What did you do to baby-proof your house?

[MsDolphin]

Wondering what everyone else did/does to baby-proof the house.

I recently bought the latch/bar for the toilet seats, DH didn't like them and I had to return them. He and I see differently on baby-proofing the house. I have the better safe, than sorry attitude. I would rather over do it, than not do enough and an accident occur. He thinks we just need to watch LO and teach him not to get into stuff.

I also have a question about the electrical outlet covers. Are they really necessary? DS likes to touch the outlets, but he isn't able to to get his finger into the outlet. Is there still a risk?

[Adaline'sMama]

Electrical outlet covers and a pair of tongs in between two cabinet handles (its where the compost is) is about it for us. I make sure that there are no cords or long strings anywhere and keep the floor swept.

I say yes, you do need electrical outlet covers because they cant stick their fingers in there, but if they find a bobby pin, paper clip, or anything metal and stick it in there they will get shocked. I have found that I have a lot of stuff that she can play with that she "isnt supposed" to play with (but I actually dont care) and it satisfies her need to get into stuff. We have a section of old magazines on the bookshelf that she pulls out every single day, but she doesnt mess with any of the other books. There are kitchen rags (clean), granola bars, lids to mason jars, and tupperware all on a bottom shelf of the kitchen that she pulls out all over the floor. I dont mind, thats why I put them there. To me, the best babyproofing has been letting her think she is playing with stuff that isnt for babies. I dont have any drawers that roll out easily though. If I did, I would babyproof them because she has smashed a finger at grandmas that way.

[samstress]

not a darn thing. 

not true, did the outlet cover thing.  that's it.  that's all i did with dd, now four and that's all that remains.  was never an issue with her.  she just didn't get into things.  oh, i did have a gate between the living room and kitchen when dd was little. 

as ds (now one month) starts getting into things, i may do more baby proofing.

[SeattleRain]

I have really unsafe stairs (they have an area where there is no railing and no wall down at the bottom which would be a problem if he fell) so I have a gate blocking off the living room from the entryway where the stairs are. I also have a gate blocking off the kitchen where the kitty's food is, an I keep the bathroom door closed because that's where the kitty litter is. I also have outlet covers and I have one cord cover because Daniel kept pulling the cord out of the outlet that connects to the TV and that was annoying. Daniel eats paper so we tend to keep magazines and newspapers out of reach, but that's it.

Having a baby gate near the door can be really helpful. I often put Daniel behind the gate where he's safe and then unload the groceries without fear that he could get into mischief while I'm going back and forth to the car.

[Lillitu]

I did the outlet covers and baby gates to keep my son contained into one room that the cords and such were stashed away and his toys are. We have a latch on the cabinet below the sink (where there is bleach and things), but other than that nothing in bath or kitchen, as he is only in there with one of us.

[Jenni1894]

Outlet covers and a gate and a cabinet lock under the sink where the d/w soap and cleaning stuff is.  

The only reason I have a gate is so that she doesn't get up the stairs to the kitchen while I'm cooking.  I can keep a much better eye on her in the family room while in the kitchen.  I don't like her walking around and pull stuff out when I'm at the stove.   Or get down the stairs and play up and down which is her new thing and gives me a heart attack.   It's only 3 stairs to the family room....good learning stairs but if I'm at the stove, I can't be there to catch her!!

[expat-mama]

Originally Posted by Adaline'sMama 

Electrical outlet covers and a pair of tongs in between two cabinet handles (its where the compost is) is about it for us. I make sure that there are no cords or long strings anywhere and keep the floor swept.

I say yes, you do need electrical outlet covers because they cant stick their fingers in there, but if they find a bobby pin, paper clip, or anything metal and stick it in there they will get shocked. I have found that I have a lot of stuff that she can play with that she "isnt supposed" to play with (but I actually dont care) and it satisfies her need to get into stuff. We have a section of old magazines on the bookshelf that she pulls out every single day, but she doesnt mess with any of the other books. There are kitchen rags (clean), granola bars, lids to mason jars, and tupperware all on a bottom shelf of the kitchen that she pulls out all over the floor. I dont mind, thats why I put them there. To me, the best babyproofing has been letting her think she is playing with stuff that isnt for babies. I dont have any drawers that roll out easily though. If I did, I would babyproof them because she has smashed a finger at grandmas that way.

Yeah, this is pretty much us too. We have doors to every single room in the house including the kitchen except for the living/dining room area (just the way our house is) so if I don't want DS somewhere I can just close the door. We always keep the bathroom doors closed too, so no need for toilet covers or whatever and we don't lock up our bathroom stuff. There is one room with exercise equipment and heavy storage stuff that would be really unsafe for DS so we always just keep that door closed.

We did cover the corners of our coffee table though. Oh, and we recently padded a huge area of our place with foam mats because our floor is VERY hard (ceramic tile) and DS's knees were getting bruised crawling so much and I was worried about him starting to walk and cracking his head open. Seriously, the floors are so hard we all wear crocs around the house because otherwise our foot bones hurt.

[mra]

I put outlet covers on all the outlets and tucked away cords. I collect old glass bottles, so I moved any of those that were down low out of reach. That's pretty much it.

[mommy212]

we have cabinet locks on most of the kitchen cabinets, but that's more for my sake than his. When we move soon we will only be putting locks on the trash/chemicals cabinet. I use outlet covers but really have never found them useful lol. Not to be annoying but I am afraid I side with you DH on this one! I did not baby-proof by the book, but I was at home with him constantly and had the energy and motivation to teach him what to do/not to do all the time. You'd be surprised how quickly they catch on to things! 

