Child proofing home

[pinkposey]

Could anyone please give me some decent links or decent websites for how to do this - and / or top shopping lists for must have things to buy to do so?

Many thanks!

to be honest, most of it is probably a waste of time/money.

Baby gate on the stairs once child starts crawling. That's about it. (we didn't bother... but ds was a pretty chilled out baby/toddler). Oh and a couple of those covers for plugs.

Those socket covers have been discredited, as they overide the inbuilt saftey measure apparently. (Will look for link to make sure I didn't make this up!)

I found we added safety measures as DD discovered things, and we realised what the problem spots were going to be. We couldn't be without stairgates, for eg, but have not needed any corner covers like friends have. It may be best to wait and see what your particular situation requires.

All we have is a baby gate and fire guard.

Here

Child locks on drawers and cupboards, not for danger really but to stop them wrecking your kitchen. !
tbh There are hundreds of different items it just depends how chilled or neurotic you are as a person - I personally would have those soft corners for tables etc --- (we had a circular table when the DCs were little!)
Window locks ... the list is endless but I would just go with what you are comfortable with, they will fall, bang their heads etc no matter what you do!

fessa - you're probably right...it was about 4years ago we had them. I think best approach is Fessa's ( not cuking up promise!).See what your child is like - a crazy adventuring clambering poker-in-of-things, or a mooching about occasional cushion chomper.

I would definitely get safety gates and take sensible measures such as putting medicines and cleaners out of reach, fixing blind cords out of reach etc. Also a good idea to secure anything such as bookcases to walls in case toddlers try to climb or pull themselves up on them. All these socket covers and locks are a waste of time and money. Childproofing is a nonsense. Children will have accidents - it is how they learn about the world. The thing is to make sure they don't have any serious ones. Supervision and common sense are the key.

Hi all,
Just wanted to add a link to a recent story we put on our blog. Two of the doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital are trying to raise awareness about accidents in the home... mostly about things you wouldn't normally think about.
bit.ly/zFalVu
Hopefully this might help you when thinking about how to childproof your home.
Louise (from GOSH)

Children can and do get where they shouldn't stair gates break or get unlocked. Keep bleach etc. out of reach, have a bolt on tthe door high up.

Don't bother with socket covers, they're a danger themselves and never let Dcs go 'socked' on hard floors. Our only 2 A&E accidents were sliding into doors with socks on. Barefoot or slippers.