To wonder if people were telling me the truth when they said, 'Oh, we haven't baby-proofed, we've just trained them'

[MainlyMaynie]

Several people have said this to me. They claim they haven't bothered baby-proofing and have just left their houses the same way. Apparently they have just taught their children not to touch. Their houses look the same, full of giant glass vases etc. But can this possibly true? I am spending all day moving DS away from objects, saying 'not for DS' and giving him a toy. All I have taught him is that there is a very funny game of going for a forbidden object, giggling and waiting for Mummy to catch up. If he thinks I'm not catching him, he actually pauses, turns round to look at me while laughing and then races off again when he thinks I'm chasing fast enough. I am tempted to turn my house into an undecorated category a prison cell.

It's not just the temptation of the flames bumper, but that toddlers can and do trip and fall into open fires, with horrific consequences. (Same with cleaning chemicals, you don't want the first time your toddler plays with a bottle to be the same time they manage to open it.) Makes me very anxious seeing small children in rooms with open fires and no fireguard, having seen the consequences
For most of the rest of the stuff it is dependent on the dc in question, and your house.

I didn't 'train' my baby, neither did I baby proof.

She is just three, no rose tinted glasses and I don't own a vase.

YAB a bit U.

I never baby proofed for DD. When she was crawling I did move certain objects like the fake coal after she ate it but that was it.

She's always just been told to stay away from certain things. She knows not to go near my mums parrot and has never tried, not even once. Never had a problem with the tarantulas either - she just looks. I've always just told her they will bite her so leave them alone.

I have a feeling the boy may require more "baby proofing" though as he thinks everything is food. Lily was never as into everything as he is.