers until our second was born. Our first just never thought to go outside without us but he's had no problem with that since he could crawl.


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

It depends on the kid, how many kids, and you, and your house, and the level of supervision you're able to provide. When I had DD1, it was just me and her all day in a relatively small apartment, and she was a cautious kid, and we needed NONE of that stuff. But by the time I had the twins, we lived in a bigger house with three floors, I had TWO babies and a toddler, and DD2 was born seemingly without an ounce of common sense or concern for self-preservation. So in that case, we did find some of that stuff useful. You only have to have paid a plumber to remove a washcloth from WAY down in the pipes to realize that a toilet lock is a lot cheaper.

When there are multiple small children in the house, often you just CAN'T supervise them every second. And it's nice to be able to give them the freedom to roam a bit, within safe bounds.

I do think that you can go overboard with that stuff, though. Wait until you see that it's needed, for the really odd stuff. For example, we never needed a fridge lock. My kids weren't interested in the fridge. It was the toilet that they gravitated toward.

Oh, and don't put too much stock in any of those "guards" or "locks," and let them cause you to be too relaxed about supervision. My DD2 could open almost every cupboard lock on the market by 18 months old.


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## Delicateflower (Feb 1, 2009)

It depends entirely on your child IMO

We had a toilet lock for one child, haven't needed it for the other, and vice versa for oven locks.

It's important to strap dressers to the wall, because they can kill so easily.


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## riverscout (Dec 22, 2006)

I used to ask myself the same questions with my first child. I could just never see a need for all that stuff. Then I had my second







.


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## JamesMama (Jun 1, 2005)

We have door knob locks to keep the kids from jumping on my bed (and removing the sheets and pillows and all that). We don't do toilet lid locks because I doubt DH would be able to figure them out









We had a fridge lock for a while because DS was always emptying the fridge and it was either put a lock on it or spend 99% of my day removing him from the fridge, he out grew it.

We also have locks that secure our dressers and bookshelves to the wall because my daughter is a MONKEY and climbs everything.

For me it was either babyproof to death or spend the vast majority of my day yanking my kids off book shelves and putting the fridge back in order and remaking my bed...it's more fun for me and more fun for them when Mama isn't exasperated all the time.


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## moondiapers (Apr 14, 2002)

Securing furniture to the wall is something all homes should do, with or without children.

The other stuff I think depends on if you have other kids too....older kids that forget to close bathroom doors etc.


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## moondiapers (Apr 14, 2002)

Llyra said:


> It depends on the kid, how many kids, and you, and your house, and the level of supervision you're able to provide. When I had DD1, it was just me and her all day in a relatively small apartment, and she was a cautious kid, and we needed NONE of that stuff. But by the time I had the twins, we lived in a bigger house with three floors, I had TWO babies and a toddler, and DD2 was born seemingly without an ounce of common sense or concern for self-preservation. So in that case, we did find some of that stuff useful. You only have to have paid a plumber to remove a washcloth from WAY down in the pipes to realize that a toilet lock is a lot cheaper.
> 
> When there are multiple small children in the house, often you just CAN'T supervise them every second. And it's nice to be able to give them the freedom to roam a bit, within safe bounds.
> 
> ...


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## earthmama369 (Jul 29, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *riverscout* 
I used to ask myself the same questions with my first child. I could just never see a need for all that stuff. Then I had my second







.











I had the same experience.


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## lifeguard (May 12, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *moondiapers* 
Securing furniture to the wall is something all homes should do, with or without children.

I'm curious about this? It just doesn't seem like a big risk unless you think someone is going to climb it.


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## riverscout (Dec 22, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lifeguard* 
I'm curious about this? It just doesn't seem like a big risk unless you think someone is going to climb it.

I think in areas prone to earthquakes it's recommended. Other than that, it's unnecessary for homes without children AFAIK.


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## treemom2 (Oct 1, 2003)

Hmmm, with DD (our first child) we had outlet covers, a lock on one cabinet (that held cleaning supplies), and a lock on the fridge (after she broke all the eggs the 2nd time). With DS we just kept cleaning stuff up high, we still had our outlet covers and so we used those (but probably wouldn't have bought them if we didn't already have them), and another fridge lock (but he broke it off, we bought another, he broke that one off too. . .we gave up). For the bathroom, with DD we just closed the door. With DS it was harder to just close the door since DD would always leave it open, so we gated it off and DD would just climb the gate. I think toilet locks suck. . .they are soooo not fun when you are in a hurry to go to the toilet. . .


