Tell Lindam when you started thinking about child safety in the home – you could win a Full Lindam Home Safety Pack (worth up to £378)! NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

Lindam has asked us to find out when Mumsnetters first start thinking about child safety in the home.

Here's what Lindam says, "Safety is absolutely paramount for any parent and in fact, latest research by Which? has found safety to be a top priority for new mothers and fathers. Research findings showed that safety gates are the most popular and useful products for new families and in the run up to Child Safety Week (23rd-29th June) we're really keen to raise awareness of just how important safety gates are, and which ones are best for each individual families' needs.

Finding the right gate can be overwhelming but there really is something for everyone. Pressure Fit or Wall fix are available to fit a range of openings. Gates also have a range of handles and closing mechanisms depending on your requirements. From a Pressure Fit option such as Easy Fit Plus Deluxe to the top of the range Wall Fix NUMI Aluminium Extending Safety Gate, safety, quality and value are key for all gates and each now comes with a lifetime guarantee.

For further information, and to see the wider Lindam range, please visit www.lindam.com"

You may have seen that we've run a survey with Lindam recently about safety at home. It emerged that approximately 34% of you start thinking about including safety products in the home once baby starts crawling. We'd now love to hear when other Mumsnetters started considering how best to safety proof their homes. Would you fall into the 34% that start considering it when baby starts crawling? Or would you consider it earlier or later on? How many gates have you bought for your home? What do you think is more important, product features or value for money? Do you buy safety products to install in your home, or do you create your own safety measures instead? Or perhaps a mixture? Whatever they are, or whatever it is, we'd love to hear it!

Everyone who comments on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a Full Lindam Home Safety Pack which is worth up to £378 (depending on what you choose!).

Please be aware that Lindam may use any comments posted here in future marketing material (anonymously, of course). Please only post if you’re happy with that.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

We have two little dogs who are very much part of our family. It was, however, really important that we thought about safety early on. About three months before my baby was born we began using stair gates and safety gates to create safe zones where our baby will be. Baby is 7 weeks old now and we are all living in a happy and safe home.

Bought stair gates when on offer in asda just after birth of my first. Never bothered with socket covers as uk plugs don't really need them (had some but never installed). Bought a fire guard but haven't used yet as didn't have fire on during mild winter! Going to buy a door slammer protector as already had one accident this summer

We put the first baby gate up when we first came home from hospital. It meant I could keep the dog out of the living room without closing the door so I could make a cuppa and know I could hear her if she needed me. The gates on the stairs went up as soon as she started crawling despite never being near the stairs unsupervised. Better safe than sorry.

I became more aware of what was available when I was pregnant but didn't start the process of child-proofing until my son started to crawl- we then has to learn quickly as he was into everything straight away.

Plug covers were an essential as my son was forever flicking plug switches no matter how much I tried telling him off or ignoring it and good quality door locks- he easily mastered the latch ones and we found the only ones that kept him out were the magnet ones. We also needed a fridge lock, toilet lock, video lock, a buffer for the living room door and blind cord locks as well as a stairgate on the kitchen, his bedroom and the top and bottom of the stairs- he was a real escape artist and this was the only way to keep him safe. My daughter was so different though and whilst she is fairly determined she didn't have the same dangerous streak- we kept the stairgates on the stairs and the plug covers as well as a lock on the cleaning cupboard just to be safe but otherwise we didn't have the same need for child proofing.

I definitely think it is something to start thinking about early on, even if it is just getting a view as to what you may need.

I am pregnant and I have been seriously looking at safety in our home.
We are looking at getting 2-4 stair gates for various parts of the house, as well as the stairs. We will be getting these in the next few weeks so the dogs will be used to them in time for the baby.
Things to stop doors slamming as well as things to prevent fingers getting shut in doors will be needed!

This is our 1st baby so I can see us going VERY overboard!!

My little one has just started moving so we're starting to baby proof the place now. Struggling though as we have some odd gaps where we need baby gates - hopefully we will find a solution though.

I guess child proofing was always in the back of our minds but we realised quite quickly after being away for a 3week holiday, that our daughter was changing and growing so much that we needed to do something and fast. My in-laws seemed more ready than us initially as they bought the Lindam playpen which we thought was a bit excessive at first then once the crawling started we could'nt buy one fast enough!
We started by clearing her eye line but realised we didn't have anywhere to put the things we needed to move, so we bought another playpen and used both as giant gates just so we didn't have to have a complete overhaul of our belongings. It's worked well and we only have one other gate as we live in a 2 bedroom flat. Gates are invaluable, much as you like to think you can teach your children not to touch everything you can't have eyes in the back of your head, and for those moments you need gates!

Still haven't really done it and DS is 15 months. He can however get up and down the stairs very competently. Our living/dining room is child safe, and he can't yet open doors. Once he can, we will be scrambling for the stairgates!

I have just started to think about safety gates now and my baby has just took his first steps! There are so many different products to get I just cant decide which ones to buy

I thought about it vaguely when DD started crawling at 8 mths but we lived in a flat without stairs and there didn't seem to be much need.

