Tips for baby proofing

[1500mmania]

After months of moaning that my son wasn't crawling he finally started to last weekend. He is 11 months and now is already able to go at quite a speed. I should have probably thought about the safety side of things before now but I decided he was going to be sitting on his bum for a good few months yet so we have been caught out and I haven't baby proofed our flat yet.

Just wondering what I should really be doing to make sure things are safe. I have bought those plug cover things and that about it so far. I have a bit of a wobbly coffee table which I may move but otherwise I don't seem to realise the dangers of things until DS is heading towards them at a rate of knots!

Any tips gratefully appreciated, I seem to have lost all my common sense!

Get down on your hands and knees and crawl around the flat yourself.
What can you see?
Any lose wires hanging, waiting to be pulled?
Any small items that would fit in your mouth?
Any holes to put your fingers in?
Can you access the stairs without opening a door?
Can you open any kitchen cupboards that contain breakables or dangerous products?

In general you'll find that he points out the things that need to be moved or locked.
Also, you'll find that he can be taught with a firm 'no' what is ok and not ok. He's small, but he can learn. He'll soon learn the rules of the house and he'll also get bored of certain things. (Of course they never seem to get bored of the things that really annoy his mum!!)

The other thing you should do is to think about what he'll be able to reach when he's standing. That probably won't be so far off and he'll suddenly be pulling things off shelves, tugging at the table cloth etc. You may as well baby proof the next layer up now too.

Be careful with socket covers. They are dangerous: www.fatallyflawed.org.uk/

I personally wouldn't use plug covers as they can actually cause problems/dangers when there weren't any there to start with. This website explains it better.

And here.

Plug socket covers are pointless as already pointed out. Mainly supervise him really. Big things like fireguard if you have a fire and either a stairgate on stairs or over door of a room. All you need in one safe area so you can go for a wee or get a drink without worrying so either a gate over the door of the room you play in most or a playpen. The rest of the time how long to realistically leave him for? Obviously ornaments etc out of reach and you will learn not to put newspapers etc on the coffee table as they will get dragged off. I don't see the point of all the other crap you can get to bubble wrap your home.

Kitchen if he is likely to be in there just swap things round so you have a cupboard with tupperware/bakeware in that he can empty to his heart's content and keep cleaning stuff in a higher cupboard. We installed a cupboard lock once. It took dd 30 seconds to work it out .

I am getting door bumper things so DS can't jam his fingers, a lock for the kitched drawer with the knifes and one for the cupboard with the cleaning products and one of those things the wires go inside. It's all that was needed with my niece so thats all i'm doing

oh and a stair gate duh! our stairs are in the livingroom so it is a must.