we're in a whole new world of childproofing!

Just in the last 2 days ds has figured out how to climb onto the kitchen counters and unlock the deadbolt on the front door. Yesterday I couldn't find him & he had sneaked outside all by himself! (About gave me a heart attack since we have no gate in our driveway and cars drive by really fast on our road)

He's been climbing on the counters to get into the jar of jelly beans (potty treats), so I need to find a new place for those. But what scares me worse is my knife block he could get into. And our front door, as dh pointed out, is steel so we can't exactly drill into it for a latch. I think if I put a doorknob cover on it, that'd work.....he hasn't figured those out *yet*.

Toddler-proofing is way different than baby-proofing!

 

Yeah, we're starting to contemplate the idea of preschool-proofing. On the one hand, it's so much easier than when they were 9 months old, because at least they have some sense of self-preservation and some ability to follow the rules. But they're better at problem-solving now -- and they're much more coordinated and much taller! Amy is all proud that she can open doorknobs now -- she can't quite manage the front door yet, but it's only a matter of time.

 

I now have to hide the soap.

They will go into the bathroom upstairs while I'm doing something downstairs and play with the soap, not even turn the water on and get soap all over themselves, in their hair on the floor, walls, sink. Meridith can scale one of the baby gates...she figured out how to climb up the couch and get over the gate into the kitchen.

 

Door nob covers are a necessity. The kind that you have to squeeze to turn the knob are the only thing that saves me any sanity around here. Chain locks are added security. We put them on every door that leads out of the house. We live in the middle of nowhere and I don't want the girls getting out here alone. We'd never find them. There is very little that they can't find a way up on. They use their little chairs that go with their little table to get into things. They boost each other up. If I can get into it, so they can they for the most part. It's a whole new level of vigilance when they get to that point.

 

I know what you mean. My boys have figured out how to push the kitchen chairs over to the counter to get into things as well. One of mine has figured out how to get outside by himself, the other hasn't, but follows along. I feel like I can't turn my back, even for a minute.

 

So where do you put the potentially dangerous items like kitchen knives? None of my drawers have latches on them, but they've learned how to open the ones on the cupboards (which just broke anyway)

I tried hiding my vitamins in the microwave today, but ds found them. And dd now can open child proof lids, so that's another one to add to the list. There's no place in the bathroom to put anything they can't get into.

I really think I need a gate for the kitchen! It makes them horribly mad to get "locked out", but it's better than getting into stuff.

 

Can you do a mounted gate? We had one that kept them in the activity room. It worked for over a 18 months before they finally broke it and I think their older sisters broke it slamming it shut. It was my saving grace for a long time. We still use it to keep the dogs out of the playroom. I just wish it kept them in a little longer. You have to find some place that is completely off limits to them without supervision for your own sanity.

 

QUOTE(momma*nic @ Oct 22 2008, 01:47 AM) [snapback]1036156[/snapback]
Can you do a mounted gate? We had one that kept them in the activity room. It worked for over a 18 months before they finally broke it and I think their older sisters broke it slamming it shut. It was my saving grace for a long time. We still use it to keep the dogs out of the playroom. I just wish it kept them in a little longer. You have to find some place that is completely off limits to them without supervision for your own sanity.



We have a hands free gate that I had in the kitchen when they were younger, but they would hang on the bars (they looked like little prisoners) and scream and then shake the gate so bad I thought they'd shake it off. I'm missing a few pieces now, but I'm thinking of ordering them & just put the gate up & deal with the screaming.

 

We had to put magnet locks on all our cabinets and drawers and thank God we did. My boys are into and onto EVERYTHING! I think the ones we used are called "Tot Locks" and I bought them at Lowes, but they can be ordered online too. They are a little expensive, but sooo worth it. There is nothing visible on the outisde of the drawers/cabinets and there is very little if any cahnce they will figure those out. You just have to keep the magnet key somewhere they can't get it. Oh and our front and back doors are steel and it wasn't thay bad to drill into to put in a high chain lock/dead bolt. Just get a drill bit that drills into metal and it's pretty easy, if your doors aren't solid metal, which very few are. We all feel your pain! Good luck.

