Making The House Safe Without Tying Up Your Toddler

Since moving into my in-laws' house, I've had to tackle the whole issue of childproofing all over again.

Okay. Granted I never really tackled it the first time. Sure, I put those plastic thingies in the plugs and put the safety doodads on the cabinets in the kitchen (do you like my use of technical terms here people?), but other than that, it was mostly trial and error.

The whole childproofing thing is actually a big debate. Many folks hire someone to come in and "appraise" their house in terms of what they might consider doing to make it safe for their little one. I'm not really against that, considering as a first-time mom and someone who didn't really have friends with kids, I was in SHOCK as to how much they get into and how quickly it happens.

It's like one day they are laying on their back and not able to go anywhere and the next day they have all your make-up on and are using a bottle of Tylenol as a maraca.

However, I'm also a fan of making your house still your home - meaning, not putting away every single thing you own because it could be potentially hazardous. Let's face it. ANYTHING could be potentially hazardous to a 2-year-old.

But now I'm dealing with stairs (two sets), lots of cabinets, doors with locks on the inside (my biggest fear), and a whole bunch of fragile crap knick knacks. And while I'm fortunate to have a daughter who really doesn't get into much *knocks on wood*, I'm still thinking we need to go through the house and make sure stuff is out of reach - blind cords, electrical wires, you name it - while still not giving in to my secret obsessive tendencies.

So, what are some things you are adamant about childproofing? What's your method? Any handy tips you can share?

--

You'll see a new blog on my sidebar - product reviews, contests, etc. Check it out. Just some cool stuff, plus some great contests. No harm. Takes 2 seconds.

Comments

[Kelly]

We did the cabinet things and the drawer things and the outlet plug things. The best thing we do is that all doors stay closed. Bathroom doors, bedroom doors, *any* door stays closed at all times (our living area is open concept so the living/dining/kitchen are all open to each other). Stairs he figured out a long time ago, so we don't worry about that anymore (he's a cautious one). He did lock himself into his bedroom once when I scooted out for a sec to grab a diaper, but after the initial panic I realized I could unscrew the knob and open the door like that. We'll be getting knob-lock-protector thingies soon.

[MaggieN]

We did the usual child proofing: outlets, cabinets, all medicines and cleaners out of reach or locked up. We don't have stairs so that is not an issue for us. I am also not worried about locked doors because there is a way to unlock a locked door from the outside. My sister and I learned this as children so that we could easily torment each other as sisters do. All you need is a small flat tip screwdriver and you insert it into that little hole in the outside of the doorknob. You can feel around the inside of the lock with the screwdriver and there is a little indention in the lock that the screwdriver fits right in. When you feel it is in the right place put a little pressure to hold the screwdriver in place and turn it counter-clockwise. The door should unlock easily. I have found this an extremely useful skill. I have even locked rooms that I want to keep the kids out of and then I just unlock it this way when I need to get into the room. I hope this is helpful.

[Sara]

Given your in-laws tendency to charge for the slightest thing, I would say go for protecting the breakable stuff that would hurt Q if she broke it first, in order to help enlist their cooperation (if that's even possible). (If their cabinet have handles, you can try rubber bands around them if you don't think Q will be able to pull them off, and that will save having to install anything permanent.) There are also gates that are pressure mounted (so you don't have to (gasp!) put holes in their walls) that are supposed to be strong enough for stairwells...although not as safe as wall mounted ones, they're better than nothing! My big fear was also the stove, so I put up these thingys on the front knobs, as well as a shield across the front of the stove top. They are easy to put on and remove, and really don't get in your way much. One other thing...I would recommend trying to make sure that both glass and heavy canned goods are out of her reach. My friends's daughter dropped a can on her toe this weekend and it was not pretty! While she's fine and it could have been much worse, there was blood everywhere and lots of screaming and tears. Oh, and I also try to keep my dishwasher locked at all times to that my daughter doesn't open it and grab knives, sharp forks, or large glass bowls or anything of the sort. Good luck!

[el-e-e]

This may be painfully obvious but we just tuck the cords of our window blinds back behind the blinds, at a height that baby can't reach. Or tie them in a knot up high.

I was adamant about locking cabinets with unsafe things in them (under the sinks where we keep all the cleaning stuff; the cabinet with my never-used creme brulee torch)...and I put knives in the way-back of the dishwasher. But I left some cabinets available (pots and pans). Kids have to be allowed to explore a *little* bit. :) I also left most of my knick knacks around because they also have to learn that there are some No-Nos, much as everyone hates that word nowadays.

We used pressure-mount baby gates (and "no-no, honey") on our stairs and have been just fine. We also have spindles across the top landing on the stairs, and mounted netting so he didn't squeeze through the spindles (horror!) It's been one of our best purchases.

[Awesome Mom]

I have the living room completely childproofed. Any thing that they get into is moved ect. Plus any exits from the room are gated off. That gives me the peace of mind especially when I need to leave the room for somtehing. The upstairs I am a lot more lax about. When they are up there they go nuts but it is also fun for them to have more chances to explore. I love that I don't have to be hyper vigilant and can just relax and play with them.

[jaelithe]

I've used the same trick Maggie mentioned with the doors that lock from the inside: most of the locking knobs, especially the older ones, have a little hole in the center of the knob on the side without the lock. If you stick a long thin rigid object-- doesn't have to be a screwdriver; you can use an ice pick or in some cases a thin pen-- inside that hole when the door is locked from the other side, and jiggle it a bit, it will trip the lock and allow you to open the door.

I learned this trick because one of my cousins LOVED to lock himself in rooms when he was Q's age . . .

I really like the outlet plates from Safety 1st that flip shut the moment you pull the cord out. They're better than the plain old plastic plug covers, in my opinion, because you don't have to rely on, ahem, the non-maternal personages in the household to actually remember to put the plastic plugs back in when they unplug something. I don't know if you'd want to go to the trouble of installing them in a temporary residence, though.

I've tried the plastic doorknob covers to keep my son out of certain rooms, and they worked until about two months ago when my son figured them out. Since he's about the same age as Q I expect she would probably figure them out pretty quickly, too.

Have you checked to see if Q is tall enough and coordinated enough to lock/unlock any of the main entry doors to the house? My son has figured out how to unlock our front door, and it terrifies me, because I think he could just escape in the night. Luckily he's pretty timid and would probably be too scared to leave without us, heh. We can't put another lock on the door higher up, because it's a steel door, and this is a rental property, and I don't think they would appreciate us drilling through the steel . . . Lately I've been thinking of installing a medieval-style bar across the door. Heh.

[Kristen]

Thanks folks. These rock.

And yes Jaelithe. My daughter can open the screen door (front door). I learned this as I watched her do it and walk outside.

LOVELY.

[picklemommy]

You may want to look into the new sorts of removable refrigerator door locks like this one for the doors http://www.hechinger.com/web/catalog/product_detail.aspx?pid=78999&cm_ven=Froogle&cm_cat=Building-Remodeling&cm_pla=Safety%201st&cm_ite=Safety%201st-Hardware-78999&cid=5EE46E016868025BDC5A7A98B1F1D4C9
(sorry for the long link)
The only additional proofing we have done is adding the foamy things to the tops of our interior doors. We have 2 boys who LOVE to slam doors, and a close friend whose son almost lost his pinky in a door so we are vigilant.