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## moondiapers (Apr 14, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lifeguard* 
I'm curious about this? It just doesn't seem like a big risk unless you think someone is going to climb it.

earthquakes, big storms, hurricaines, land slides, major floods.....anything that can cause your foundation to shift can make bookcases, entertainment centers, TVs etc. fall away from the wall.


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## prothyraia (Feb 12, 2007)

Our general theory is that we want as much space as possible to be child-friendly, so we babyproof the heck out of those areas (kitchen, bedrooms, living room). Things we don't want them to get into are mostly just put up high, so no drawer or cabinet locks. Areas where the baby/small toddler will never be unsupervised, like the bathroom or the laundry room, we just find ways to keep them out of, so no toilet or washer/dryer locks.

Furniture straps are a must for us (I have two climbers), and I really wish I could get an oven lock that worked (baby likes to try to pull it open). Other than those, we use outlet covers and locks up high on the doors to rooms we don't want them in.

So this is our extent of our baby-proofing gadgetry:
-outlet covers
-furniture straps
-oven lock
-locks for doors
-interlocking baby gates to block off unsafe areas/wood stove/etc.

Edited to add: Oh! And a doorknob cover/lock thing for the front door, so I can use the bathroom with out worrying about my three year old deciding to leave the house and being followed by his younger brother.


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## rhiandmoi (Apr 28, 2006)

All those things really depend on the kid, and what kind of trouble they like to get themselves into. When we were growing up in the 80's there were parents that had to lock refrigerators and toilets, but they had to rig up their own locks because baby proofing stuff only had electrical outlets and cabinets in mind. I crack myself up when I think of the baby proofing stuff that parents used to use. Stuff like pipe insulation on the coffee table. Or a gate lock on the refrigerator.


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## Krisis (May 29, 2008)

You mamas with 18 month olds that can get through cabinet locks and pull off outlet covers... can you send them over here? I am almost to the point where I don't need help every time I go to open a cabinet







but I can almost NEVER get the stupid outlet covers off! I hate those things! They always outsmart me!

I remember climbing stuff as a kid and having bookshelves fall over on me all the time, but I was older, like 6 or so. DS pulled a bookshelf over onto himself a few weeks ago. It was a very lightweight shelf, thank God, and had almost nothing on it, but it was terrifying. It actually ended up landing mostly on a tin keepsake box DS got when he was born. The box is crunched up beyond repair. I am so grateful that wasn't my poor little boy's head. I will always secure furniture to the wall from now on. Always.


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## amberskyfire (Sep 15, 2007)

I would say for one child, definitely not, but my SIL has four girls, all one or two years older than the next and I don't think they would all be alive if every door and toilet in their house wasn't childproofed









Seriously, though. It is a lot easier to keep an eye on one child than, say, three or four or more. I'd never forgive myself if I was a stressed out mother of four and one of my kids ended up coming to harm.


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## Twinklefae (Dec 13, 2006)

We did a lot of closed doors (for rooms like the bathroom) so that DS could wander the hall and not get into the rooms. But DS is not a climber/explorer. My bff's little guy managed to climb onto the change table, open the cabinet with the breakers in it, and TURN THEM OFF in a heartbeat. It really depends on the kid.


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *moondiapers* 

we use the kind that need a magnetic key









Yeah, that's what we wound up with, after a very bad incident involving two 18 month old twins and a jar of blackstrap molasses.


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## Quinalla (May 23, 2005)

I don't know anyone who has used stove or toilet locks, but doorknob locks (or other ways of securing a door against a child) definitely! It really depends on the kid though, so I think it is good those things are available for those folks who need them.


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## mommy2two babes (Feb 7, 2007)

Every child is different.
With my DD almost 5 she still wont even attempt to open any child lock or gate. DS just 3 will sometimes try to open things and has tried to climb various pieces of furniture.

They both went through stages where they wanted to check out the fridge.
We considered a fridge lock but it quickly lost thier interest.
We don't even have plug covers on most plugs anymore.

The few things we currently have are gates at top and bottom ( Open most of the time) Locks on bathroom and under the sink cupboards. although DS can open them no problem it takes him a bit longer.

