Help! How to baby-proof AK cabin with stairs, loft and no doors??

[FbksMama]

I live in a cabin with the bedroom upstairs but no door.  This has been especially worrisome because we co-sleep with our 4 month old and unfortunately our *cats* as well.  I spend most of the night making sure he's ok and the cats aren't near him.  This is our first issue.  Second issue is how to baby-proof this setup?? The floor is only partly carpeted with old beat up wood floors throughout.  How can my son crawl around?? And then there's these treacherous open stairs which I was afraid to go up and down during pregnancy.  A baby gate won't even help because there's open railing too.  I'm afraid my husband's going to have to build a whole wall or something.  I really just want to move (we rent) but we don't have the money to do that and won't by the time my son is crawling.  I feel like this is no place to raise a toddler but it's our only option right now.  I just don't want him all over these floors.... I understand *wearing* your baby, which I do a lot, but he's got to be on the floor sometime.  Is a "pack and play" my only option??  How do you other cabin mama's deal with making a safe, clean space for your little ones?

Any advice would be great!!

[roadfamily6now]

Good Question.

We raised kids in cabins.  My then 5 yr old fell from the loft and cut her tongue pretty bad when we lived in Delta Junction.

I think that was the only bad accident we had.

We used a exersaucer a lot for baby when we were not carrying them. Do they still make those?

We had really cold floors in the cabin we built in Delta, (not the one with the loft) we baby was rarely on the floor except in front of the wood stove. We did not live there long, about a year. We had 4 kids in a 20x22 cabin! LOL Ages 10,8,going on 2 and new born....

[FbksMama]

Wow that's a lot of kids in a small space!  I know a lot of people raise little ones in cabins but it seems challenging... I guess it's because cabin-living was new to us in the first place.  Our cabin is decently warm but old... the floors are falling apart on the ground floor.  I posted this under the safety discussion as well and got some good ideas about how to baby-proof the stair area at least.  

I'm thinking a "baby-container" might be the only option for downstairs other than wearing him.  Someone else mentioned an exersaucer although I'm going to have to educate myself on what that is exactly.  : )

[akcowgirl]

I have been born and raised in Alaska so I know exactly the floor plan you are talking about. It is the same floor plan that we have. What we have done is to put up a railing along the edge of the loft. It is just a simple 2x4 railing with uprights of 2x2 2 inches apart. ( think porch railing) this was actually a very cheap solution. It was about as expensive as the plastic fencing stuff and much more attractive. I would ask your landlord if you could do something like that and take it off your next months rent. ( we are landlords as well and an open loft like that is a liability) As for the flooring we have plywood floors with area rugs. They can be pretty uneven and slinters are as possibility as well as just a fact of life. If it is bare knees crawling around you are worried about I would get a couple pairs of baby legs to cover his knees with. If it is just the grim you are worried about I would just be sure to wash his hands, knees and feet before bed or eating anything. I am not a grime-a-phobe though so...

[roadfamily6now]

Cute cabin AK!

[akcowgirl]

Thank you, It has been years in the making. :)

[1stimestar]

What about a floor comforter.  You can buy a used one to just put on the floor when he is down having floor time. 

[Rik-E]

Nice place!  I am totally jealous of anyone that builds thier own home. *sigh* Eventually we hope to!
 

Originally Posted by akcowgirl 

I have been born and raised in Alaska so I know exactly the floor plan you are talking about. It is the same floor plan that we have. What we have done is to put up a railing along the edge of the loft. It is just a simple 2x4 railing with uprights of 2x2 2 inches apart. ( think porch railing) this was actually a very cheap solution. It was about as expensive as the plastic fencing stuff and much more attractive. I would ask your landlord if you could do something like that and take it off your next months rent. ( we are landlords as well and an open loft like that is a liability) As for the flooring we have plywood floors with area rugs. They can be pretty uneven and slinters are as possibility as well as just a fact of life. If it is bare knees crawling around you are worried about I would get a couple pairs of baby legs to cover his knees with. If it is just the grim you are worried about I would just be sure to wash his hands, knees and feet before bed or eating anything. I am not a grime-a-phobe though so...

[thejohnsonbunch]

Our house has a loft and we rent too! Our railing is 51/2" apart. Big enough for a little body to squeeze through.I found KidSafe Deck Guard from Babies R Us. I also found Banister Guard there which is clear so baby proofing doesn't take over your interior style!!

Edited by thejohnsonbunch - 6/13/12 at 3:06pm

[RoViMama]

For the floor what about getting the interlocking mats and putting them throughout the house.  We used them in our old house to protect the wood floors from bikes.  

  I tried to post  a picture but I'm not allowed or something.

[onyxravnos]

our last cabin had an open loft. really we just didn't let the kids play up there but one thing that put my mind more at ease was they make these mesh pull gate things... They are intended for decks around a pool I think.. We got 2 and attached them to the wall of the loft area so at least it wasn't just a drop off. 

 going up the stairs i've over the years ridged baby gates in all kinds of ways so that it clocks the stairs... I've also used book cases set up on the side so baby couldn't go up the side to avoid the baby gate.