As for the bathroom toilet lid locks- we just keep the door closed :)

[samstress]

Originally Posted by expat-mama 

We did cover the corners of our coffee table though.

oh, of course!  we did this with dd (probably the best thing we did) and will definitely do it once ds is up and mobile.

[LittleBirdy]

We put a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs, put any small objects up high (like our basket of car keys), and put a lock on the cabinet under the kitchen sink.  That's it.  Granted, he is in daycare 5 days a week and we are gone a lot on the weekends, so if circumstances were different we might have done more babyproofing.

[MsDolphin]

Originally Posted by mommy212 

As for the bathroom toilet lid locks- we just keep the door closed :)

Good thought - if it was just me & DH, it would done. However we have DSS (9) and DSD (7), no matter how many times they are reminded, just can't seem to remember to put the seat-cover down and close the door.

[whozeyermamma]

We'll probably have to just keep the bathroom door shut soon - too many temptations - the toilet, he likes to throw things into the tub and then reach for them (almost fell in on his head.)

We do outlet covers, hide cords, we have to do some of the cabinets with locks, we have a gate at the top of the stairs and one at the bottom. We anchored his dresser to the wall. Door to older DD's room needs to be shut b/c she has a loft bed he likes to climb. We will put a foam corner on one table with a particularly sharp edge.

For me it's not about being a safety mouse as much as the fact that I want to let him run as free as possible and not worry about it. I saw it once put here as "creating an atmosphere of 'yes." - meaning that you were not always saying "NO! Don't touch/do that!"

[new2this]

We did outlet covers and for the most part all cords have been tucked away but she has discovered how to get to them so we have to rearrange the furniture some to keep her from getting to them. I really hate our TV stand because the cords are just all there and so easy for her to crawl behind there now she is very determined at times to get there..lol 

We don't have a gate at the moment because we have been having heck of time finding one that fits and in our budget that is also in the store. But we will be getting one when DH gets home. the gate will just keep her from the stairs but we have to keep the stairs open for the dog. 

Outside of that everything that we don't want her to play with has been put up for the most part or if its breakable. 

Door gets closed to the bathroom. 

Outside of that its free range for her. yes I spend a lot of time chasing her around to keep her out of the dog dish but its not really fair to keep the water dish from the dog either so its just a constant battle till she learns she can't play with or looses interest in it. 

[Vaske]

We also anchored bookshelves to the wall, or put shims under the front edges to tilt them back toward the wall, to prevent them from tipping over.

Remember that babies quickly grow up into smart, active toddlers who may be able to climb, open doors, and generally thwart babyproofing products.  If you can install real locks to lock up chemicals, etc., you might as well do that now.

[coffeegirl]

We anchored a tall bookshelf to the wall because it made me nervous. (The anchor came with the bookshelf so it wasn't much trouble). We're going to get some cabinet-lock-thingies for the kitchen cabinets very soon. I have to put all the small trash bins in the house on top of tables or counters during the day because my little girl goes straight for those. And the big issue right now is trying to put cords out of the way/out of her reach. (which we still haven't figured out a solution to.) That's about it. We're not really into the idea of completely re-doing the house to baby-proof it. Mostly we'll keep an eye on her and when she gets older try and teach her to stay out of things she shouldn't be in.

[MsDolphin]

Originally Posted by new2this 

... I spend a lot of time chasing her around to keep her out of the dog dish but its not really fair to keep the water dish from the dog either so its just a constant battle till she learns she can't play with or looses interest in it. 

My DS too! He loves to play with water and the dog's water dish is such a temptation. LOL

[new2this]

LOL yes yesterday in a matter of 15 minutes I was about done with it all. 1st I am cutting up some fruit DD dumps the dish. And she watches me the minute I went into the fridge and turned my back to her she dumped it. Got it cleaned up and moved her and the phone rings. Trying to do both and she did it again. Get her and the mess all cleaned up and she is now in the jumper yelling/fussing because she don't want to be in there I made her mad and getting ready to set the dish down and the dumb dog comes by and knocks it out of my hands. So yeah I had my freak out moment which in turn left the dog looking at me funny and DD laughing. I seriously just wanted to cry..lol Today she hasn't touched it though just sat there looking at it. 
 

Originally Posted by MsDolphin 

My DS too! He loves to play with water and the dog's water dish is such a temptation. LOL

[Asiago]

On one of our well baby visits, the ped's staff actually inquires and writes down if parents have baby proofed the house. I definitely recall them asking about the toilet locks. We have had them installed for 9 months and just recently they have come in handy (almost daily!).

[Ellien C]

I'm in the pretty much nothing camp. We do have some gates near the stairs but both of my children learned to go up and downstairs safely well before they could walk. My son just belly sufs on down now - feet first. He's 14 months and he can get downstairs faster than me!

The cat water dish was a problem for awhile - maybe 6 weeks, but he stays out of it now. for the times he was interested, after 1 dump it got put up until later. The cats have other options for water and it was only ever up for a few hours at a time. Now, I will say that it is sometimes disturbing to find the baby sitting over the cat food bowl with a spoon in hand, but that's life with a little one.

Oh - we have moved all phones and remotes out of reach, much to baby's frustration.