TTMA Baby proofing

[GOmamab15]

I don't wanna. But I guess I have to? 
Talk to me about what you have done/plan to do about baby proofing.
STMs, tell me it'll be okay? Tell me if I have to buy all the products? 
I have a ton of the outlet plugs and some corner thingies.  What the hell do I do with my mess or cords by the TV? Throw out the TV? Become Amish? 

[frecklesnbrains]

I have the same questions/anxieties! But I also just want to say that pic made me LOL. We've been packing for our move and this is exactly what DH looked like trying to untangle and organize the mess behind our TV and audio system. It's pure chaos. I want to use some cord organizers when we set up in the new place.

[pbandj714]

I don't look forward to this either.

Luckily, we already have our family room gated off so that the dog can't pee on the carpet while we're gone, so I'm going to mostly focus on that room in the beginning. Our TV stand is all open shelving, so we plan to get a big sheet of plexyglass and attach it to the front so that the little people can't get to the DVR, cords, picture frames, etc. Outlet covers, I think we'll need some sort of box to go around the one outlet behind DH's recliner that we have to have things plugged into because I'm sure it will tempt them. We'll need to tether the TV for fall hazard. I'll likely move the blanket ladder or tether that down, too. Luckily no coffee table to worry about. We'll actually have to keep the side tables clear of junk. Ha.

[pbandj714]

As for the rest of the house.....ughhhhhh.

[manybellsdown]

Outlet covers like these are the BEST: www.amazon.com/Safety-Baby-Self-Closing-Outlet-Covers/dp/B011WLTCHW/

We have those throughout our house. We have big squishy cushions from BRU on hard furniture corners. Cords are actually behind the wall. I'd consider a big gate around a cord mess if such a permanent option doesn't appeal to you. We have gates at the stairs. All dressers, bookcases, and other large pieces are tethered to the wall.

Our kitchen is open to the family room and main play area, and we tried to get cabinet locks. They didn't work with our cabinets, so we haven't had anything. This actually hasn't been a big deal at all. We just redirect her or explain the cabinets aren't for playing when she went for them. But that honestly happened very rarely. I hope this baby is the same way.

tldr
My biggest priorities, as STM, would be tethering big things and covering outlets. Gates at stairs. And you should have a few months still!

[greysonsmom]

We have outlet covers, locks on the kitchen cabinets, tv is mounted and wires behind the wall, gate on the stairs. DS was a climber from a young age so his furniture is secured to the wall along with the wall unit in the playroom.

My aunts gave me a hard time about my fireplace and coffee table but DS was fine with both, I never baby proofed either. We will see with DD.

DS has prepared me for dealing with what seemed like the impossible.

[amiet79]

greysonsmom, love the picture. DS1 was a climber, too. Nothing was safe.

We used outlet covers, mounted the tv, organized our cords and used baby gates for the stairs. Other than that, we didn't do too much baby proofing. Our bottom drawers in our kitchen are either empty or have plastic containers.

One thing I'm worried about is all of the Lego we have lying around. I didn't have to worry about safe toys when DD was smaller since DS1 was only 2 when she was born and all of his stuff was safe for her, too.

[greysonsmom]

amiet79 I'm worried about small toys too, going to have to find a solution for that.

[origamimommy]

Gates, outlet covers, corner covers are all pretty basic. What surprised us was needing a refrigerator lock, door things, and definitely close up the cabinets, especially ones with dangerous items like dishwasher and laundry tablets, cleaners, etc.

MOUNT YOUR FURNITURE. I can not stress this enough. A tragedy happened in another close knit mom group I am in and I can not stress it enough. MOUNT YOUR FURNITURE.

[pbandj714]

Nov 17, 2016 13:14:41 GMT -5 origamimommy said:

Gates, outlet covers, corner covers are all pretty basic. What surprised us was needing a refrigerator lock, door things, and definitely close up the cabinets, especially ones with dangerous items like dishwasher and laundry tablets, cleaners, etc.

MOUNT YOUR FURNITURE. I can not stress this enough. A tragedy happened in another close knit mom group I am in and I can not stress it enough. MOUNT YOUR FURNITURE.

Ugh, that so terribly sad. I've got goosebumps just thinking about it.

[sandandsea]

We covered outlets and secured all things to the wall. We will also block off the staircase once he's crawling. All of our cords are behind furniture. We also have cabinet locks for dangerous cabinets. We keep knives and cleaning products up high anyway.

I'm really not too worried about it and am not protecting from corners or things like that.

[bgkc4]

Nov 17, 2016 13:12:57 GMT -5 greysonsmom said:

amiet79 I'm worried about small toys too, going to have to find a solution for that.

