Baby proofing - give me your tips!

[yellowmonkey]

Baby has been vaguely crawling for a week or so but has just become VERY fast and I am aware that we haven't child proofed and need to do so ASAP

I know we need stair gates, are the folding ones worth it?

I dimly remember hearing plug covers are a no.

Cupboard and door locks for the kitchen - magnetic ones? Normal ones?

Do I need a bloody lock on the toilet lid?

Playpen or will a travel cot (we have one) do?

I obviously want to be safe but would rather hear from people who have actually done it, we are the first of our friends to have a crawler!

@Thefirsttime thank you, I had no idea

Don’t use a pressure fitted stair gate at the top of the stairs. You need one which is drilled into the wall.
I have a pressure fitted gate and it’s fine. No way was I going to permanently ruin my walls or door frames by drilling holes in them.

I personally wouldn't stair gate the top of the stairs. We did bottom of stairs and child's bedroom.
Only other thing we did was fix heavy wardrobe to the wall.

The rest depends on your own child if you'll need any of it.

The problem with a pressure fit one at the top is twofold - first they have a lip across the bottom which means they are a tripping hazard.

Secondly they tend to migrate. Check it regularly to make sure it hasn't moved to the edge of the wall/bannister otherwise you could end up with a nasty injury if someone leans on it or goes to open it and it pings off the edge.

We have a pressure fit one on the kitchen and it definitely migrates. I put it right in the middle of the door frame and over time it creeps closer and closer to one side of the frame. It's no big deal because when we notice we just re-site it in the middle again, but it could be more of a problem on the stairs.

If you've got one, then you've got one, but it is always a good idea to understand why something isn't advised IME.

I did like having a top of stairs gate because I let DS1 wander into my room in the night if he wanted to.

We only did stair gates so we can give him free reign either up or down. The rest of the stuff we just thought about what was actually dangerous enough to do a permanent injury. All chemicals moved from under the sink to out of reach. Apart from that not much, he has touched a lot of stuff he shouldn't and fallen a lot and banged or scratched himself a lot, but we would rather get it out of the way now and it always heals quickly.
Even with the stairs we open the stair gate and invite him to go up or down, we only stand close enough to stop him tumbling, not so close he couldn't slip down a step or two.
I think a lot comes down to your attitude to risk and i agree with the above poster who said just keep an eye on them and buy what you need when you need it.

Oh and another thing with the stair gate at the top - before we got it he would stand closeish to the top and look down, but not right at the edge. Once we fitted one he will go right up and shake it. So it would be safer to have no gate then one which wasn't secure enough.
We got ones that screw in, the pressure ones are dangerous due to the trip hazard at the top of the stairs. We were worried about wall damage but thought If he gets a head injury we would struggle to justify the paint work over his head. And it only takes an afternoon with the filler and paint to touch up a few screw holes. But it's personal choice!

www.johnlewis.com/babydan-guard-me-fold-baby-gate/p969110
These babygates are excellent, nothing to trip over so good for the top of the stairs.

Definitely don't use socket covers.

Fasten chests of drawers, TV, bookcases and even bedside tables to the wall, it only takes a toddler a second to decide to use them as a climbing frame and they can have a nasty accident.

Get on your hands and knees and crawl around, seeing things from a baby's perspective. Do you have a tablecloth that he might tug on, pulling everything on the table down onto him? Check beneath the sofa and other heavy furniture that maybe doesn't get cleaned under very often - are there any small items, pen lids, coins etc - that your baby would grab and put in his mouth? Any heavy plant pots or vases on low shelves that he might try to pull up on? What about things like reed air fresheners - are they all high up out of sight so he can't spill the contents over him (or worse still, drink them). Also check the battery compartment covers of things like alarm clocks/oven timers/remote controls that might be left lying around in reach of baby. Is the cover secure or could he easily remove it and chew on the batteries?

Oh, and make sure your dishwasher/washing machine liquitabs are stored securely. The brightly coloured ones are very appealing to children and they can easily bite through the film capsule and swallow the contents, which are corrosive and can cause severe injury.

I never baby proofed. It gives a false sense of security to the parents and IMO it is far safer to actually watch your child and teach them what they can and can't do/touch.

Aged 10m my DS knew he wasn't allowed in any kitchen (in any house we went too) unless he was picked up and put in a chair. Ive lost count of the times I have seen mums running to stop their child from grabbing things out of units or messing with an oven because they're usually reliant on baby gates and locks.

Best baby proofing tip I ever got was not not to baby proof everything. Ie have an easily accessible cupboard with non breakable things (Tupperware ect) the baby can explore. Keeps them occupied and out of the cupboards you don't want them in.

