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 babyproofed - fire guard and one stair gate at the top of the stairs. Nothing else at all really.

Waste of time. Total. DC could open the stairgate within a week and more often tripped over the bottom bar trying to step over it making it a terrible hazard, so I took it down. The fire guard took up half of the front room and looked ridiculous, DC1 was crawling in the summer so I took it down. A few licks of the coals a few times a day, a couple of times using them as balls, and all interest was lost. By the time real fires were roaring - daily - DC1 was nearly a year and had learnt not to go near. Never shown any interest in knives or medicines.

So for me I don't think I'd bother again.

my post makes me sound like a terrible mother for not keeping an eye on DS but the problem is he is very very quick!

Oh and plug covers are much more dangerous then not having plug covers. They scare me silly.

good idea kveta!

DS has also developed a fascination for fans - I'm worried he'll stick his finger in whilst it's on.

I've tried the "no" but DS just looks at me like I'm mad

I think the point with fireguards isn't to stop DCs from putting their hands in the fire, but to stop them falling into it if they fall or setting themselves on fire by wafting something into it (I don't know, a toy snake? Floaty scarf?). I wouldn't not have one, tbh.

imo - if that was my dh i would know that he he couldn't be bothered so he was just making up an excuse not to do it.

your dh is BU about not fixing the broken glass - i mean come on!

we have a gate at the bottom of the stairs because dd is a runner and im 34 weeks pregnant and could do without having to chase her... we have a firegurard (isnt that a legal requirement, i thought it was) we dont use socket covers cos i read that they are actually more dangerous and sockets have a safety device in them already... but anything breakable or dangerous is kept away from her anyway.... tbh all the toys all over the floor make my house look like a nursery anyway

Agree there is a middle ground. We took the approach of dealing with obvious immediate danger (e.g. a gate across the very steep wooden stairs that run down from hall to kitchen), and socket covers on any reachable sockets, but never bothered with cupboard locks or a stair gate on our other staircase.

Of course the one big accident she's had was falling down the stairs that had the stair gate - she was climbing up and tripped. You can't prevent every accident, but a look around the house at toddler level to assess obvious hazards is worth doing.

We have a stairgate at the top of the stairs but that's it for DS2. I did fashion a temporary cupboard lock out of a hairband on the kitchen cupboard as he drives me mad going in their and taking stuff out. I spend my life putting things back in the cupboard.

He did once get in the cleaning materials cupbaord but not for long enough to do any damage - he is fairly well supervised.

His current obsession is trying to climb into the oven.

I think what I'm trying to say is they are not always for safety, more often just for convenience.

sorry 'there'

Same as everyone has said - fix the basics (broken glass, loose wires). Lunacy not to.

I had stair gates at the top of both flights of stairs but none at the bottom. I had a playpen. I had a fireguard but that was to stop stuff jumping out of the fire, nothing else. That's it. No table corners, no socket covers (which in the UK are probably more dangerous than not having them), no cupboard "locks".

That was enough.

Why are the socket covers dangerous? Should we ditch ours? DD has a habit of trying to stick the car key into live sockets...

here is the site about socket covers.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5039454/Electrical-socket-safety-covers-are-absurd-and-danger ous-say-engineers.html

might not work, havent linked on her before

Anything we didn´t want breaking we put away-saved on dusting also.

We had a stairgate at the top of the stairs.

biddysmama just stick the link between some of these: some of these:

at the end of the link you can put a title for the line, after a space.

ous-say-engineers.html and you end up with this

my 2 learnt to go up and down stairs, on their own, as soon as they could crawl. ds2 used to slide down on his tummy, in a matter of seconds. now he comes down slowly, walking down, using the handrail.
I often wonder where parents fear of stairs has come from. what did parents do before ? before stairgates ?

LOL at me fecking that up though

Use Mumsnet's own instructions - scroll down the page. I'll shut up now

Thanks for the socket cover info. If I can ever get them out of the unused sockets in our house I'll bin them!

We didn't bother with stairgates until DS fell down the stairs top to bottom. I don't know how he didn't do himself a serious injury, but it is something I am eternally grateful for. The only other children I know that have fallen down top to bottom, one broke his arm, and the other broke her leg. But it is entirely up to you.

Other than that, we have a child lock on the cupboard under the sink (full of bleach etc) and the spices cupboard after DS got chilli flakes in his eyes. (Not fun)

know how you feel, had to force DH to sort stair gates. DD pole vaulted from cot and woke us up twice this week, so gates are now in full force overnight too. Took a bit of fear factor for DH to get it. He leaves medicine and headache tablet packets, cufflinks, chewing gum etc all over the place within reach too which scares the daylights out of me - really annoying!!!

Sounds rather like our house!
We have all sorts of wires around the house, tools, etc. Once ds looked like he might get mobile soon we got a babydan fence and gated off the whole of the loft-conversion-in progress, and tested all loose wires to see if any were live. And started moving stuff on low shelves to higher ones. So bathroom cleaning products are on top of the cabinet, there's bungees round the cabinet under the fish tank, and kitchen cleaning stuff is now above the oven and pots and pans at baby height.

There's a stairgate shutting off the kitchen, and one at the top of the stairs, but mainly to use for zoning so ds and dn can be nearby/not in the kitchen. And so someone can get some sleep upstairs when the kids are downstairs.

We have a stairgate at the top of the stairs but DD's room is right opposite the stairs so there is the potential for her to overshoot when playing or staggering to the loo at night. Really it's there to keep the cat out of the bedrooms. On a safety note my mother in law tripped over the stairgate last year, fell down the stairs and broke her arm. So, stairgates not good for Grannies!

I thought about putting corners on the granite hearth but never got round to it and just chucked cushions over them instead.

Broken glass, loose wires - of course they need to be fixed.

Fireguards and cupboard locks I'd also consider to be essential. Anything hot needs to be shut off and IME, all children will rifle through cupboards if given the chance.

Never used stairgates or socket protectors but then, it can depend on your child - my three were never interested in the sockets. We've always taught the children how to go up and down stairs from when they can crawl but it does depend on your stairs (ours are shallow, turn a corner and are carpeted), plus I can see how a stairgate would enable you to keep them in their bedroom, always useful.

Oblomov, my fear of stairs comes from the number of times I have fallen down them and hurt my back.