Are your kids allowed in the kitchen

Until this point, I haven't allowed my kids in the kitchen except when they are contained in their high chairs. We didn't have it very baby/toddler proof. And, honestly, my floor is usually filthy and I didn't want them crawling around on it. Well, now I have things more baby proof and I'm working hard to at least Wet Swiffer the floor once a day. They are walking now too, so they aren't always directly on the floor. I've been letting them in the kitchen while they are supervised for the past two days. They think it is so cool! I'm sure part of it is that it's new. I'm wondering if they will ever learn to leave the dog dishes alone though. Will the new, fun aspect of that wear off? I'm also a little worried that they are going to go out the doggie door. It leads into a kennel, so they won't get too far, but for many obvious reasons, I still don't want them to discover it. Also, do you allow your kids in the kitchen while you are cooking?

 

Nope, my two are not allowed in the kitchen. They counter surf (worse than any dogs I've ever seen!) and can open the dishwasher, the refrigerator, and toss toys through the cat door. So no, they're not allowed in the kitchen unless I'm in there.

 

My kids have always had free reign of the house.

 

No, we have a baby gate that blocks the kitchen. They immediately went straight for the dog dish with food and water. It drove DH crazy so for the sake of his blood pressure we keep them out unless they are in their high chairs.

 

no, my kids are not allowed in the kitchen unless it's to go out the door. our kitchen and living room are open to each other but we have a baby gate to keep them out of the kitchen. when they do walk through the kitchen, they try to get into everything!

tanya

 

I gated them out until the gates no longer worked and then whoa nelly was that an adjustment! I don't know how many times they ran in and climbed up on the counters for something scaring me half to death. I'd suggest a gradual introduction. I started by letting them help me cook and by this I mean they'd scoop or dump or stir or shake a container of ground cinnamon. I put a hard emphasis on safety -- no touching knives, no using the stove, oven door stays closed, stay out of the refrigerator, this sort of thing. Now, they're in there whenever they like getting their own cup of water, getting out food (which they bring to show me and ask if they can have it), and they get to do things like put their own dishes in the dishwasher (I started that around 2). For the most part, they've quit wrecking the place but there are occasional slip ups...

 

Our kitchen would need to be gated in 3 places to keep them out. It's pretty much the center of our house and is a rather big room. So they have always had free reign. They actually have free reign over the whole house. Last weekend I had DH put cabinet locks on all of the cabinets because I was so tired of putting tupperware and other things back. The girls aren't too thrilled that they can't get into them anymore.

And the doggie door. YES! They will figure out how to go through it. Both of my girls have gone out of the door at least once. They haven't done it in awhile though. It's a pretty decent fall once you get through the door so I'm sure they don't want to fall again. They do sit at the door and open and close it all the time. Once they get out the door, the back yard is fenced. So if I didn't notice them for a few minutes, it wouldn't be a big deal. At least it keeps them entertained.

 

Once mine could crawl/walk I baby proofed the kitchen because they were MUCH happier in there with me (while cooking) then by themselves in the playroom. :good: I put locks on all the cabinets except one which I made theirs. It has all tupperware in there and wooden spoons, etc. and they know (now) that that is the only place they can explore. :good: No advice on the dog dishes/door as I don't have that in our kitchen, but it's definately easier. Oh and since they were young, while I was cooking I'd tell them to stay away and I've made boundries (like where our door is) and they can't come any closer then that to me or else they can get hurt. They do very well at listening to that. Of course, like with anything, it does take longer to cook and all but it's worth my sanity. :laughing:

 

Nope

 

Only when we're supervising. For now they have a gated play area they spend most of the time in, and we let them in the rest of the place when we're around to check on them. When we buy our house we'll baby proof everything and they'll have free reign of the house.

 

Mine are allowed in the kitchen. Our home is small and the first floor is the living room, dining room and kitchen. We have a door leading down to the family room and I usually lock it and we keep the cat food and kitty litter down there and I just let the cats out and in when they want. The kids can't get into anything major, it's mainly baby proof. When DH is cooking, I try to keep the kids occupied out in the living room and he does the same for me, doesn't always work but we try.

 

Yes they have always been in the kitchen with me. Our den and kitchen are open to each other and it is hard to keep them out. A baby gate would not fit. They do get to the dog food if I haven't picked it up prior to them coming in there. They are always trying to get stuff in the dishwasher if I am loading/unloading it. I just try to steer them away. Our cabinets are older and hard to open so I haven't had an issue with them trying to get into them yet. DD has a basket in the pantry with snacks that she can get whenever (raisins, prepacked pretzels, etc) She even hands me the chocolate for her milk. Bad habit I wish I had never started with her. She also LOVES to help me cook and since we have a big bar between the two rooms it's perfect for cooking with kids. Part of what I loved about this house.

 

The boys pretty much have free roam of all the public spaces of the downstairs except the bathrooms for obvious reasons. We do let them in the kitchen though it can be gated off and I do lock them out if there is a big mess on the floor (like after mealtimes) or while I am cooking sometimes. The outside of the dishwasher and the outside of the oven get pretty hot while they are running. I am also afraid I am going to trip over one of them and dump who knows what off the stove on them. If they are underfoot while I am cooking or getting into things I lock them them out. They do like to be able to see what I am up to so most of the time they will come in the kitchen, loose interest after a minute or two and either go stand at the back door, push the chairs or barstools around, or chase each other.

 

All of my kids have always been in the kitchen cooking/helping DH & I since they were little. They love it! The twins were there since babies as the other kids were already in there.

We think it's a good thing. My 11 yr old DD can make an apple pie ~including pastry~ from scratch by herself.

We have always had rules for safety when there are in there - DH has never had a problem sending them out if they were not behaving.

 

My girls are allowed in the kitchen, and they even have their own special drawers with all of their "cooking stuff". All the other cabinets have locks on them. It has been fine here, and it is a change of scenery for them. :good:

 

My lot have always been allowed in the kitchen. Both the twins houses have open plan style kitchens that you couldn't really block off, and with the set up of E & E's house I have to have them in the kitchen with me because if they were in any other room I couldn't see or hear them.

 

We keep the kitchen gated off ecpecially when I'm cooking! We have it pretty babyproofed but they still seem to make a huge mess everytime they are in there. My kitchen is MY space and one I like to be CLEAN ! It is also the cats baby free room.
I do let them in there if they are helping me cook or if it's a nasty rainy day and they are going crazy from being in the house!

 

Our kitchen is very open and connected to the rest of the "great room" so we do allow them in it. It's a pain in the but because they do try to get into things, but it's well-babyproofed so it's not too bad. Im sure I have a few extra grey hairs coming my way on account of their lifelong obsession with the dishwasher, and my futile attempts to curtail it! :lol:

 

When we had gates up, they were allowed in the kitchen, eating area, and family room. We had baby proofed the kitchen. With the layout of my house, if I didn't let them in the kitchen, that would have only left the family room for them. I also did not want to climb over a gate all day long to get to my kitchen. We took the gates down for good 3 months before they turned 2 and then they had free reign.

 

Yes. We have a small house so they have had the run of most of the downstairs...kitchen, dining room, and living room. We have a small back hallway off the kitchen that leads to the door outside, the door to the garage and the bathroom. I was able to gate that off and leave the cat dishes over there.

 

Yep, they are much happier hanging out with me in the kitchen, plus with our open kitchen/great room there would really be no way to keep them out. They know now (after being told many, many times) which drawers & cabinets they are allowed to play in (they figured out the cabinet locks within months of them being installed).