AIBU to think some degree of childproofing is absolutely necessary?

[giggitygiggity]

DH is driving me crazy, every time I suggest that we need to fit stairgates, fireguards, secure the loose dangly electrical wires, remove the door with broken glass pane exactly at toddling height etc etc I am met with a massive whinge about how he "doesnt want the whole house to look like a giant playpen".

Before DD I would just have got on and done these things myself, but there is just no way I have the time now (or necessary DIY ability )

So AIBU to think that these are just the things that go with having a child - the house looks like (horror) a child actually lives there? It's like he sees making the house basically safe as some kind of failure which means that DD will grow up wrapped in cotton wool and never be able to cope with anything at all.

I agree that it depends on the child. neighbours haven't childproofed at all except to move their bookcase into a different room where baby can't go. but their DD (18 months) is a delight, who is happy sitting and watching what is going on, and goes for a little toddle every now and then, and is consequently of little danger to herself.

My DS on the other hand... He seems to actively seek out danger. He has so far managed to climb into the washing machine, get onto the toilet and pull the bottle of bleach down on himself (obviously it wasn't openable by him), stick 3 fingers into a socket at once, pulled a sack of spuds over, crawled into a door frame with a resulting massive bruise, pulled a cup of hot chocolate over himself (it was in the very middle of the table but he still somehow reached it - ended up with police and ambulance in attendance, although he is unharmed by it), got his arm stuck in the vacuum cleaner tube - well, you get the idea. We've put up stair gates at top of stairs and between kitchen and lounge where there is no door, just an arch. I have put socket covers in all baby level sockets. He has only not fallen down the stairs yet because I keep an eagle eye on him whenever he gets near the hallway.

He's only 9 months - [whimper]

Sorry, should have said YABU

You definitely need some childproofing, regardless of child and circumstances.

I've just realised today I'm going to have to move all the medicines, because DD3 has just started climbing onto a chair (which she's moved for the prupose), then up onto the counter, and reaching up onto the supposedly too-high shelf that they're on . They are all in boxes, but the lids don't lock
Will get that sorted pronto (it was never an issue with DD1 and DD2!)

yes dh is being U not to want any kind of child proofing whatsoever especially if there are major hazards in the house like the broken glass/wires
its okay for him to say "dont want it to look like a playpen" but if you are the one at home with your dc it makes your life a lot easier to have some degree of child proofing to allow you to do something else than following them around every minute of the day saying no no..
no need to go ott and buy every safety item on the market but taking a sensible middle ground.
we've just got the cooker cover thing, lock on one cupboard and my own home made kinda lock on another two (i just tie them up..), no stairs so no need for stairgate, covers on some of the plugs not all. those few things just make life easier. i dont understand why your dh would want to make your job more difficult just to preserve the "child free" appearance of the house, and a few safety features like that will not make your child wrapped in cotton wool, it does not mean you can't let them explore safe things, take them to the park encourage them to climb etc

If it could seriously kill or maim them then I do something about it so we:

moved all chemicals/cleaning stuff up high

turn knives upside down in dishwasher

put bolt on door out of reach once 2 year old sussed door

cut the cord on all blinds

turned water down from the temp that was scalding us

but never bothered with stair gates (just taught them how to go up or down safetly)

but your DH (and you in fairness) ia a lazy arse to leave broken glass/wires around.

As soon as the child is mobile, you surely need to consider some of it.

Wires and glass: need sorting.

Stairgates - we did and I think it was the right choice for us. I can't really see how we'd have coped without it, tbh. It also ensures everyone is dressed/brushed before The Gate is Lifted and we go downstairs, which I like. Sounds a bit mad now, but there you go.

We didn't bother with too much other protection, but I do move things I think are too dangerous (knives, for instance: at the very back of the kitchen drawer). The children both bumped their heads on the dining room table a few times and now know to avoid the corner.

A few hook and eye latches on doors worked for us, too - sometimes, I just don't WANT my children to have free access to the bathroom/our bedroom, for more than just safety reasons.

I moved most plants up a bit, too. The soil - oh, the soil. They do love the soil.

I agree that it depends on the child and the layout of your home. For example, we have stairgates top and bottom of our stairs as I have nearly toppled down our stairs (small landing etc). I also have cupboard locks on the kitchen cupboards, as a lot of them are on the other side of an island unit from where I usually stand to prepare a meal. My DSS are 5 and 16m - so lots of stuff still around him when DS1 was little.

I also use a playpen as DS is an adventurer. He goes in it for very short periods of time (when I nip to the loo, or do using cleaning fluids. The latter happens fairly intermittently so he doesn't spend long in it!) The playpen won't be up forever, much like the buggy won't be in the porch once he's older - there will be other different stuff to clutter/adorn the house!

I think that it is about weighing up what your child is like, the physical environment and what you feel the limits are. I didn't even know you could get loo seat locks, but I posted recently (in a panic) after he had his hands in the toilet and tasted the wee and water!! Lovely.