In out house we have a Tupperware cupboard that also houses odd bits of indestructible kitchen wear, and a drawer with wooden spoons / plastic utensils / the masher- basically non sharp stuff. DD has heaps of fun reorganising those daily.

We had stair gates at the top and bottom of the stairs as we are open plan. Other than that we didn't use baby proofing gadgets, just taught them what was allowed (eg safe cupboard, plastic beakers and plates ok, under sink cupboard not ok). Obviously we made sure chemicals and hot drinks were out of reach too.

Oh and a fire guard for the gas flame fire that we didn't use back then but it had a marble hearth and I worried if they fell on it they could really hurt themselves)

The one thing I always say is if you're ever thinking or saying 'I'll just...' don't do it, put in the extra minute so the baby is safe so eg 'I'll just leave the car seat on the X for one second, I'll just leave the baby on the couch, Ill just not clip them in while they're sitting there.' And as my mum always said they're always safer in their cot or just on the ground. Also careful of cups of tea, saucepans etc.

We barely babyproofed at all for #1. We decided to see what he went for and babyproof that... and he barely went for anything. We don't have a TV or any tall bookshelves. There is one half-height Billy in his room that I screwed sideways into the end of his cot. He's never dropped anything into the toilet. Never went for plug sockets more than a few times, as a sharply worded "NO!" stopped him. Always crawled TOWARDS us rather than away, so no need to worry about him legging it up the stairs! We did move the stuff in our kitchen cupboards around so that nothing on the lower level is breakable/dangerous and I personally don't mind him unpacking our tins and packets of pasta onto the floor.

I read this blog post and really liked it: catholicallyear.com/blog/babyproofing-house-vs-babyproofing-baby/ I found that with the personality of baby #1, he learned quickly and respected the NO. Baby #2 is proving to be a liiiiiiittle bit harder. More adventurous and we have another child to keep an eye on. I think we might want stairgates soon. But maybe not. We'll see. We put some regular sellotape across the plug sockets we don't use, juuuuuust in case, but she's nearly there with losing interest and will not touch if we say NO. (Nearly 1yo.)

I try to have a few acceptable things to give them an outlet for the urge to unpack everything they come across. Tupperware and tins in the kitchen. Some acceptable books on the lower shelves. I find it easier to say "No no, unpack this one" than "NO you must not do that at all" if possible.

Both babies have touched a hot radiator and cried. Then not touched them again.

They are 100% not allowed into the utility room is the only place, and I will put a bolt on the door if NO is not enough. It's got our gardening tools, DIY stuff, laundry chemicals...

Watch your baby, it will become clear what they are fascinated by. My first you could leave anything on the floor, but she would pull anything off a shelf. So we moved our stuff up the bookcases, and used the bottom shelves for toys. My second liked climbing. And the the dishwasher... As soon as the dishwasher finished we had to remove the sharp knives.

I didn't do much apart from put covers on sharp edges of furniture (got these from IKEA) and secured heavy items of furniture to the wall.

HM is starting to get to big for the baby bath. But we have whirlpool bath so worried need to cover and baby proof the jet holes before we start to bath him in it. I have looked online and can't find anything for this anyone else had same issue or have ideas? Thanks

My nephew gets bathed in a jacuzzi bath every night. He just gets sat in a bath seat and given other things to play with. 🤷🏻‍♀️

DS is 2 and the things we have:

Magnetic locks on the cupboard, under the sink and where we have crockery. Someone mentioned they are unsafe but the ones we have definitely are safe!

Gate on the kitchen and bottom on the stairs, we need one for the top but not got one yet

Some thick plastic tape on the hard corners of head height furniture and the fireplace

It really depends on your home and where you expect baby will be! Once they start opening doors it gets a bit trickier

We didn't do much. Stair gate was a definite and fireguard. All cleaning products out of reach.

Then generally just tried to teach no and distract/ allow other things to be accessed such as the pan drawer.

Never showed any interest in the toilet but friends' DTs did. Sadly they outsmarted more than one of the contraptions tried (and it's then a pain for the adults to actually use the loo!!)

We didn’t proof much either. Stair gates and moved ornaments out of reach. As others have said it depends on your house and if you’re keeping a sensible eye on your child surely you don’t need to proof everything, e.g. the toilet - if they manage to get into the bathroom and climb into the toilet chances are you left them to their own devices a little too long...

We never do much baby proofing to be honest. A lot depends on yourself and your own personality plus the layout of your house . Remember it's their house too and they need to learn to explore and pulling pots out of cupboards keeps them more entertained than any toy ever will .