Baby proofing when you have other children

[TinyTeachr]

Hoping for some tips!

DC4 is 9 months and I think is on the brink of mobility. She goes from sitting to a sort of squat on hands and knees and she rocks. I suspect she will start crawling in the next 2-3 weeks.

I have 3 older children. I'm just doing a bit of a tidy-up before I go to bed and it's making me really stressed! I've picked up so many things that a baby could choke on and there are crumbs all over the place. When DTwins were just getting mobile my eldest was 4 and quite quiet and careful. She understood what was needed to keep them safe. But 3yo DTwins are chaos! They move through the house like a pair of tornados some days - one had a gyppy tummy today so a bag a sedentary afternoon and the other one was bored and fidgetty and kept getting more toys out.

How do you baby proof when you have other young children, without just getting rid of most toys??? I've had to fish so many things out of her mouth in the last two days and she's not even mobile yet.

We just went for the option of putting most toys away, kids don't need as many toys as you usually end up with, so chucking them in a box in the cupboard was a good idea.
If you can't supervise closely it's about the only wayi think.

I would put the baby in the playpen, where it was out of the way of the older children.

One small Kallax unit in the living room that holds all the baby safe toys. Things like Duplo, magnet tiles, building blocks, toy cars, teddies, dolls etc will be perfectly safe for baby to be around.

Anything else has to stay in their bedrooms. The older children are now all old enough to understand this. Tell them explicitly which toys have to stay in their rooms. A big clearout might help!

Most toys for 3 year olds should be ok for a 1 year old. Basics like duplo, brio, animals, cars. Sort through. Those toys can go lower down in shared toy baskets

If they have smaller bits like lego, then lego only at dining table or in their bedroom. Board Games stored up high and played at table. Things like crafts, pens only at table also