I have secured big pieces of furnature to the wall especially in carpeted areas. ( cabinet and tall dressers) I figured with those things the are very heavy if they tip and it only takes once to secure it with a screw in the back.

If I had a child like my DB I would have had to do alot more.
I can remember my parents trying to fish various objects out of the toilet. and him emptying the toilet water onto the floor among other things.


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## IntrovertExtrovert (Mar 2, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Krisis* 
You mamas with 18 month olds that can get through cabinet locks and pull off outlet covers... can you send them over here? I am almost to the point where I don't need help every time I go to open a cabinet







but I can almost NEVER get the stupid outlet covers off! I hate those things! They always outsmart me!

Heh. There are more parent-friendly outlet covers, but they're pretty expensive. For outlets you use frequently but not permanently, you can get the rotating ones. They replace the whole outlet.


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## GuildJenn (Jan 10, 2007)

My son crawled late, at about 11 months.

He crawled to the cabinet that housed the garbage bins, pulled up on the door, reached in with his baby hand and released the safety catch to open it gleefully.

He was also a climber.

So... we tried a lot of things. Some worked and some didn't. We just locked off the whole bathroom with an eye-and-hook latch at the top of the door, and that eliminated one Room Of Doom. For cabinets we moved our hazardous and breakable stuff up high and moved all the benign stuff down, which was a pain for us adults but worked.

The stove lock was indispensable because my son would, despite repeated corrections, swing and climb on the oven handle. Eventually he managed to open that lock, did it, and banged his head - and yes I was right there, sigh. We took the gas knobs off entirely as his fingers weren't strong enough to turn the metal parts. The fridge we left alone. We didn't use doorknob covers just because the only hazardous room was the bathroom at that point.

Anyways... just to say that you kind of have to go with your own monkey's needs as she/he grows. But don't put your nose up at something that will give you that extra couple of minutes you need to get there. And I ditto that furniture should be fastened.


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## SoxMama (Jul 7, 2009)

We started with minimally babyproofing with just outlet covers and a few cabinet locks. As DS has gotten older (currently 13 months) we have increased it based on need. He repeatedly goes back to touch, open, climb on anything that he can get his hands on. The more we redirect him, the more interest he has in going back to that item. If he can't open it on every attempt, it is less enticing to him. So, for our own sanity we added additional childproofing.

We've also had to reinforce a few cabinet locks where he has been strong enough to bust through them. My main issue is that I have a really hard time keeping things plugged in that need to be plugged in (i.e. lamps, the cats water bowl, etc.) without him pulling the cords out and trying to play with the outlet. The kid is relentless sometimes.


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## kirstenb (Oct 4, 2007)

We don't have a lot of child safety stuff- we just got what we needed when we needed it. Outlet covers were a must, as well as a oven lock- DS had a knack for opening the oven door every time we were cooking something. We also had covers over the stove knobs that we could take off now as DS knows how to open them. Cabinets with cleaning things/sharp objects have door locks, but nothing else. We never really needed door knob covers or a baby gate, fridge lock, etc. I know families where all those items were needed though!


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## prothyraia (Feb 12, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Llyra* 
Yeah, that's what we wound up with, after a very bad incident involving two 18 month old twins and a jar of blackstrap molasses.









Our neighbors had a similar incident involving twins who were a bit older and a jar of Crisco.


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## justKate (Jun 10, 2008)

Wow. Thanks for all of the responses. I bought outlet covers to start, and will definitely do furniture straps and a baby gate for the top and bottom of the stairs... But I think I'm going to hold off on the other gadgets until the need becomes apparent.


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## hottmama (Dec 27, 2004)

We didn't use outlet covers, cabinet locks, baby gates, toilet locks, doorknob covers, or any of it. I never saw a need. If I had, I'd have gotten them.


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## Momma2Gianna (Oct 18, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lifeguard* 
I've been using ds' development as my lead. As soon as he was mobile we put covers on the electrical outlets & moved things out of his reach. When he showed interest in going into the kitchen all. the. time. to play with the dog's water we put a gate on the kitchen. Now that he will NOT leave the stairs alone (wants to go up all day long) we put a gate at the bottom of the stairs.

