Baby-proofing: Anyone up for giving me a refresher course?

Question

I need a refresher course on baby-proofing. I know the day is near, that I am going to set my baby down, glance away for a second, then look over and he will be gone.

Any recommended products, such as gates and cabinet locks? I am looking for a baby gate for my stairs that will be easy for my six-year old to maneuver.

My apartment is very small and very full of stuff. We are packrats. I would hate to have to relocate our stereo and music collection, but if I have to, I will.

Whatever you want to tell me about baby-proofing would be much appreciated. Also, did anyone forego baby-proofing, and opt for keeping a very close watch on their baby instead? Because of the size of my place, there doesn't seem to be many places he could go without being in my sight, so I'm wondering if the gates etc. are even necessary.

Answer 1

We only lock away the potentially dangerous things. As long as they have plenty of space to get around, they should start learning that some things are no-nos. And.. put the trashcan under the kitchen sink.. seriously! LOL

Answer 2

Well when I had my son I lived with my parents and my mother is very house proud. She wouldn't let us have a safety gate because she didn't want it to ruin her paintwork! It was hard work to keep my eye on him all of the time. Now we have our own place and another baby so i think this time I'm going to go the whole hog. Plug sockets are great because they're so cheap. Also cabinet locks are a must especially for cupboards with cleaning stuff in them. I'd not bother with other cabinet locks such as your pots and pans because they locks become a pain in the a$$ so I'd limit to ones that just have toxic materials in them. As for your stereo, isn't that what them little k***s are for, little babies fingers turning? I'd move your music CDs though incase they get scratched. Have fun.

Answer 3

if you have stairs or a room with no door that baby could get into, then yes a gate is necessary. they have ones that s***w right into the door frame and a latch on it which alowed the gate to swing like a door for easy access for adults or your 6 year old.

Baby proofing your house.. get down on your hands and knees and crawl around your place, if there is a open sockets that baby can put soemthing in, plug it with baby safety plugs, cords from lamps or anything that baby can tug on, tuck away. any small ornimants that baby can grab put in mouth or break, put up higher. My stereo equipment and dvds and games are all on an open shelf and i had to put my coffee table infront so she couldnt pull everything off, now she is 17 months and climbs up on the table to get at everything so a closer eye is needed....baby proofing is pretty easy, and the more mobile you baby gets, you will notice more of the things you need to do. at about 11 months, we had to put saftey locks on all kitchen cupboards and drawers. we keep all doors down the hallway to bedrooms and bathroom closed.

Answer 4

Here is a link for a excellent easy to use gate.  

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.d...

As far a baby proofing......  use a electrical plugins on all exposed outlets.

Be sure to secure any cabinets with hazaroudus cleaners...... knives, forks, and glass.  Here is a link for a kit that has quite a few different handy things in it.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.d...

Now.... if your baby is like mine........ he's gonna be a climber.  you will want to secure any shelves that could be pulled over on themselves.  I can't find a link for these...... but my husband found something that worked from our hardware store.   We attached them to the back of our book shelves..... and them screwed that to the wall.  

Keepy anything that is sharp, breakable, or else a choking hazard at least 3 - 4 feet up from the ground.  

Make sure you leave you bathroom doors closed.  Toilets...... and even  ttubs that can easily be turned on can be dangerous to a infant/ toddler.  

Keep all houseplants out of babies reach....... most houseplants are very toxic...... I have all my house plants WAY up high now.  If it is not possible to put large house plants up high..... then either find a temporary home for them with a friend or family...... or else put them in a place were baby is never out of your sight.

Keep all electrical cords and from computers, tvs, lamps, and such.... out of reach and tucked behind furniture where baby cannot get them.  We got some cord organizers that worked very well.

Keep furniture away from window if possible...... and if not.... get window safety kits.  (Unfortunately I had a great aunt that lost her daughter to a window accident.  The child had pulled themself up onto  the top of the couch.... which was against a window.... and fell.  It was very tragic..... so please.... do not forget window safety.  Many people overlook this.)

Best of luck with your baby proofing.  I think I have got everything.... only to find my son in something new...... lol.

Answer 5

We've only partially baby-proofed, I mostly just keep a close eye on him.  We have a gate to install at the top of the stairs (we haven't seemed to find the time yet, so we only put him down in his room upstairs), none at the bottom (he'll occasionally try to climb up, if there's something enticing (ie shoes!) on the stairs, but I'm always watching him, so it's not a problem).  We do have the plastic things in all the electrical sockets.  I've put some cabinet locks on cabinets with glass cookware.  We do use a gate to keep part of the house "off-limits", because we have a dog and otherwise my son immediately goes right for the dog's food and water. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't even bother with that gate. I keep all cleaning products in the garage, so that's not an issue.  I mostly just looked around to see what might be interesting to him, and put those things out of reach or in the garage.

Also, a lot of it depends on your baby's personality.  Mine is all over the place, exploring everything.  My neighbor has 2 kids (4 year old and 6 month old) and she didn't have to baby-proof at all with the first, but it's looking like she will have to with the 2nd.

Answer 6

Our house is TINY and PACKED! We didn't do much in the way of baby-proofing simply because there was no place else to stash everything! We can't even put up baby gates - our house is entirely open (kitchen, living room, family room) - we just closed the doors to the bedrooms and bathroom. We put electrical covers in all of the outlets. Other than that we just said no - ALOT!!! And guess what - nothing has ever gotten broken and he's never gotten hurt. Sure the TV channel gets changed without permission, and sometimes we turn the stereo on only to find out he's turned it up to FULL BLAST. But if that's the least of my worries, I think we're doing OK. And he's 22mo now, and he knows what he's aloud to mess with and what he's not. That's a HUGE plus when we go to someone's house who does not have small children and has not baby-proofed!