When should we get baby proofing the house?

[1990shopefulftm]

Sorry ftm so probably a silly question, I read online that 6 months old is a good time is that right?
I m thinking locks on all the bottom kitchen cupboards, drawers and dishwasher and then baby gates top and bottom of stairs and maybe a guard for the fire place (it doesn't turn on but maybe a safety hazard), am I missing something obvious?

[Greendoonan]

I never baby proofed my house 🤷‍♀️

I just supervised my child and firmly said NO when he touched things he shouldn’t.

I did install a baby gate though, at about 18mo. Before that I just kept the doors closed.

[DisgruntledPelican]

Whenever they’re crawling is a good time. We didn’t bother with cupboard locks/catches - baby is just not allowed in the kitchen unless in high chair or under 100% supervision. Might revisit this if it becomes an issue in toddlerhood.

[MeadowHay]

We just did things we needed to as we went along. First thing we did was stick those pads on to corners of tables and things as DD kept sitting close to them/pulling up to standing and almost banging her head on them. She was probably about 8 months or so when we did that.

She didn't crawl so we didn't put baby gates up until after she eventually started bum shuffling when she was 11 months. We just put one on the kitchen and one on the bottom of the stairs initially.

We put magnet locks on some of the kitchen cupboards and a child safe lock thing on my medicine draw in my bedroom as well when she got big enough to be able to open cupboards...about 12m old?

Eventually we put another baby gate on her bedroom when she was about 18m after she finally moved in there just on the off chance she ever learned to climb out of the cotbed.

That is pretty much the sum total of our babyproofing.

[Mountainpose]

Whenever they don’t stay in the same place you put them down!

[1990shopefulftm]

@Greendoonan we have a cat who isn't allowed most of upstairs but eats in the kitchen so I tend to keep that door open so she doesn't scratch at it.

@DisgruntledPelican we re really not sure when he ll start crawling, he's a bit behind on lifting his head on his tummy so have a feeling he might try and shuffle on his bum instead
@Meadowhay I hadn't thought about the corners of the breakfast bar, thank you for remind me, in fact I m that clumsy maybe it ll stop me injuring myself as well as baby. I m not sure about a gate on his room as he's that massive if he's carries on he ll be in a toddler bed quite young.

[Mc3209]

I am planning to put a baby gate at the top of the stairs and fix all large furniture to the wall (bookshelves, drawers etc. Basically anything he can pull up on/try to climb).

Will do that once he is able to maneuver from one place to another, be it crawling/shuffling, and the rest will play it by ear.

[Bringallthebiscuits]

Something I hadn’t thought about till it happened was the danger of them using a plugged in cable to pull things down on themselves - for example an Alexa we had plugged in. Also make sure they can’t reach any surfaces through climbing on furniture and leaning over (we have a very determined climber!)

[Poppins2016]

@Greendoonan

I never baby proofed my house 🤷‍♀️

I just supervised my child and firmly said NO when he touched things he shouldn’t.

I did install a baby gate though, at about 18mo. Before that I just kept the doors closed.

Ditto. It's something I still "haven't finished", despite my child being 2.5... I have a fire guard for the wood stove and that's it! I also have an unopened pack of kitchen cupboard/drawer locks that don't fit (standard ones don't work for our units, part of the reason they remain as they are)...

I do however have a door that closes off the stairs and DS is never in the kitchen/bathroom unsupervised.
All medicines/cleaning products are stored out of reach, just in case.

I'd probably aim to have baby proofed by the time baby is moving/crawling... but bear in mind you don't need to go overboard and can do it as the need arises. You can just supervise in the meantime (and to be honest you may find that supervision and a firm 'no' becomes enough in any case).

[Caspianberg]

Maybe I’m just shit then at teaching no. But baby started crawling fast at 5 months here, how does a 5 month old understand no?
He’s now 9.5 months and walking. He just in the last week or so beginning to understand stop/ wait/ no a little bit

Maybe if you have a baby that doesn’t move super early before their brain catches up you can teach no. But if not, buy a stair gate.

