Childproofing

I'm starting to childproof the house and am wondering what products and brands worked for you and what didn't work for you? There are a LOT of options out there - especially in One Step Ahead, but I didn't know if there was anything similar that was a bit cheaper you all liked.

I've got all the electrical outlets covered and am thinking about gating our family room, buying the toilet seat locks, corner covers for the tables etc.

Any insight is appreciated!

Thanks!

 

All I've done so far is the outlet covers in their playroom, a gate between the family room and kitchen and a gate at our front steps. I'm a tad behind, I know! They are one already!

 

I babyproofed as needed. And ultimately, I did not need to do a whole lot, since my kids were a little older before they were proficiently mobile! We got rid of clutter and knick knacks. We put outlet covers on and just locks on the cabinets under the sinks. We bought one gate to keep them out of the kitchen, and then everything else was totally fair game. We have a small house and so when I wanted to keep them out of the rooms, I just closed the doors. We bought locks for the doors but never had to use them. By the time they were old enough to know how to use them, they were also old enough to understand the word no.

 

We found just keeping them in gated areas works best for us. We also use the plug covers and some drawer pulls.

 

I agree with pp in that we kind of did it as we found what could be a potential hazard. We started off with the plug covers. We used to use a pack n play to block them off from entering the other rooms and the staircase. Then we put the gate at the bottom of the stairs so that they could move around the house more. We bought safety locks for the cabinet under the sink where all the cleaning supplies were and to this day, it is the only cabinet in the kitchen that they can't open. All other cabinets are for them to explore. I removed anything that appeared to be dangerous in anyway (like our grater and any glass products) so that they could explore everything else. We put safety locks on the dining room cabinets since there is A LOT of different kinds of stuff that they just don't need to be getting into. Then when they started pulling up, we put the stove covers on which are awesome. We never put a toilet lock on our downstairs bathroom because we keep it closed at all times. We are just too scared that fingers will get broken. Lorien liked to put her fingers inside where the hinges are one day her sister started to close the door and I almost had a heart attack and thankfully was able to stop it in time. Until they understand, they just aren't allowed to play with doors and as soon as they can reach the doorknobs, I will be putting covers on those as well. If you do let your kids in the bathroom then I recommend the toilet paper lock. When my girls are in the bathroom with me, they love to pull the paper down We re-arranged our living room a bit. We took out the tables to both of our living rooms to not only give them more room but we just felt it was safer for them (climbing issues, glass, some semi-sharp edges). Our next step is to put a gate at the top of the stairs because I keep having nightmares that they will get out of their crib in the middle of the night and fall down the stairs. What can I say, I guess I'm a bit paranoid but better safe than sorry.

 

The only things I have had to buy are the plug in things, cabinet locks, door handle covers, and baby gates. All of the safety products I bought were the safety first brand. The gates were Evenflo brand I think.

 

We went a little crazy with the childproofing. I am paranoid/overprotective about safety I guess. Here's what we did:

1. Replaced all our outlet covers with new childproof covers. I like the ones from Kidco. They are more expensive than the removable plastic inserts, but I think they are safer, nicer looking and nearly impossible for them to remove.
2. Installed a custom built foam cusion over the entire stone hearth on the fireplace. They built it to specification - it's a perfect fit, it looks decent, and works a lot better than the corner guards. Purchased at www.babysafetyfoam.com
3. Installed toilet locks on all our toilets - we have the "Toilet Lock" by Kidco.
4. Installed cabinet and drawer locks on ALL kitchen cabinets and drawers on the below counter level, as well as in all bathrooms. We went through several brands after each one would break off. We settled on the "Safety First" brand. They work much better than the others we tried.
5. We have doorknob covers for when they are a little older and can push down our lever handles and get into rooms we do not want them in like the laundry room
6. Removed all breakable, sharp objects at child level throughout the house
7. Installed sliding door locks for our sliding glass doors - Sliding Door lock by Kidco
8. Installed door locks for our entertainment center cabinet where they are already trying to shove toys in the DVD player
9. Installed faucet guards on the tubs
10.Turned our hot water heater down to 120 degrees permanently
11.Went through the entire house and made sure all chemicals and medication were well out of reach, in a locked cabinet
12.Installed fire estinguishers in on all levels of our home and in the garage, and purchased a 3-story fire ladder that we keep on the top level.
13.Installed blind cord wrapping hooks and we always keep our blind cords wrapped up high
14.Attached anti-tipping latches on the dressers to the wall - We use the "Tip Resistant Furniture Safety Bracket" by Mommy's Helper
15.All windows have safety latches on them, they can only be opened so far when the latches are on
16.Installed permanent safety gates at the top of both staircases. We use a removable gate for the bottom of the stairs only when we are on that level. The top of stair gate we LOVE is the Smartlight Stair Gate by Safety 1st. We have two of them and they are wonderful.
17. Replaced every metal/rubber tipped door stop in the house with soft, no-tip door stops. We use the "Soft Stop Door Stops" by Mommy's Helper.
18. Covered every power strip with a power strip cover - we use the covers by Safety 1st
19. Purchased several finger guards that we use when doors are open in the area the kids are playing. We use the Finger Guards by Kidco

Hope this sparks some ideas. We probably went overboard, but hey, I sleep better at night!

 

wow that is a lot of childproofing! I mostly did the outlet covers and gated the stairs, put up drugs, cleaning products, and alcohol, knives etc. DD#1 was always really good about just playing w/ her own things and not getting into too much stuff so I didn't worry too much.. then. now that she is 3yo she is worse than she was the whole rest of the time combined LOL! :icon_eek:
I will have to see how these two are when they start getting mobile.
Alyson