I'm worried about change! DH has a bad habit of leaving lose change sitting around. Kids love to put coins in their mouth. Every time I see lose change in the house I think "choking hazard."

[bgkc4]

I'm not looking forward to baby proofing. We have a fireplace which will need a gate. The stairs leading to upstairs and the basement stairs will need gates. Do you place the gate at the bottom of the stairs, at the top, or at the top and bottom? I'll get outlet covers, but cabinet locks will be a problem. DH does the cooking, and I know it will be hard getting him to agree to lock kitchen cabinets. He doesn't even like to shut cabinets, let alone lock them. Sigh. The Living Room TV Sits up high on a mantle, but the cords hang low, so we'll have to find a way to hide them. This is really not going to be fun. And the bedroom and nursery furniture will be mounted.

[frecklesnbrains]

We have the joy of unpacking a new house AND baby proofing simultaneously. It's annoying because we're going to be replacing a lot of our furniture over the next year or two and so I'm sure we'll secure things to the wall only to have to tear them down after a short time period.

[greysonsmom]

I only have a gate at the bottom of the stairs because the kids are only upstairs for bedtime.

[manybellsdown]

Nov 17, 2016 13:14:41 GMT -5 origamimommy said:

Gates, outlet covers, corner covers are all pretty basic. What surprised us was needing a refrigerator lock, door things, and definitely close up the cabinets, especially ones with dangerous items like dishwasher and laundry tablets, cleaners, etc.

MOUNT YOUR FURNITURE. I can not stress this enough. A tragedy happened in another close knit mom group I am in and I can not stress it enough. MOUNT YOUR FURNITURE.

This is so sad. I can't think about it. I'm so sorry for your friend. This is why I stressed mounting/tethering as a priority even though I DON'T have a climber. Anything can happen.

[babyzebra]

The most important thing to me is mounting furniture. DS is a big time climber, so everything is bolted to the wall. He also likes to chew on cords, so all of those are hidden. We use baby gates still to keep him contained and out of the kitchen. We also have child-proof doorknobs so he can't escape. Basically, we're on 24/7 lockdown over here! 😃

[pbandj714]

When the time comes for doorknob covers, I will be so annoyed with how many doors we have in our house. SO MANY DOORS.

[babyzebra]

Nov 18, 2016 8:48:28 GMT -5 pbandj714 said:

When the time comes for doorknob covers, I will be so annoyed with how many doors we have in our house. SO MANY DOORS.

Those doorknob covers are really the worst. So annoying (but so important for some kids)! I actually started developing a problem in my right wrist from having to use them so much. We had to switch to a different kind since I need my wrist to not be painful for my job.

[pbandj714]

Nov 18, 2016 8:53:17 GMT -5 babyzebra said:

Nov 18, 2016 8:48:28 GMT -5 pbandj714 said:

When the time comes for doorknob covers, I will be so annoyed with how many doors we have in our house. SO MANY DOORS.

Those doorknob covers are really the worst. So annoying (but so important for some kids)! I actually started developing a problem in my right wrist from having to use them so much. We had to switch to a different kind since I need my wrist to not be painful for my job.

Oh wow! I swear some of them are also adult-proof! Our neighbors have a ton of them in their house and I could barely figure them out.

[vivela]

For those of you who have already baby proofed, what products do you have and like?

[greysonsmom]

Like these for cabinets and pantry doors



We have quite of few of these



This gate sucks, save your money

[2dogs2kids]

One thing Ive learned about baby proofing is it never ends and toddler proofing is hell. You will have to get creative and kind of let your child show you what is going to be a problem. Whats attractive and a problem for one child may not even interest yours.

At first we just used a baby cage (free standing octagon pen). He was happy to have toys and it helped him learn to pull up. Once he started walking he wouldn't go in it, but its still useful because it can be opened and taken apart. Last year we used it as a blockade for the christmas tree.

Wall mount the TV and build a shelf above for cable box etc and a cord channel down the wall. Outlet box so you can have things plugged in and not accessible to LO.

Outlet covers. I like the clear flat ones they seem to work best DS1 washable to get all the other ones out. And he figured out the slide to use outlet plates.

Baby gates, DS1 figured out how to open ours so we ended up using cabinet latches till we got new ones.

Cabinet and drawer locks. for ILs house we decided on the magnetic ones because you can turn them on and off but I find them annoying because you always have to have the magnet to open it and basically you can't open it one handed. At home we have ones you can open one handed. They aren't that great though because you can still open the drawers/cabinets a few inches.

Door handle locks and if you have a bifold door a lock for that to prevent pinched fingers.

I don't have blinds but if you do make sure to get something for the cord.