Some babies do need more childproofing then others, whether because of their personalities or the level of supervision available. I don't know anyone who needed to use toilet locks or fridge locks or secured their furniture to walls, etc. But I'm sure there are some people who have needed to, even if it is just for their own ease of mind.

Oh that's me for sure too, with a twist. As soon as DD was mobile, we put covers on the electrical outlets...Which thus made them interesting, and she promptly removed all of them. Never tried to stick her fingers or toys into them, but was forever removing the outlet covers. So we quit.

We have a baby gate on the stairs, mostly to corralle her into the living room area, so I don't have to chase her all around the house, and same for the kitchen. (She likes to play with the dog's water, and toss toys into it...We lost a Playstation controller that way...ack!!!)

I have the cleaners, meds, etc in a place she can't get to, not that she has ever tried. But I do not have toilet covers or stove locks, becuase she's never in the bathroom or kitchen, and can't get to them the way my house is set up. And even when she is in those rooms, she has never shown any interest. She knows the stove is hot, and should never go near it, and doesn't really show much interest in the potty as of yet.


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *prothyraia* 
Our neighbors had a similar incident involving twins who were a bit older and a jar of Crisco.









Good grief. That's a tough one. At least molasses is water-soluble...


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## Thandiwe (May 14, 2007)

I haven't read all the other posts, but here's my two-cents. Honestly, we have some of those locks/or wish we did, and it's not necessarily for my kid's safety: it's for my sanity! I can't tell you how many times a day I'm asking them to leave the toilet alone, stay out of x room/closet, not open/close fridge 50 times, etc.

There are safety issues, but my sanity would be central!


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## jocelyndale (Aug 28, 2006)

A lot does depend on the child.

We've gone along with just two locked cabinets--one under the sink, one in the bathroom. And we had a few outlet covers after he attempted to poke random metal objects in the general vicinity of the receptacles.

Now that he can open any door, I'm about to buy two doorknob covers--one for the front door and one for the closet where I store holiday gifts ahead of time. Our front door opens into our fenced yard, but he can open that gate, too, and our street is travelled by some daredevils.

We've moved stuff around in the kitchen drawers. Now that he's 2.5, we're working on explaining *why* we don't want him to play with knives and can openers. But he's 2.5, he doesn't exactly have impulse control, so we also have to keep an eye on what he's doing in the kitchen.


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## noobmom (Jan 19, 2008)

We did almost no baby proofing in our house. DS just isn't an "explorer" and he tends to listen when we ask him to not do things. He's never played with or in the toilet, for example. We do have some cabinet locks under the kitchen and bathroom sink, but that's about it.

Oh, and be careful of those outlet plug covers, they're choking hazards. Really, if you want to cover the outlets you should be using the ones that replace the entire plate and screw to the wall. We did use those in DS room (you know, the one where he never actually sleeps.







)


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## Porcelain Interior (Feb 8, 2008)

I used constant supervision. The only thing we bought I think with our first in 95 was the outlet covers, but then they said they could choke so we threw those out.

I had two relatively placid easy going non climbing kids that only wanted to be where I was at.

I think supervision is the essential element in child safety for the young years.


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## allisonrose (Oct 22, 2004)

I got a latch for my fridge to save my electric bill more than anything else. My LO kept flinging the door open and occasionally pulling out a couple items before I got to him.

We have outlet covers and one cabinet with latches as well. If/when the use for more baby proofing stuff arising, we'll get it.


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## prothyraia (Feb 12, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Porcelain Interior* 
I think supervision is the essential element in child safety for the young years.

....says the person who....

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Porcelain Interior* 
....had two relatively placid easy going non climbing kids that only wanted to be where I was at.


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## SilmarwenCaran (Jun 18, 2011)

I agree that you should definitely use your child's cues. For instance, my 3yo twin Ewoks decided that it would be a wonderful idea to stick a brand new bar of soap in the toilet, flush it until it was lodged and making an impressive amount of bubbles all while the youngest was giving the eldest a swirly. *cough* Toilet lock, please!


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## butterflylover (Jun 3, 2011)

Meh, you'll find many people go overboard with regard to safety in the home. I kept all cleaning supplies and meds locked up and I kept door knob covers on the door because dc learned early to sneak out.  I did not lock the fridge, toilet, etc. I think teaching your child to stay out of certain things is the best way and close supervision is key.


