He's finally crawling!! Baby Proofing?

15 years ago

Brody made his first crawl about 2 weeks ago...now to the baby-proofing! I don't want to make my house a padded cell, but I don't want to put him in harms way. I feel like we should be able to teach him 'no' in order to keep him away from things. I have already blocked all the outlets, put corner guards on the low tables, and gated the top of the stairs and a gate blocking our LR/DR/KIT area off from the rest of the house. People have told me to remove my dining room chairs, take out my kit island stools, put safety locks on toilets, etc...none of which I have done. I haven't put knobs on the stove, taken up dog water bowls, stuff like that. My theory is that he shouldn't be left alone to drown in the dogs water bowls.

Am I being too lenient/unrealistic? Have I done enough? Thanks for any advice and for any other ideas you have.

Here is a link that might be useful: Brody's site and new pics/vids :)

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Comments (19)

paula_pa
15 years ago
With Nick we just took out the coffee table (sharp edges), secured the entertainment center to the wall and put gates up in the living room and it was great. If we needed to take our eyes off of him, he was safe in that area. I bought stuff to babyproof the computer wires but he never went near that corner of the room. We did outlet covers everywhere and put baby locks on the lower kitchen cupboards and the fridge. That was it for the rest of the house. With one child, I kept my eye on him every minute if he was outside the living room so I didn't worry about toilets or anything like that. If I found a trouble spot I did something about it. He never went near the stove, toilet or anything like that.

Now with Dan, it's going to be a different story! He started crawling this weekend and that kid is TROUBLE lol. He gravitates towards wires and anything he can bang his head off of. He loves to pull himself up and not everything can support a 20 pound baby. Nick was never a climber but we aren't going to be that lucky this time. And the living room is not as safe since Nick brings his toys in there (I moved the bins of unsafe small toys out of there but they still find there way in.) So we're still working on things for this child.

So I'd say that it's different for everyone. I would babyproof one room or area completely, do outlet covers and locks on any cupboards or drawers he can reach that contain anything truly dangerous. Make it a habit to keep the bathroom door shut and never let him in there alone (duh!) and the bathroom should be safe. You can go nuts securing every dangerous thing in the house but I don't think that realistic.
bearcat_va
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks...I did do the cupboard locks on all kitchen cabinets and bathroom cabinets. We didn't do the drawers in the kitchen but my low drawers are full of dish towels and tupperware. :)
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earthlydelights
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i did basically what you did - both with my son and now with my grandbabe that lives with me. the only thing additional, since she's a little older and walking and reaching, is never ever to leave things at the edge of counters. by this i mean when i am washing dishes, etc., to not have anything harmful - knives, glass, etc., at the edge either on the drying rack or a towel. i also go out of my way to block off the stove/oven when i'm cooking and rarely use the front burners. another is just to keep doors closed.

i taught no as well, and that works - with reinforement. if i had to leave the room, answer the door, phone, etc., there was the playpen or child seat, which could easily be taken into the bathroom if i had to be in there. but then again, like you said, you are not leaving a child alone.

maryanne
jannie
15 years ago
Lock up cleaners that could be poisonous. I thought I had everything put away until my 2 year old daughter toddled down to the basement, grabbed a gallon of bleach, opened it and took a swig. I called poison control, they said just wipe her mouth off with water and watch for vomiting. She survived but believe me the bleach went up on a high shelf.
earthlydelights
15 years ago
one other thing i would like to add....it's early yet because he's not pulling himself up, but last year there was a (sad) news story where a child was able to reach up and somehow the television fell on top of him.

that would have been something i never would have thought of needing "attention".
nodakgal
15 years ago
Good advice and you will have to see some of the other things that he is interested in and then baby proof whatever it is.
DD and DSIL moved the cat food and dishes into their bathroom, which they were very careful with. One day DD saw Drew sitting at the end of the hall off their bathroom...chewing on something! She ran to see what he had....ucky ucky Drew! LOL
Look at the bathroom floor in the background!

You can't be everywhere, but watch for the really important things like poisons and harmful stuff...you will know it when you watch him.
kathy_
15 years ago
Just a warning - and something to think about with toddlers. I saw a show about how a lot of kids drown in a bucket of water. They fall in and are top heavy and can't get back out. So if you use a bucket of water for car washing or floor washing please be careful.
Indy_Anna
15 years ago
I haven't read the other responses, so I apologize for any repeats.

