Baby proofing the House

[Flashman]

Little Pinky is due in 47 days (yes i know only 3% arrive on the due date) does anyone have any ideas or more things to do to make a house a safer place. Plug guards clearly - fire cover - stair gates - any other ideas?

nothing at this stage
baby proof only when they are on the move

all tey need is milk, cuddles and maybe a bouncy chair/play gym at about 6 weeks

Think the most important safety things for newborns are following SIDS advice re: sleeping (on back, not overheating, not sleeping on you/sofa etc). And sterilising properly if you are going to bottle feed. Oh, and watch them on the changing table, some babies can flip themselves over from a surprisingly young age. But other stuff won't matter until they are on the move - and even then, you shouldn't go mad, children need to learn to not touch when told etc. But I think stairgates and plug guards are pretty useful - we don't have anything else.

Hope little Pinky arrives on time - have fun!

Yes I am fully aware that they will not be moving for some time ? however I am also of the view that it will be much easier to sort out now ? I am not knackered and should be easy. And ultimately I am bored. I have painted and sorted a nursery, I have made wardrobes, put a cot together ready, cleaned all carpets in the house. Trying to think of other jobs to do. Oh and I have a pond to fill in.

the problem with doing it now is that the risks change all the time as the baby gets more mobile. For a while it will be making sure there are no small things like coins lying around, then it will be making sure you don't keep hot saucepan handles within reach, or protecting stuff you value like the CD player or whatever, which needs to go high. In fact, everything needs to get higher, but its a bit annoying, so not much point till you have to.
Good luck with the boredom though. I totally understand maternity leave boredom...

once they moving, high selves everywhere. I hate it when parents think they 1 yr old is naughty for drawing lovely patterns on the wall, leave a pen in thier sight and its just too much tempation . Everything up high on selves makes like so much easier

useful things for dads to do in The Last Days:

fill the pond, also the freezer
file takeaway menus easily to hand
also numbers of bfing helplines
register for Tesco (or similar) shopping online
make several chilled playlists on iTunes and burn to CD
stock house with nutritious snack foods that can be prepared and eaten with one hand (you CANNOT butter toast while bfing a newborn - I have tried)
update address book so you can send thankyou cards for gifts

er...

if you fit stairgates now, make sure they are removable (mine just have a clip to go on and off) as you may find them a nuisance when carrying round a newborn.

oh if you are bored, rearrange your kitchen cupboards so that anything breakable is on the upper level. then it won't matter if LO empties out the lower cupboards. if your need breakables on the lower level, get cupboard locks, but they are fairly annoying, so perhaps don't fit them yet, just have them ready

oh yes, and make sure bleach etc is in high cupboards in both kitchen and bathroom

And you know how to put the carseat in the car properly ? And put up and down the pram ? These are the important things !

If you want to babyproof a bit, then lay on your stomach and work out what you can grab/post things into/poke from there - so the Wii needs to find a new home, DVD racks need to be fastened to the wall or moved to a non baby room if you don't want them emptied, all cabling hidden away, rearrange furniture so that you have empty carpet in the middle of the room rather than a coffee table which means you can't just put the baby in the middle of the floor.

Train yourselves not to put hot drinks on the floor.

Make list of breastfeeding support lines and bookmark useful webpages so that when Pinkys mum is stressed, you know where to get help for her.

Know how to get to the maternity unit and where to park. You don't want to be like my colleague who got lost on the way to the hospital, which resulted in her giving birth at the front door of the hospital

Oh, God yes - FILL THE FREEZER! With things that can be eaten one-handed, preferably. Good luck - hope all goes well.

Sod the baby proofing - read the paper, go to the cinema, sleep, drink hot drinks, sleep some more

On the subject of hot drinks, did you know that a cup of tea or coffee is still hot enough to scald a small child 20 mins after making?!
Another vote here for filling the freezer while you can.
Also, take the opportunity to read a book, watch a film, go to the theatre or for a meal out. Sleep a lot and have lots of baths. I understand the boredom - really, I do, I went 10 days overdue - but once the baby's here, you won't get a chance to do that suff for months.
Sorry that doesn't answer your question but my baby is nearly 8 months and I still haven't baby-proofed . But in my defense, he's particularly lazy and is not crawling yet.

oh yes, the cinema [wistful]

actually check if any near you do baby screenings - they are great ways to get out of the house with a newborn if you have a chilled one. I didn't discover ours till dd was 4m and wish I'd gone sooner.

On, and if you don't have Sky+ or similar, it really is a boon to be able to pause things, and fill it full of stuff you'd like to watch so that MrsFlash isn't reduced to watching jeremy vile or similar in the day.

Baby cinema totally excellent, although it was a bit freaky. I watched the Wickerman with my norks out in th back row...

Join library, find out the times and locations of the baby groups too

I watched Sweeney Todd with dd - she liked the music but it was a bit gory...

cmotdibbler - yes I can put the car seat in and fold the pram thing - I even went as far as seeing if I could do it with one arm full. I guess it was a case of wanting to be involved and shot through getting everything done - at such a lose end now. Oh one other job would be to sort DW's shoes out, but I think that would be a task that hercules himself would not win!

Ah but have you practised putting the rain cover on the pram?! Actually, I'm guessing you have . You sound very prepared, I hope it goes to plan.
We were given a cinema voucher and offer of babysitting by my SIL for Xmas. Still haven't been...

Oh i have actually been well planed - or anal as most people have said - I have never really been round children - and all my plans and what I think now will totally be blow once Pinky arrives. So am totally wasting my time.

oh now this is a good one

do you have a Baby Cafe near you?
if so, go - meet the MWs and the volunteers, some other new parents and a lot of babies...

Cheers Mrs B - but I really don't think that they would be too happy with a male turning up there!

no that is my point

they would love it

by all means take Elspeth the first time but after that just pop in for coffee
you never know when you will need them

oh shame then that there are none within 30 miles!!