to let my almost 1 year old play out of sight in another room?

[RitaMorgan]

Small flat, kitchen door closed, toilet lid down etc - I allow ds pretty much the run of the flat even if I am doing something in another room. I can hear him from wherever he is, and if he goes quiet I go and check on him.

AIBU? My mum thinks I am, my DP thinks it's fine.

I'm in the living room at the moment and can hear him in the hallway banging on the front door...

[Albrecht]

Its actually easier to babyproof as you unpack in a new place as you take stuff out of the boxes and put it out of reach to begin with rather than having to move everything around as you realise its dangerous. And we have one room (the study, ha!) were we put all the bad big stuff and lock it til we cba to sort it out.

Empty house to begin with also ensures you know there aren't any pennies or screws lying around.

[RitaMorgan]

We are moving next month from our nice little flat to a big house with stairs - not sure it is a good idea now! Haven't really had to babyproof anything here but I guess I'll be buying some stairgates...

[marriedinwhite]

As long as everything's safe why every not. YANBU. From the mother who didn't realise how mobile her 7 month baby was and found him at the top of the stairs - he survived my incometence - 16 and a half and almost 6 foot now!! FWIW, we have a huge house (not meant as stealth bragging) and I used to run myself ragged when they were tiny and fantasise about having a two bedroom flat where I could see and hear everything and be in total control. We had to have custom made stair gates in the end because the ones you buy in the shops just didn't fit! I used to love going on holiday to cottages in Cornwall which took five minutes to tidy and where you could almost see and hear all.

[Woodlands]

This is all very reassuring. If I am taking the rubbish or recycling out I always make sure my keys are in my pocket just in case the door slams behind me, though I'm stilll paranoid! I have to go downstairs at the back to hang washing out and it's a real pain to take DS with me (I have to take the washing down, come back up, take DS down etc) so I try to do that while he's napping or when DH is around, but if I do need to do it I put DS in his cot with some toys for a few minutes. I wouldn't be able to hear what he was up to in the house from outside, and even if I did suddenly hear a scream or a crash, it would be too long till I could get back upstairs. I've also taken to putting him in his cot when I have a shower, for similar reasons - if I bring him in the bathroom with me it's a bit boring for him.

[DoMeDon]

YANBU. They need some freedom to explore and be independant - you're not sending him down the shop for 20 B&H!

[spiderpig8]

I would worry about him finding a penny or a screw or something and choking on it.

[Albrecht]

YANBU. I have started doing this with 1 year old ds in a largish house (sorry not boasting, I just mean possibly more slack parenting than you as there are more places to get lost!) Keep dangerous stuff out of his height range and its fine I reckon.

It is quite fun to sneak up on them and jump out shouting "HELLO THERE!" while they have toddled off and are intently investigating some piece of fluff behind the door...

[ajaybaines]

It's fine. I let me 13 month old and 3 year old play together in another room while I can hear them.

Occasionally I do hear a bump, a wail and "I didn't push her!" but generally it's fine.

[RitaMorgan]

Luckily plug sockets are all out of reach so not an issue here!

[HeyYouJimmy]

I see that Veronica has found a similar link to what I was looking for .

[Sirzy]

It is impossible to watch them all the time. As long as you know they are as safe as they can be at that age then its fine!

[MamaChocoholic]

I remember a neighbour popped downstairs to take the rubbish out (she was on the 3rd floor of a converted house), and the wind slammed the downstairs door behind her. she had no keys and hadn't shut the door to the flat. she was frantic about her crawling baby going headfirst down three flights of stairs till the fire brigade arrived to break in. I too hate being outside when babies are in just in case! but I regularly let them play out of sight/within hearing. but I do keep all doors shut to avoid trapped fingers so wouldn't be comfortable with them being in hall when I was in another room.

[HeyYouJimmy]

Aparently socket covers are not as good as reported gillybean. Experts reckon that socket covers are just a ploy to frighten parents into buying them so their precious LO's don't electrocute themselves.

Modern sockets are manufactured with the top pin hole needing something stiff and inflexible to release the safety guard, hence the reason that the top pins on plugs and socket covers are longer than the 2 lower pins. Because little fingers are flexible and soft they can't release the pin guards as well, so no need for socket covers as the lower 2 safety guards won't be adequately released to allow little fingers into them.

Experts have found that toddlers can take a socket cover out, turn the socket cover upside down, use the longer pin (pushed into the top hole) to release the lower 2 safety guards and put their wee fingers into the lower 2 holes. The lower 2 pin holes are the dangerous ones IIRC.

I also learnt this from my DB who's a qualified and experienced spark. BTW, in the report I read, the experts reckoned that socket covers should be thrown away and other stiff things, which could be small enough to put in the holes in the socket (screwdrivers/Mecchano/small hard plastic things etc), should be kept away from kids for that reason.

[newmum001]

YANBU I do the same with my nearly 1 year old, if I'm washing up etc. The alternative is to have her trying to climb up my legs or get in the freezer or climb into the washing machine etc, so much easier to let her play in the living room while I get on with other things.

[newmum001]

YANBU I do the same with my nearly 1 year old, if I'm washing up etc. The alternative is to have her trying to climb up my legs or get in the freezer or climb into the washing machine etc, so much easier to let her play in the living room while I get on with other things.

[VeronicaCake]

DH (an electronic engineer) is very anti-socket covers. British sockets are very safe and in some cases socket covers make them very dangerous see here.

And yadnbu, so long as you have sensibly baby-proofed this is fine.

[pozzled]

YANBU. I did the same with DD1 when she was that age, having made sure all the areas she could get to were very safe.

[RitaMorgan]

I would be too nervous to leave ds inside to go outside - a friend of mine who went out for a smoke while her baby slept managed to lock herself out

[DontCallMePeanut]

My DS was very noisy as he drew "fireworks" over the wall, aged 2, with my mascara...

And oh my, you mean it's ok to do that, Cogito? I got 's off my mother when she found out I'd take the wheelie bin out while DS was asleep... (Our house is secluded) her reaction?... "what if someone gets into the house while you take it out... (People would have to walk past me to get to the house, but still...)

GP's worry, OP.As long as your house is safe, you're fine!

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

Btw... don't tell your mother but it's also OK to... ... pop outside and put some washing on the line whilst they are still inside....!!!!!

[alowVera]

In that case YANBU.
You and DP agree, DS is your DS not your mums'. Your mum is BU.

[gillybean2]

Do you have socket covers on all sockets? That would be my biggest concern. He won't necessarily go quiet as he's putting things into the socket.
Also my DN was singing happily to himself as he drew all over his grandma's walls, duvet and brand new lampshade with felt tip pen in the other room. Just in case you're thinking michief only happens when it goes quiet!

[Esta3GG]

I think it is fine as long as you have taken all the sensible precautions - put the chain saw away etc.
They love to explore their world. My son could spend hours just banging the letterbox flap.

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

YANBU... only someone suffering from paranoia would say you were doing anything wrong. If you've taken reasonable precautions that they can't hurt themselves, they're really not going to come to any harm.