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## Viola (Feb 1, 2002)

With my first daughter, we had a child proofing company come in and do a lot of things, and most of it was unnecessary, particularly the toilet lock which I disabled after I almost had an accident. My daughter never left my side, for the most part, she wouldn't explore on her own. I think the tethers for the furniture were helpful for more than just children, they helped in earth quakes, and we did have a tv on a stand that was easy to pull over, so that one came in handy at least once when we had an earthquake. The refrigerator lock was so useful to me, honestly, because both my kids would just go in the refrigerator and sit if you let them.

We were in a new house, and I didn't childproof much with my second child, and she was an independent explorer type who ruined a number of things when I wasn't watching closely enough.


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## Honey693 (May 5, 2008)

We used outlet covers with my first until we figured out she loved trying to pry them out of the outlet. The minute we took them off she left the outlets alone. We closed the bathroom door so she couldn't play in the toilet and by the time she figured out how to open them she was old enough to understand that the toilet is gross and to leave it alone. We have one baby gate at the top of the stairs, but that's the only thing in the house gated off. We had cabinet looks (hair ties) in the kitchen b/c I just couldn't deal with all my pots and pans being dragged out so she could cook. Medicine is in the top cabinet where she can't get and our stove knobs are on the top (thank goodness) so she can't reach those now either. DH is adamantly opposed to tethering anything and I don't care so nothing is. We have a huge flat screen tv and DD never touches it. She got yelled at once for pretending to and now she just leaves it alone unless she's turning it on. She's also never in the basement with the tv unless I'm with her though.


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## marinak1977 (Feb 24, 2009)

I haven't needed anything with DS, but it is largely because of his personality. He is cautious and careful and really easy to predict, and because he's my first he is supervised a lot (He's hardly ever out of sight and even then usually I'm listening to him the whole time). I'm sure that the game plan will be different when we have our second.


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## mamazee (Jan 5, 2003)

I follow the kid around and if it becomes a problem, I buy the safety gadget. Not all things become a problem for all kids. But do check to see if you have any large piece of furniture that can be climbed up and fall on someone, or that become unstable if the drawers are pulled out and could topple over. Once something big and heavy starts falling on a little person, it's too late.


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## crunchy_mommy (Mar 29, 2009)

I agree with a pp who said a lot of the 'childproofing' gadgets are more about convenience and sanity than actual safety.

Obviously there's nothing wrong with using items that make your life more convenient! Although I have found NOT childproofing to be a sanity-saver, because the only time I get 5 minutes 'to myself' is when DS is emptying out non-childproofed cabinets!!

I would call my DS a cautious explorer -- he is literally into everything, climbing everything, etc. but seems to have a pretty good innate sense of safety so he doesn't actually get hurt often... our childproofing may be different if our next kiddo is a risk-taker!!

I focus on the things that could cause serious injury or death. We do no have strangulation hazards around (i.e. blinds with pulls) and the few chemical products we own are locked up. We tried outlet covers but he was soooo into them that we ended up rewiring all our outlets to have internal shutters. That's probably more than most people would do but this kid has a fascination with tools and taking things apart and stuff so it seemed essential to me!! We keep glass in the upper kitchen cabinets, and sharp knives etc. are out of reach & eyesight, but none of the cabinets have locks and he is free to 'play' with whatever is in them, though he rarely does anymore. We have locks on the windows that are higher than 1st floor level, and we have a stairway gated off due to construction/tools in the gated area, but no other gates or door locks. We don't worry about choking hazards except certain things like marbles, because DS has a great gag reflex (too good! lol), though we were more cautious when he was under 1. We also make sure to keep any standing water in a closed room (so if we are soaking something in the bathroom sink or the tub or whatever, that room gets closed off). We don't have any furniture that is likely to tip over so we didn't worry about anchors. We make sure there are no entrapment hazards. We don't have any other childproofing items... no fridge/stove locks, cabinet locks, toilet locks, etc. and on the surface it looks like we've done nothing but the gate... but we also don't have dangerous knickknacks or furniture with sharp corners or anything so I guess our house is just child-friendly to begin with.