You have done about as much as we did with our 4 yo and 18m olds. We have latches on cabinets under sinks, and one kitchen cabinet. We let the kids in the tupperware and pots/pans cabinet. I never did anything with the oven because they both grasped the concept of "hot" pretty early on and never went near it. I didn't do anything about the toilets because it was never an issue.

Our older son just required one notice, and he never went near it again. Our younger is much more curious. In the past year, he's lost 4 fingernails due to falls, drawers, or doors. Oddly enough, none of them would have been prevented by babyproofing because they weren't even at our house or were outside.

I'd say you've done a good job for now, and you'll just have to see how he does as he gets older. You may decide some of it isn't necessary, and other things may be overlooked.

You're doing a great job, and congrats on the latest milestone!
alisande
15 years ago
It's been a while since I've done any babyproofing, but I just wanted to say . . .

He's so cute!!!
gemini40
15 years ago
Where does the time go, it seems like he was just born and now he is almost walking. Brody is just adorable. I had 6 little ones at one time runing around, you are doing everything I would have done. Saying no is a good thing too.What a cutie .

june
ruthieg__tx
15 years ago
He is so precious...
maryanntx
15 years ago
No suggestions. Just wanted to say Brody is so cute!
Is he still having stomach problems?
marygailv
15 years ago
I don't know how old he was, but my cousin's son pulled the refrigerator over on himself when he had the door open and stepped on a shelf.
jennmonkey
15 years ago
You can buy hardware to screw bookshelves, tv stands, and dressers directly into the wall so if they try to pull themselves up with these things, they cannot tip over on them. Our newest bookshelf (bought this past weekend at IKEA) came with the little bracket and screws. Some of those things tip over pretty easily.

Brody is adorable!!
good36
15 years ago
I only locked up the "dangerous" things. Mine were allowed to play in the tupperware cupboard......LOL.

Is this cute boy the same one Mommy was worried because he did not smile???? Well I guess you can throw that worry out the window ha? He has the most adorable smile, bless his heart. Give him hugs and kiss's from Auntie Judy!!
lilliepad
15 years ago
Brody is adorable and obviously has no problem smiling now days! He definitely looks like his daddy!
I had 4 kids and never child proofed anything. Of course that was in the 60's and I guess we didn't know what "child proofing" meant.LOL They also all knew what "no" meant.They played in the commode,ate the cat and dog food,had the usual bumps,scratches bangs,even drank out of the dogs water bowl,climbed on the kitchen counter and top of dressers! They all have also swallowed their share of coins of different denominations (and other things),but that's a whole other story.LOL They also played in the pots and pans cabinet and with plastic bowls and wooden spoons.I did put dangerous liquids that normally one would keep under the sink in a high place but that's about it.They all survived!
As someone else mentioned,they should never be left alone long enough for those kinds of things to be a danger.The only thing I would do would be to anchor anything that might fall over on top of them to the wall.
lyndy_pa
15 years ago
He is adorable. I have no advise, as my kids are grown now. When mine were small I used a play pen. I don't thing anyone uses them anymore. It kept them safe.
stephanie_in_ga
15 years ago
We left a cabinet in the kitchen unlocked, too, bottom one full of plastic bowls/lids. My kids always had a blast with that, played with it all as much as their real toys! We have pictures of them inside an empty cabinet with all the plastic stuff on the floor. LOL. Ahhh, fun times!

Not much to add.

Pay attention to empty bathtubs right away, so he doesn't sneak back to it and fall in. Don't leave a bottle of asprin, etc out after you take some.

Mostly you'll see at you watch him and get on his level what could potentially be a dangerous situation.

I didn't worry about the kids eating the cat food (one taste is pretty much enough), I just didn't want to clean it up, so I moved that.
bearcat_va
Original Author
15 years ago
You guys, as always, are fantastic! I've hardly posted lately...gee, wonder why? :) Time sure takes a hold of you when you've got a little one!

Thanks for the great advice and the sweet comments. I am a little biased, but of course, I think he's pretty cute, too!

To answer some other questions, the tummy problems have been resolved by daily use of Miralax in the morning. We stopped the Zantac after the endoscopy results all came back negative. The doc said to continue using the Zantac, but I don't see why I should medicate a kid for a problem that he doesn't have.

Now that he's crawling and pulling up (and now cruising!!) he's a much happier baby. He still doesn't babble at all, but I just think that he's busy doing other stuff.

Thanks again for all the advice! Hugs to all the KT Aunties!

He's finally crawling!! Baby Proofing?

Comments (19)

paula_pa

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He's finally crawling!! Baby Proofing?

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