Broken glass and loose wires are a hazard not just child proofing, they need fixed asap.

We didn't really do much in childproofing.

We live in a flat so had no need for a stair gate and taught the DCs not to touch fire or sockets very early on (crawling stage) with a very loud and scary NO if they even so much looked at them! We have never had a problem with them touching as a result.

They were always supervised in the bathroom or kitchen and every where else is safe for them to play in. Oh we got a round ended coffee table when they were cruising, I was terrified of corner table splitting heads open!

I can't think of anything else we did but they appear normal!

In the UK, socket covers are pointless at best and can make sockets more dangerous. www.fatallyflawed.org.uk/

We have stairgates (three-floor house so stairs going up and down) due to two boisterous labradors who tend to try and squeeze past DD when she's crawling around near the stairs. Other than that, two socket covers in the lounge and that's it.

Stairgate at the top of top floor is sooo handy as it means that she can have the run of the hallway, bathroom and her bedroom when I'm in the shower without a risk of her falling down the stairs. That way I can stay in there and turn prunelike for as long as I want! Or until the hot water runs out...

"taught the DCs not to touch fire or sockets very early on (crawling stage) with a very loud and scary NO if they even so much looked at them"

god I wish that worked on DS... He thinks it's hilarious, and just giggles whenever we say no. We're trying distraction now anytime he gets into dangerous territory, but he has a worryingly good memory for what he was about to do, and returns to it ASAP.

Just read other posts we tied blind cords up too and doors are quite heavy (could probably do with a few mm taken off the bottom!) but they don't slam and they are only closed at night time, kept open during the day.We didn't use those sponge things.

I have part of the garden fenced off with some of that stuff that orange plastic netting that utility companies use for the same when they are working. I had a sprained ankle shortly after DS2 had learnt to walk and couldn't sprint to keep up with him at the end of the garden with all the hard landscaping. Now he just gets under it army commando style. Ah well it was good while it lasted!

"It depends whether you want to have a miserable couple of years shouting "no" (and being ignored)"

schmee that was my reasoning, too. Childproofing give toddlers (and their parents) a bit of freedom, imo.

Clearly you can't toddler proof everything (nor would you want to), and much depends on the layout of your home.

As an aside, I wouldn't tailor things too much to what a child is like. All of them are prone to doing mad, unpredictable things. From personal experience, I remember the time DS cut the cat's hair with a pair of Early Learning centre scissors, or the time I poured all the cleaning stuff into the loo, creating a potentially lethal gas cloud (I was about 4 btw).

We've not done much baby proofing but my DS sounds like kveta's

he can climb stairs, loves slamming doors, climbs up the cooker and pulls the grill open, tries to pull curtains down etc etc.

I'm going to do more proofing as he moves so fast and is just such a trouble maker! But I can't proof everything - just aiming to do the obvious.

hi igglybuff! they really are like (evil) twins, aren't they?!

DS can open the oven too - his very favourite is to make a dash for it when it's on, and try to open the door. I'm tempted just to tether him to a spot and leave the house un-proofed...

Stairgates and gates on kitchen doorway are as much for your benefit as the child's. They mean you don't have to keep your eye on them every second of the day and don't have to worry about them falling downstairs while you nip to the loo or whether the kettle lead is dangling over the side of the worktop.

You can get Lindam stairgates from Tesco Direct and it is a matter of a couple of minutes to mount them in the space you want blocked - they are pressure mounted. No DIY involved.

Life's much more relaxed when you don't have to hover over them shouting no! all the time.

And so what if they make a giant playpen out of your downstairs area? they can be removed in the blink of an eye.

did someone mention toilet bowl locks?

DS is a menace for throwing things down the toilet!

Interesting reading about everyone's children and their different danger thresholds. We do have stairgates because our stairs are steep, uncarpeted and generally intimidating (I like knowing there's something to stop me falling down the stairs, tbh ) but everything else is as it was before DS arrived - he is a pretty laidback toddler, and our house is tiny anyway so not hard to keep an eye on him.

Am now frantically crossing my fingers that he doesn't sustain some horrible injury due to parental laxness We do watch him, which is the most important thing.

msboogie - tried two and they were rubbish.

We put a hook and eye latch on the outside of the bathroom door and kept him out unless supervised.

i agree with nymphadora - it does depend on the child. My DS is 10 months old and naturally very curious!

we have stairgates (after i found him halfway up the stairs 2 weeks after he learnt to crawl), locks on the kitchen cupboards (after he discovered the joys of pulling everything out and trying to eat cat biscuits)and plug covers (he has a tendency to poke his fingers in the tiniest of holes)

I've not bothered with corner covers as he's agood cruiser and seems to have figured out to avoid these.

I just have to remember to shut the washing machine door now after he tried to get in it yesterday and got stuck head first

cyteen: yes, I agree. Supervision is the key.