The worst was from about 9mos-18mos... he was so into everything and it drove me nuts at times but he escaped unharmed (and my cell phone somehow survived multiple trips into the toilet!!) and now at almost 2.5 he tends to be better about avoiding things we've asked him to avoid, as well as good as using items properly -- plugging things in, using knives/scissors/etc. carefully, things like that. He really doesn't play alone much though, and the few occasions that he does, I check in on him whenever I can't hear him, just because I'm not sure what he'd do if I wasn't watching since there are so few opportunities to find out... I do think he's learned a lot by having things accessible to him rather than all locked up, and I feel like it's made my life easier in the long run... but he is a quick learner and so cautious so the same thing might not work for another kid!


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## ellairiesmom (Mar 20, 2008)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bobandjess99*
> 
> For us, the toilet locks aren't out of safety so much as not wanting EVERYHTING we on to be throw in the fricken toilet. Which is what ds would do. He would also attempt to play in it at EVERY opportunity. Eeeewwww.


Yup-I didn't buy one, we just keep the door closed but DD2 will play in the toilet & throw anything she can in there if she gets access to it. A few times it was after DD1 peed & forgot to flush. So GROSSSSSSS.

It really does depend on the child. With DD1 I never had to use anything. Not one of the devices anyone got us at our shower were opened. Never had to cover outlets, never had to block anything etc. DD2 is wild & now we really have to think about safety.


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## hildare (Jul 6, 2009)

we didn't do too much proofing. used outlet covers though she has brought a handful of them proudly to us.

we put a latch on the pantry door. that stuff was apparently very tempting.

dh built a stair gate.

i was particularly proud of draping sheepskins on the rock fireplace with a high hearth, b/c it looked so cozy and much nicer than any of the fireplace products out there.. but we have taken them down.. took them down when we used the woodstove in winter, she understood it was "hot" and didn't attempt to get closer.. and she will now play far enough away from the rocks for my comfort.

dd is an explorer, but seems (knock on wood) willing enough to listen to us about the things she can't have and why. like i said, she really gets "hot" and leaves that stuff alone. i have occasionally told her something was 'hot' when it was merely dangerous.

and all i have to say about the toilet is.. i love kevin henkes, the children's book author, but in the book Owen, deciding to include the character dressed as "captain plunger" was a bad choice.

i think there's a large amount of stuff marketed to scared parents.


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## cappuccinosmom (Dec 28, 2003)

I think it depends on the kids.

The worst moments we had were *because* of a safety item.  It caused both me and the children to be too reliant on that, and not aware of keeping a reasonable and safe space from the danger.

We cover outlets. That's about it.We live in a small home, and my little ones don't roam alone, there's always someone with them, either me or a sibling.

Also not a one of them out of three so far has been a climber, escape artist, or curious about the stove. I don't know if we just got lucky, or if it's genetic, or if it's something we do. We haven't even had a toilet obsessive one. They leave cupboards and shelves alone. If they want to get up higher, they find a stool or chair to climb on, rather than drawers or shelving.

If we had a child who was more challenging in this regard, I'd do what needed to be done for safety. But thus far a lot of that stuff hasn't been necessary.


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## fyrwmn (Jan 5, 2009)

we actually have a decent amount of safety gadgets. with dd (our first) we just had outlet covers, the occasional locked cabinet, and a door knob cover on the basement door. then ds1 came along...he's a climber and managed to pull his (thankfully fairly light) bureau ove ron himself because he pulled out the drawers and then climbed them. so, heavy furniture in his room is now attached to the wall. we still have outlet covers, dangerous cupboards have locks, medicine cabinets have locks (dd liked to sample things after she had been put to bed and we were unaware she had escaped her room). the pantry has a hook and eye latch because ds1 likes to "shop" and has pinched his fingers in the hinges multiple times. we have a gate around the pellet stove...the kids understand 'hot' and don't mess with it, but the glass gets VERY hot and i'm afraid of one of them tripping and bumping it or something. the top of the stairs has a gate becaus ewe have an ancient house with steep stairs. and ds1 has a door knob cover on the inside of his bedroom door. i would love to find a different solution to that! he climbs the gate though, and also needs his door shut at night to sleep, so gating his bedroom isn't an option. and since he climbs gates, the one at the top of the stairs isn't much of a deterent. safety-wise, i can't chance him getting out of his room and falling down the stairs in the middle of the night when we're sleeping. oh, and the livingroom is gated in either doorway to contain the 2 older kids while i'm nursing the baby. why oh why do they try to escape and/or get into things as soon as you settle in to nurse?! and th eglass door on the entertainment center has a lock because i didn't want the kids to break it and get hurt, as well as it drove me nuts that they were constantly trying to mess with the vcr/dvd player and such.

while it may seem like we go overboard to some, we mainly follow the kid's needs.


