Help! - Lafayette,LA

My number 1 FAVORITE: Gates, I love gates. They keep my daughter and the dogs out of my kitchen, out of the hallway, and I can be doing something in another room without having to worry about whether or not my daughter is getting into something dangerous. My second favorite: Clamps for floor level cubbards, my toddler loves going into my pan shelves and taking all the pots and pans out so she can play with them. Drives me nuts because they have to be washed every time she does that. My 3rd favorite: door wedges. This is to keep the child in the room without locking them in. the doors in my house were improperly set before i moved in so the doors do not latch at all. I use an old bib to keep the door from being easily opened by little hands and it gives us both quiet time away from each other. (A daily requirement in my household, lol) But those are my three favorites.

We bought a product from Home Depot called Tot Loc.
It is a childproof way to lock cabinet doors, and it uses magnets. They were actually easier to install on the doors than the plastic stuff, and if you keep the magnet that opens it up high or hidden, they cannot open it at all.
The only downside is that you have to have the magnet handy when you need to get in that cabinet door, so it's best not to forget where you hide it.
G.

1. plug covers - plus extra b/c they get lost.
2. cabinet locks. bWe use the ones that hook inside the cabinet that we can open easily.
3. put things up! It makes life easier and safer. If they have a safe place to explore, everyone will be happier!

Tell me more about where you live, and I can give you more detailed ideas!!!

T.

I would get baby gates so that when you are busy cleaning or whatever, then you can make sure that your child is in one room only. You put a gate at each door of the room that your child can be in. Also, get the covers for the door knobs, so that your little one cannot unlock or lock the door and cannot open the door when he/she feels like it. I would go outside, to throw the garbage away or to get the groceries out of the car, and my youngest son would lock me out of my own house and I would have to climb in a window and it was not the funnest thing to do. He also started to unlock the front door and let our new puppy out, thank goodness the dog didn't run away, cause it is rather an expensive dog. The other thing that I would get ASAP is the hooks or clip things that go on the cabinet doors. My son liked to dig in the cabinet doors and play with whatever he could get his hands on. So I only kept the cabinet that had the pots and pans unlocked so that he could have a little door to play with. Your child will most likely get into everything, you just have to be ready to stop him/her before it harms them. These are the three things that I got as soon as my son started to crawl and get around on his own. And they helped alot, with not having toworry about him when I am trying to bathe another child or when I am cooking. I just knew that he couldn't get out the doors and he was only in the one room that I had gated off. Good Luck and have fun with your little one. Remember every child is different. My oldest boy really never got into that much stuff, but my youngest sure did.

Outlet covers are the most important. Also we ended up having to move floor lamps and picture screens because they were too easy to pull over. Now that the boys are a little older the doorknob covers and my baby gate to the kitchen are what we count on the most. Hope this helps.

for now, outlet covers (as well as the cover for plugs you keep in all the time) are a must and cabinet locks for chemicals (or just store your chems up high if you have the cabinets to do so). foam bumpers for corners saved us a few trips to the e.r. too. door stops are a good one or if you have doors you keep open most or all of the time, i found a wash cloth does well shoved into the top hinge where baby can't reach.

three things i wish i'd gotten now that mine's a toddler, but that can probably wait until he/she's tall or strong enough to pose a problem: cabinet and drawer locks(they will reach in and pull anything out that they can reach), refrigerator lock (mine loves to play with "the balls" aka eggs), and a toilet lock (i've thrown away many a toothbrush because i don't have one). but these are all things you can probably put off a few months to a year depending how curiousity and coordination coincide.

Everything listed is a great idea. My only addition is the outlet covers that actually replace the original one. If baby pulls a plug out of the wall, the cover slips over the outlet. These cost a lot more than the little white outlet covers you buy in boxes of 10 or 20, so save it for the locations that baby loves to play with the cords and you can't cover the area with furniture. We put ours in the kids' rooms over the outlet with a nightlight.

My other recommendation is not to go wild at first buying locks, gates, etc. See what your child gets into, then buy. My first baby needed a gate, cupboard locks, door knob covers, the works. My third baby didn't need any of those things, but the lock on the ice/water machine on the front of the fridge has been a lifesaver.

