For fun again: what strange things have you done to your house to "toddler-proof" it?

[McGucks]

1.  We've had to hide all the fruit.  Otherwise, our LO points at it and whines and it drives us nuts.

2.  If he's in the bathroom, the t.p. is cleverly concealed between the window and the screen so he won't eat it.

3.  All the kitchen chairs are on their backs on the floor so he won't climb on the table and break his head.

4.  All books with paper pages (that aren't board books) are in the basement.

5.  All shelves below our belly button-level have toys or board books on them.

6.  Our stick-style vacuum cleaner and its charger have to be in the bathroom with the door closed.  Otherwise he runs it 24/7.

7.  We eat our dessert in secret after he goes to bed.

[Marissamom]

all food is stored up high.

[organicviolin]

we have a jewelry lock box on a sliding glass door cabinet lol

[MamieCole]

Our fridge is taped shut w/clear packing tape.

There is no wine in our wine cabinet. Had to move it to the pantry. 

The dead bolt on our front door is always locked, otherwise he will leave. 

Our pantry doors are folding doors and the two knobs are tied together w/ribbon to keep him from pillaging our entire food supply. 

All of my toiletry items (makeup, lotion, deodorant, hair products, etc) are on the counter in the bathroom and the drawer intended to house these items is empty. You can guess which location is at the toddler level. 

[EmTheWife]

There's a baby gate in the fireplace to keep him from playing with the ashes.

[SilverFish]

all our chairs are laid seat down on top of the tables. i'm guessing this will only work until the first time she yanks one off the table on top of her... for now though they're too heavy, and plus it makes sweeping the floor really easy! my dining room floor has never been so clean.

there's a baby gate in the door of her room to make an extra large play pen. 

the two cabinets in the kitchen without safety locks on them generally have a garbage bag looped around them. i don't care too much if she gets into them (not a safety hazard), it's just annoying.

there's a little set of steps attached to our bed... it was the only way to get her to stop trying to climb on and off the bed very unsafely herself. now she makes a beeline for the steps and it's prevented a lot of concussions! 

the cat litter box has a heavy side table on top of it and a bunch of heavy things piled on top to keep her from trying to pry the roof off and going exploring. 

[anjsmama]

  Mine DID leave, with the deadbolt locked. 1/4 mile down the road at the pool when the police found him (yea, I had to call 911..). So mine would be modified to, the deadbolt on our door is always locked, as well as a chain has been added, and a squeeze-the-sides door cover remains on it at all times. Locked windows too.

I decluttered in the purging version to more or less get rid of anything that DS was going to break, harm himself with, trip over, climb on and fall off, or what have you. These shelves you all speak of? We have none. 

We have 1 bookshelf and it's full of about 200 board books. One toy chest full of toys. And nothing but open space for DS to run in circles (which he does, continously) without killing himself!
 

Originally Posted by MamieCole 

Our fridge is taped shut w/clear packing tape.

There is no wine in our wine cabinet. Had to move it to the pantry. 

The dead bolt on our front door is always locked, otherwise he will leave. 

Our pantry doors are folding doors and the two knobs are tied together w/ribbon to keep him from pillaging our entire food supply. 

All of my toiletry items (makeup, lotion, deodorant, hair products, etc) are on the counter in the bathroom and the drawer intended to house these items is empty. You can guess which location is at the toddler level. 

[carmel23]

I have clear packing tape on the fridge, too!  Too many times I hear him saying, "EGGIES!" um, when breakfast is waay over!  And I look and he is cracking eggs on the floor, or in the fridge. 

All the chairs of the house have to be out on the porch, or in the bathroom with the door shut.  Shortly after he walked at 8.5-9 months he started CLIMBING on the chairs.  Now even tucking them in, etc. doesn't work because he will move them, pick them up, and them push them where he wants to go to climb on the table, counter, etc.

Child lock on the washer.... yes!  And I have to block the washer area or I will suddenly hear the washer turn on with nothing in it by my little helper. He loves everything that spins "AROUND AND AROUND" as he calls it.... everything, fans, balls, gears, wheels, the boy loves his around and around.

We have to hide squirt bottles, since he is obsessed with them!  He has his own, but he wants them *all*

He loves the coffee grinder, and calls it "GING GING"  He often wants to take it to bed............

I love toddlers.... they are just weird

[bignerpie]

Originally Posted by carmel23 

We have to hide squirt bottles, since he is obsessed with them!  He has his own, but he wants them *all*

He loves the coffee grinder, and calls it "GING GING"  He often wants to take it to bed............

Mine too!! And now his big thing is fans. Nice to know mine's not the only one with the squirt bottle/coffee grinder obsession! 

[batsister]

We have a chain at the top of our front door, too, because my son can unlock the other two locks.

I try to keep the drying bathing suits hidden from him-- otherwise he will beg, "pool, pool" incessantly.

We have a small suitcase that holds some of his extra toys and also blocks his access (usually) to the (non-kid, tearable-page) books and other breakable things at the bottom of an end table.

We avoid leaving knives on the kitchen table or anywhere near the edge of the counter now... we've had him climb or reach and bring us sharp knives a couple of times.

We have an empty cardboard box wedged between a baby gate and our TV cabinet so that he can't just lean on the gate and reach the buttons on the TV, etc.

[carmel23]

Originally Posted by batsister 

We have a chain at the top of our front door, too, because my son can unlock the other two locks.

I try to keep the drying bathing suits hidden from him-- otherwise he will beg, "pool, pool" incessantly.

We have a small suitcase that holds some of his extra toys and also blocks his access (usually) to the (non-kid, tearable-page) books and other breakable things at the bottom of an end table.

We avoid leaving knives on the kitchen table or anywhere near the edge of the counter now... we've had him climb or reach and bring us sharp knives a couple of times.

We have an empty cardboard box wedged between a baby gate and our TV cabinet so that he can't just lean on the gate and reach the buttons on the TV, etc.

the door is a big fear of mine!

[cyclamen]

The lemon juice is in the freezer because I was tired of arguing with her about whether or not I wanted lemon juice on my food. 

[carmel23]

Originally Posted by cyclamen 

The lemon juice is in the freezer because I was tired of arguing with her about whether or not I wanted lemon juice on my food. 

  you mean you *don't* want lemon juice in all of your food?  :LOL

[hildare]

All of my toiletry items (makeup, lotion, deodorant, hair products, etc) are on the counter in the bathroom and the drawer intended to house these items is empty. You can guess which location is at the toddler level. 

yeah well, we don't even HAVE the drawers in in our bathroom anymore... even empty, apparently they were fun.  our bathroom drawers are in our closet.

[mkksmom]

Originally Posted by batsister 

We have a chain at the top of our front door, too, because my son can unlock the other two locks.

I try to keep the drying bathing suits hidden from him-- otherwise he will beg, "pool, pool" incessantly.

We have a small suitcase that holds some of his extra toys and also blocks his access (usually) to the (non-kid, tearable-page) books and other breakable things at the bottom of an end table.

We avoid leaving knives on the kitchen table or anywhere near the edge of the counter now... we've had him climb or reach and bring us sharp knives a couple of times.

We have an empty cardboard box wedged between a baby gate and our TV cabinet so that he can't just lean on the gate and reach the buttons on the TV, etc.

Genuis!!! So glad I read this thread. That's what we're going to have to do.

We only keep an office chair in the kitchen. The rest are gated off in the dining room because she will climb them. The office chair is too high and moves too much, so that one is safe. Bath tissue is kept on the window sill, and hand towels in the bathroom are becoming an issue. Might have to start keeping them on top of the dryer in the laundry room. She keeps pulling them down and putting them in the sink.