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## brennan (Feb 1, 2009)

We have absolutely no child proofing paraphanlia in our home and never have. We have never needed it. But that's dd's personality, I know that I can trust her to not get into anything. I was just moving some windex today (dh is obsessed with windex, its our only nasty cleaner) and I ended up putting it under the sink in the bathroom, in the cabinet that is kept closed with dd's stool in front of it (so she would have to move the stool to get into the cabinet, which is something very noisy to do) and I was just thinking (as I'm pg with our 2nd) "I wonder if this will be an okay place to store this with the next one"...


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## AnnaBees Mama (Jul 9, 2011)

We are babyproofing as needs present themselves. So far we have electrical outlet covers and cords tucked away. Doors accessing rooms that have unsafe objects stay closed until we attend to them. We need a lock for our chemicals cabinet under the sink. When DD gets to the climbing phase, we will anchor a tall heavy bookcase to the wall because it is a tipping risk. The rest, we don't need quite yet or ever. I'd like to keep as much of the house accessible to DD as possible so we're slowly working on making it "baby-friendly" rather than "baby-proof". I'm not a fan of kiddy gates or locking every cabinet just to prevent a mess. I want to her to be able to explore. As long as she can't burn/electrocute/stab/poison/suffocate/crush herself, we're golden. Supervision and totally removing potentially hazardous objects/set-ups goes a long way.


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## Devaskyla (Oct 5, 2003)

I've never used outlet covers. As soon as my kids show an interest, I teach them to safely plug & unplug things and then keep an eye on them for a few days. They quickly get bored and that's the end of that. None of them have ever tried to stick anything in them. Having a friend who stuck a knife in an outlet when her dad was doing construction (she was about 5 or 6 at the time) who had no issues, maybe I'm just less freaked about them then most? Other than her, I've never known (or known of) anyone who did anything with an outlet they shouldn't have.

Most of my baby proofing involves keeping out stuff safe from them. We have a gate around dh's entire computer area because he has lots of books, videos & cables and gaming stuff. I *think* ds3 is almost old enough to not cause trouble in there, but dh would rather be safe. Once the new baby gets mobile, we'll probably have to move the gate back so it also block both sets of stairs until he/she is old enough that I can teach zie how to safely get up & down them.

We had a fridge lock with ds2 because he would not stay out of it, but he figured it out really quickly, then broke it. Ds3 likes opening the fridge, but only if someone else is with him in the kitchen.

We did put in a few cabinet locks; under the sink and on our main food cupboard that's at floor level & on the bathroom counter upstairs. With 2 older brothers just ripping them open instead of doing it properly, ds3 had those figured out by the time he was 2. It was pretty funny watching him LOCK them again after he'd broken into the cupboard, though. In his mind, they needed to be locked, even though it didn't even remotely keep him out anymore.

Other than that, we keep the bathroom & basement doors closed. Ds3 is big enough to open one of the bathroom ones now, but he never goes in there unless someone else (usually me) is in there and we generally leave it open now since he hasn't caused any trouble in months. There's no way you can have a toilet lock when you have older kids, especially when they're still potty learning.

I did have light switch extenders with ds1 & ds2 so they could be a bit more independent and turn lights on if they needed (especially the bathroom one) but I can't seem to find them anywhere anymore. The safety stuff has completely taken over.


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## wake_up (Aug 1, 2007)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Devaskyla*
> 
> I did have light switch extenders with ds1 & ds2 so they could be a bit more independent and turn lights on if they needed (especially the bathroom one) but I can't seem to find them anywhere anymore. The safety stuff has completely taken over.


We just got some - they're still around! These are moon shaped and glow in the dark 

http://www.amazon.com/Kidswitch-Light-Switch-Extender-Pack/dp/B001GHZ2L8/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2BKGTUUD286ZQ&colid=3I6LQA530IKKU

and I think they could be easily described as a safety item. There's no need to stack piles of books or stand on toy dump trucks or whatnot to turn on the light.


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