However, we're moving next month to a place with stairs and DD, now 20 months, will definitely be curious. I haven't started looking yet but priorities will be ease of installation, ease of use and price.

We started to think about it more when ds started crawling. It still fascinates me how quickly he can get to some places. He's currently at the stage of cruising along furniture so I think we will be continually assessing what safety requirements we have as he progresses through each development stage.

I was quite anti-thinking about child safety when pregnant with dc1, in fact we dug a deep garden pond at that point . And put lots of effort into landscaping around it and putting fish in. WHY? What sort of denial was I in?

Then the next year, with a baby, I got a bit paranoid about this and DP and I had huge arguments about filling it in again. So I guess that's when I started thinking about it, with a 6 month baby or so.

We had stair gates but mainly cos our house had very tall steep stairs, when we moved to a house with gentler stairs we didn't use it. We had drawer catches etc and socket-fillers too but not everywhere.

When I applied to be a foster carer and then again when I was pregnant. My baby is just about to learn to crawl so I need to do some baby proofing very soon!

This week as my 7 and a half month old baby has started properly crawling - can't leave the room or turn my back for longer than 3 seconds without him trying to eat something inappropriate, attack the cat or knock himself out on the furniture!

We started thinking about this when we moved in. We were about to start trying for babies and wanted a house that would be easy to make safe once we had them (two and a half years later it turned out.)

We got two gates, one to cut off the upstairs hall so she oils move between her room and our room but nowhere else, and one at the bottom of the stairs. But our house has narrow hallways and it never fitted properly and in the end we got rid of them. We didn't use them at all for second child. He can walk but is still in cot he can't get out of. He had a couple of mild tumbles but mostly we've just been careful to watch him and to shut the doors between the room we're in and the stairs. Our kitchen and bathroom have doors lockable from the outside for if we leave them playing while we get dressed for example.

I think subconsciously you think of safety from day one!! I breastfed and people suggesated I sleep with my baby BUT I was petrified of doing this at first, when I did start to co-sleep with her when she was around 2 months old I got bedguards for both sides of the bed. And researching pushchairs etc and looking at reviews to pick the best and safest for your baby.
When she became mobile it was her that highlighted other hazards, like pulling plugs out of sockets to climbing up the stairs.
We currently have a stairgate top and bottom of the stairs, bedguards on even my bed still eventhough she rarely sleeps with me lol. Cupboard locks on the cupboards.
I am still learning about baby proofing and everyday my daughter shows me something new I need to address haha.
I think price is important as its very easy to get ripped off as a first time mom when you can gs good for a lower price. It might just not carry 'the name'. But quality is also very important so it is always good to research products you need before hand so hopefully you can find a practical and affordable product for your needs xx

At the 10mths visit from the health visitor. He never really crawled so it wasn't an issue earlier. She suggested he could follow one of us upstairs and fall back... shudder! We have baby gates everywhere and keep installing more - maybe we are control freaks!

We started to think about home safety when our children started crawling. We then try to pre-empty the next stage and baby proof whatever we think they will try to do next! How many gates have you bought for your home? 2. What do you think is more important, product features or value for money? I think features are more important and how long you can use something for, I would rather buy good quality and not have to replace it. For instance we bought good baby monitors which we are now using for our second child. Do you buy safety products to install in your home, or do you create your own safety measures instead? Or perhaps a mixture? We buy products, most of what we have was bought in a pack from my local childrens centre. We often find a problem then I have to spend lots of time on the internet finding an available product to solve the problem!

I have three of your gates. Two are the old style handles, and the third I bought early this year. All are pressure fit.

The newest gate can be opened by my two year old. Needless to say I won't be recommending it to anyone.

I thought about it before he was born, but am only just doing anything about it now he's crawling

I thought about child safety when my babies were only a few weeks old but only really bought safety items when I realised how well tiny wee people can climb, reach stuff they shouldn't, get fingers into wee gaps.

Before my baby was born. We have cats and I was worried they would get in the Moses basket with the baby so we bought cat nets for the moses basket and cot, we used them for 6 months when my daughter was in our room as the cats slept on our bed in the room with her and I felt uneasy. The cats never did get in with her and we didn't use them at all for our second but she napped in the nursery with the door closed anyway.

We had safety gates on the stairs and kitchen door and had to add cupboard door locks to keep little fingers out with our second as she was very inquisitive, we had a fire guard too. For extra safety our tv is screwed to the wall and so are the wardrobes! just in case!!

We took it all down recently as our youngest is 2 and a half but now we are having another and need to buy it all again!

I first began thinking about home safety when I was pregnant - it has always been something that I was keen to be prepared about. From the newborn stages we had to think about where things were positioned in our bedroom, make sure blind cords were out of the way, make sure there wasn't anything within reach of baby. I started babyproofing when my son became mobile and started to crawl. We put a Lindam stairgate in the doorway of our living room; this meant that the bathroom, kitchen and stairs were all out of action for him! We also put a Lindam stairgate at the top of our stairs so that when we are upstairs if my son sneaks off he won't go anywhere dangerous.