baby proffing ????

[Graceie]

whats necessary and whats not ? I don't feel the need to turn my home into a giant pillow and put a Halmet and knee pads on my baby but also strongly prefer my son alive and uninjured trying to find the line 

[DahliaRW]

I start with obvious dangers (outlet covers, putting cleaning stuff/medicines out of reach, etc).  Then from there see what your  LO gets into and baby proof as needed (or by what annoys you).

[MyFullHouse]

I have climbers so, for me, anchoring things (shelves, oven, etc.) to the wall is a must.  My first born tipped his dresser long before I thought about that type of thing, and I'm just glad he's okay!  We don't really do dressers anymore!!!!

Keeping the bathrooms and big kids' rooms off limit is another big one for me.  We block off the whole hallway with a gate.  Well, we did until the youngest learned to climb it, and we will again for the new baby.

We don't do much more than that.

[mamadelbosque]

Really, all we did was put the plugs in wall outlets and put gates up... and moved breakables up high :p I never have anchored anything to the walls, though I probably should have. :shrug

[cristeen]

Gates are the biggest one for us. A latch and hook lock on the office door (which was actually installed years ago for the cats), a cabinet lock under the kitchen sink, a few electric plug covers and a couple covered surge protectors/power strips. Books get packed in tight so he cant pull them out, and breakables get put out of reach. So far hes not really a climber, but he puts everything in his mouth, so i just have to be aware of whats in his reach.

We had to rearrange some furniture to keep him out of the litter box and we feed the cat behind gates too. If you have cats, i love the gates we just got w cat doors in them. Our old gates didnt have them, and shes too old to jump so she would sit and whine. But now she can get away from him, or come get a snuggle if she wants.

The bathroom cabinet got rearranged to put dangerous stuff out of his reach, but i let him pull everything off the shelves he can reach so i can pee in peace. When i'm not in there, i keep the door closed (he hasnt figured out doorknobs yet).

During the day, he has free rein in the foyer, lr, dr and his bedroom. If i'm in the kitchen, i'll take that gate down and let him play in the cabinets (he'll wander in and out as he likes). The sun porch, bathroom and master bedroom are off limits w/o an adult right now, period. They get gated first thing and stay gated until he's in bed.

[jennifercp8]

Personally, I think it depends on your lifestyle.  I have never plugged outlets, locked cabinets, or removed things with sharp corners.  I do not use gates, and as soon as my kids show interest in the stairs I teach them how to go up and down safely.  My cleaning products are up high, and all of my breakable stuff is out of reach.  My kids have free range of the house, and are given their 'off-limits' pretty early on.  Example:  piano, ok; wine cabinet, NO.  LOL 

[Marissamom]

we have outlet covers, though DD hasn't shown any interest in the outlets yet. our bookshelves are ancored, but I think we would even without a toddler because they're on carpet, we have gates at the stairs (DD is fearless, so I don't like her going up and down without someone watching), and I have a latch on the cupboard were I keep the dishwasher detergent (only place in the kitchen to keep it is under the sink, I have a tiny kitchen). I may do a stove gaurd when DD gets tall enough to reach, and possibly a doorknob cover for our room so she doesn't go in when the little one is sleeping. 

[crunchy_mommy]

We had outlet covers but they just increased DS's interest in the outlets so we removed them. We have locks on one cabinet (the bathroom one) because there are chemicals in it, and we gate off the upstairs because it's under construction. We also have bars to keep the 2nd-story windows closed, and we got rid of our standard window blinds & just have cheap cordless roll-up ones in the windows where it was necessary to have something. I worry about strangulation hazards (blind cords, pull toys, etc.) more than anything else for some reason. I guess I just focus on things that can kill you -- strangulation, ingesting chemicals, drowning, falling from 20+ feet... Plus our house was already pretty kid-friendly, we didn't have lots of breakables or sharp knives or top-heavy furniture...

Sorry I'm rambling, my best advice is to gate/lock anything you KNOW is a serious hazard (like our under-construction section of the house) & then just keep close tabs to see what baby gets into & go from there. Some people need to get oven locks & anchor their furniture to the wall, others are able to get away with minimal or no baby-proofing. Depends too on how easily your baby takes redirection & how much he tests the limits & whether you're able to keep him in your sight at all times...

ETA: Also depends on your tolerance level for things, like I don't mind if DS pulls every bowl & pan out of the kitchen cabinets or climbs on top of the dining room table (it's pretty sturdy) but I know things like that would drive some people nuts!