Best of luck,
S.

We also have a tot loc that was suggested by a previous mom. Several of my husband's relatives also use them. They work great, but it can be inconvenient since you have to have magnet to open the cupboard. We put the tot loc only on cupboards it would be dangerous for him to get into like the ones with the cleaning products. If it is just an annoyance for him to be in other cupboards I would use the latch ones, even if he can still get into it at least he'll have to work at it harder. My sister in law had this thing that goes on the top of the inside doors. I'm not sure what it is called, but it looks like a C. It is really thick foam and it keeps them from smashing their fingers in the door. Definitly get plug covers. The advice from an earlier mom was right one. If you don't want them to touch it put it up. Keep in mind above their head is not out of their reach. I made that mistake and learned the hard way. My 1 yr old seems to have go go gadget arms. My rule is if it isn't at the level of my armpits (I'm 5'7") he can probably reach it.

Cabinets and drawers....make sure that only you can access the contents inside them. Wall outlets...get the covers with the safety outlets that turn....it is worth the money. And last but not least...the door handles....make sure that only the adults can turn them.....children love to explore beyond their boundries!!

Hope that helps!!

S.

P.S. I got alot of my really good childproofing products at IKEA. Not too pricey.

Your first priority should be to lock up the chemicals/house cleaning supplies. Another priority is outlet plugs. my son goes after the outlets all day long! Put anything that is breakable or that you don't want your child getting into out of reach. Remember that out of reach means as high as they can get up on their tippy toes!:)

Outlet covers, door knob covers, and just good old fashioned moving breakable and dangerous items up high or just remove them completely... (by about 2 my little girl seemed to be able to scale tall buildings in a single bound so just putting things high up was pointless. But I find that since every child is different that safety percautions that will be most useful to each parent will be different as well. My daughter LOVED to climb so moving chairs, benches, or anything else that could be used as a stepping stool was a necessity to us. Some kids like to go outside without their parents so for them a high chain lock or door knob cover is essential... you'll learn your baby's mischevious ways soon enough and you'll make sure your home is safe for him/her. Good luck!

1.Cabinet slide locks that go on cabinet doors (entertainment center, etc). I liked these as opposed to the cabinet flex locks. This is what they look like:
http://www.safety1st.com/product.asp?productID=202

2. Door knob covers that cover the whole knob

3. Door latches at the very top of doors going outside. You'll have to get these from the hardware store. We weren't able to put one on our front door because it wouldn't fit, so we installed a dead bolt that could only be locked and unlocked with a key. As soon as they are able to start opening doors, believe me they will do it. Especially if they love being outside.

Biggest waste for us was a refrigerator door latch, it took my first son about 5 minutes to figure it out! Also the notches that hook inside cabinet doors and 'catch' when you try to open them...we have them but they haven't worked too well. Eventually they won't 'catch' very well, but there are other types of latches, I'd surely get some of those!

Good luck!

I have two boys...two very curious boys.

I can recommend 3 things.
(1) Tot Locks (for cabinets and drawers) - I bought mine at home depot. They're a bit expensive, but they work SO MUCH BETTER than those "catch and release" plastic latches. My daughter quickly figured out how to press down on the latch to open the cabinets.
(2) Door knob covers. Once your child gets old enough to reach door knobs a little bit, he/she can open them! The covers slip over the doorknobs and you have to press the cover down to grip the actual doorknob.
(3) Stove knob covers. You'll have to pull off the knobs to get them on, but they work great.

Have fun childproofing!

My top three worries were...outlets, the doors after he started pulling up, and gates keeping him out of the kitchen and bathroom where the chemicals for cleaning are kept. Plus I keep anything I don't want torn up in our bedroom and keep the door to that closed all the time. Also...I know this is more than three...but me and my husband got rid of our coffee table and bought a really big ottoman and used a tray on it so there were no sharp edges. The door was easy to fix, I just put one of those sliding bolt locks at the top of the door where only me and my husband could reach it...it was only like 1.50 for the kit at Wal*Mart. Good Luck!!!!