Child Proofing a Home

it would be the parents responsibility. However, I have baby proofed my house. I just taught my child how to not climb and gave him/her certain pans they could play with while I was cooking. Actually, they had their own cabinet and we kept tupperware and old pans and wooden spoons in there for them to play with. Wasn't a problem.

I'm assuming you are the nanny..... I think you need to sit down with the parents and have a good discussion about home safety. I doubt that you get paid enough to go out and purchase your own child safety products.

Are you responsible for the toddler ALL the time, or just a certain set time period? Do the parents interact with the toddler much, or is he/she in bed when they get home? They may not realize how active he/she is, or what a toddler can get into when you are prepping a meal.

The parents certainly should be. But everyone has different ideas about what needs to be childproofed and what should just require careful supervision. I think it depends on your comfort level compared to the risk.

Technically the parents. But they may not be on the same page as you about what should be 'child proofed' and what should simply require close supervision. My house has no stairs and we did NOT childproof at all (we would have put gates at the stairs if we had had any and we had previously attached our heavy bookshelves to the wall as a general safety precaution).

As far as I was concerned, toddler fingers don't fit in electrical outlets and my son was not issued metal implements that would. When we cooked, he 'helped' (mixed, measured, was somehow involved) or he played right there where I could see him. My son didn't climb the furniture because I was right there to tell him 'furniture is not for climbing' and distract him with something he could do.

When there was a fragile item he wanted to see, we took it down for him and let him look or carefully hold it. We have LOTS of glass and ceramics and the only people who have broken pieces are the cleaning lady and DH, not my son.

Perhaps you and the parents need to discuss both of your expectations in a realistic way.

It depends on the nanny's role in your child's life and, I guess, how busy you are. We did childproofing on an as-needed basis. We believe in teaching the baby not to touch certain things, so we didn't want to cover the whole house, but he took his first steps at six months and wasn't too steady and wasn't hearing every "no". We have hard floors throughout, so I got him a helmet and covered the sharp corners. His play area was in front of the fireplace, so we got bumpers for that. Then we worked with the nanny to determine what else should be "proofed" and when. When he started noticing the outlets, we plugged them. When he started opening cabinets, we locked only the one under the sink. Unless it's something really dangerous, we just wait until he notices it and see how he responds being told to leave it alone. This is his home, so he has the right to explore. Sometimes he just wants to know "What's in there?" We let him check it out and then teach him to leave it alone. That usually works.

To answer your question, I think that it's a joint effort. The parents should take the initiative, but the nanny keeps an eye on the baby and lets the parents know what holds the baby's interest. Because I want the nanny to be more of a personalized babysitter-tutor-extension of me than a surrogate mother, I take her suggestions and make the final decisions. She let us know when she thought it was time to go out and get the 'proofing stuff. As I said, we use it as it is needed. We came home one day, and she had the cabinet under the sink locked.

As parents we did it..

It was not a one time deal.. Our daughter walked unassisted at 6 months, so she did not always understand "no".. We still used the words.. "we do not touch we just look with our eyes" and then redirected her. Or we would say,, "hot" and move her away.. etc.. we also closed the doors so that she was only able to be in one room at a time.

Since you are there with the child most of his/her awake hours.. You may want to make a list of things you feel need to be made baby proof.

We even had a glass table with no bumps or bruises even with the visiting children.. We just taught them not to bang on it or climb on it. I did put our expensive crystal away for years. I just could not chance it being broken..

Also placing a child in a swing, jumpy or activity seat close to you while you cook also works.. Sometimes I placed our daughter in her high chair with some toys.. and a few snacks.. while I was doing something in the kitchen.. Her high chair had wheels. .

It sounds like you are the nanny? The parents of course are responsible, but if they are not home much during the day with the toddler, they may not realize what the toddler can reach now. They grow so fast!

If the idea is to teach the child not to touch the objects or go where they do not belong the chore falls on both.

If it's the parents home where the child is being watched, it's the parents responsibilities. If it's the nanny's home where the child is to be watched, then it's the nanny's responsibility, but it's up to the parents to see that they child proof the home properly or you will take your child elsewhere. It's you job no matter where your child is being watched that the home is safe. Your home, your job and cost. Their home, their job and cost and yours to see that it is done correctly or you take your child elsewhere.

***I was reading posts from others with the possibility of a live in nanny. If the nanny lives in it is still the parents job to child proof their home, unless they give the nanny the materials and a list and asks them to add outlet plugs and door locks or whatever while they're away at work or whatever. It's still the parents responsibility to go back and check that the nanny's work was done correctly.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

I never child proofed my home, but I assume whoevers house it is.

I have never baby proofed my home. I currently watch my 11 month old nephew and have watched him in my home since he was 6 weeks old. If he gets into something he should not be in he gets a stern no and gets redirected. I have glass Partylite products on my coffee table and after a couple no's and redirection he does not touch them. I don't believe in putting all my stuff away just because I have a child in the house. And I do have 2 children of my own who have been taught the same thing.

If this is the way the parents want to work at it then it is both of your responsibilities. If they want to remove everything or put up gates and that then it is the parents responsibility.