Kelly

 

Flip locks are installed by screwing them into the door frame, not the door. I'd suggest those for doors leading outside. Even if you only use them on an as-needed basis, it will give you peace of mind to be able to get a shower without them ending up at the neighbors' house. Flip locks are cheap and take seconds to install. There is no outsmarting them, only outclimbing... so as long as you mount them at the top of the door and don't provide a ladder, you should be all set.

We put the vitamins in a locked cabinet in the bathroom. For anyone who thinks child resistant caps work, I'd be happy to video T&T opening an empty medicine jar for you (one was in the recycle bin and they took it as a puzzle ) So don't risk it, find SOMEWHERE even if it means putting them in a closet and flip locking that. (edited to say I mean locking the vitamins in the closet, not the kids :lol: )

The knife block was left where it was because we've been over and over and over "owie knife" since they were crawling rather than attempting to hide them and surprisingly they stay away.

I would NOT trust a gate at their age. If they haven't climbed over one yet, they surely will soon... it's not like it's harder than climbing the cabinets.

 

QUOTE(naomi02 @ Oct 21 2008, 07:32 PM) [snapback]1035584[/snapback]
So where do you put the potentially dangerous items like kitchen knives? None of my drawers have latches on them, but they've learned how to open the ones on the cupboards (which just broke anyway)

I tried hiding my vitamins in the microwave today, but ds found them. And dd now can open child proof lids, so that's another one to add to the list. There's no place in the bathroom to put anything they can't get into.

I really think I need a gate for the kitchen! It makes them horribly mad to get "locked out", but it's better than getting into stuff.


We have magnetic locks on the few cupboards that are low down where we keep dangerous stuff like cleaning supplies. We put those on when the girls started crawling, and may never take them off, because they're so easy to use, why not just keep them?

The knives are still in the knife block on the kitchen counter. They know not to touch sharp knives, and also have never shown any inclination to climb on the counter. But I know we're very lucky (so far) in that respect. My girls seem to be both cautious and rule-following by nature.

The vitamins are in a fairly high cabinet.

It's also a bit easier for us because DH and I both work FT. So we don't really have that much "unscheduled time" at home during which the girls are just exploring the house.

 

Wow, just when I'm re-thinking the childproofing I get the biggest scare of my life last night!! I am constantly onto dh about opening the window above our bed b/c when ds was really little he pushed on the screen & it popped off......and it's about a 12 ft drop to the ground. He always says, "Don't worry, I'm right there & I'll catch him"

Last night dh was sitting on our bed playing with the kids & I went in to ask him about something......just as I notice the window is open again, ds jumps, lost his balance & fell towards the window. Popped the screen out & ds's head was hanging out the window. It happened so fast. I grabbed up ds & shouted at dh, "Now do you believe me???" I couldn't fall asleep for hours last night; every time I closed my eyes I just saw him in that window. I got up, double checked all the doors were locked & had doorknob covers on them, checked on the kids sleeping & gave ds extra kisses - and then cried myself to sleep. Dh woke up & we talked a little; he said he wouldn't be able to live with himself had something happened; neither would I.

So......next on my childproofing list today is sil is coming over this afternoon to help me move the bed away from the window. I don't even care what dh thinks about it; he can sleep outside if it's too hot in the house! I'm still shaking when I think about it.

 

OMGosh how scary!!! Good luck moving the bed away from the window. Can you also get window stops so it can only open a little bit?

 

:hug: That had to have scared the wits out of you. My middle dd was a pill when it came to windows. We lived in a 9th story tower apartment in Japan. She figured out how to unlock those at two... I had to get special locks to put in the window track. It didn't take her long to figure out those. She would open the window, push the screen back and throw her sister's toys out to "see them fly."
Just keep at it. You will find what works for you and your kids.