Also depends on house layout surely. Ours is open plan with stairs in living area, so can’t just close a door or not let him near stairs

We have just wall mounted tv and fastened all drawers or cabinets to walls as I worry he will pull ontop of himself in the second I look away

[Crockof]

It also depends on your child, I didn't need to babyproof for dc1 but dc2 was a whirlwind pain in the arse and I had to lock/protect everything

[Kwality]

Depends on your child. Ignore smug people who think it’s all down to their parenting skills. (Most parents already know this, Some don’t learn unless they have kids with different traits).
You will obviously be supervising by your child. If they show a tendency towards insatiable curiosity, get child locks. If they climb, put guards around stuff. If they like to pick everything up, remove all valuables below 4ft. If they bolt, get high locks on your doors and gates. If they do all of the above, you’re stuffed.

[AubergineDream]

I didn't safety proof my house, just baby's bedroom and the lounge. I have lots of stair gates, but you can buy them easily

[wishywashywoowoo70]

Aside from stair gates I never baby proofed either

[1990shopefulftm]

@Kwality I have a mild co ordination disorder which DS might have inherited so all the shouting no and parenting skills wouldn't stop the clumsiness anyway, fingers crossed it's not all of the above.

[dottiedaisee]

Baby proof whatever makes your life less stressful. It literally only takes a second to be distracted and an accident happens. Am not sure how a baby/ toddler can be supervised 100% at all times !

[Laserbird16]

I would look at baby-proofing as a war not just a single big push and you're done. You will be 'baby - proofing' until they hit...oh I don't know 18, when they become liable for terrible decisions.

Risk assess what can result in catastrophic injuries and what is just a bump. I do have stair gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. I rearranged my cupboards so noxious chemicals are up high and there are safe exploratory drawers, Tupperware and things that can't be broken like the colander, down low. i feel it helps me distract with things that are ok. I didn't bother with corner protectors etc as it's just a bruise if they walk into the kitchen bench and those things won't stay on.
Then watch as they immediately pitch themselves off the couch after all your careful planning!

[natalienewname]

We didn't deliberately set out to baby proof, we just did things as needed.

So we put catches on the cupboard that had chemical products in it, but we taught them not to go into the rest. We had 1 stair gate but didn't use one in our new house when our youngest was 18m, she shuffled up and down alone quite happily.

Never bothered with table pads etc, figured they'd whack their heads once and not do it again. As it turned out we've probably only had one table incident in 3 kids.

[minniemango]

I had a baby gate on the door of the kitchen so didn't need to babyproof the whole room. Gate at the bottom of the stairs and later when they went into a bed instead of a cot I had gate on their doors.

Other than that I just made sure the living room and hallway was pretty safe, no chokeable/breakable objects at child height, so you can relax a bit.

My eldest would listen to a no and do as she was told, 2nd was ok, 3rd was an absolute nightmare and 4th just never gave a monkeys what I told her to do

[ValpolicellaPrimitivo]

We put a stair gate on the kitchen as I didn't want to put anything all over my new kitchen cabinets. Stair gates at the bottom and top of stairs. Screwed furniture to the wall and the tv was strapped to the tv unit. We also put hooks to keep certain doors open so they couldn't be played with.

Eventually the other thing we had to do was always make sure the front door was dead locked and we put a key hook up high next to the door as DS had a habit of opening it.

[Dyra]

We had a stair gate installed at the top of the stairs by the previous owners. We're unable to install one at the bottom of the stairs, otherwise we'd have done that as well. Other than that we didn't do anything to baby proof until DD figured out how to open cupboards. Saying a loud NO wasn't deterring her like it did for everything else (e.g. plug sockets, touching the TV), so we installed magnetic locks.

I imagine we'll have to put a stair gate up on her room once she's tall enough (and able to) open her bedroom door.

[AuntyJack]

Unplug anything connected to any moveable appliance - a child pulling an iron off a board onto their head could mean instant death. If something needs to stay plugged in make sure the cord is inaccessible behind a cabinet or something.