When do you stop worrying about hazards/safety?

I feel like it won't be long before I can relax a bit on the safety monitoring around our house, but not soon enough. At what age do you think they "get it" and not get into trouble?

Using toothpaste without the dangers of swallowing it
Hiding lamp cords or appliances that may hurt them
When do you take off the safety latches off kitchen counters/drawers
Using regluar utensils and storing away the kid friendly utensils
Understanding the danger of the stove- this one worries me so much that we put the gate up in the kitchen when we cook

There are countless safety issues that we all worry as first time moms, I just don't want to be overprotective. I feel like if I protect them so much from everything, they will never learn on their own and they will depend on me for everything! I just don't want something bad to happen in order for a lesson to be learned!

Thanks for your help!

 

When my older son became more safety conscious than me, I stopped worrying.

 

I feel the same way. We moved when they were 2.5 and they got access to the kitchen for the first time, but got pretty fast that the stove is hot. We had to buy a fridge guard when they figured out how to open it though... We don't have locks on drawers and cabinets but nothing breakable is in range, and we put the knives in a cabinet. We don't really hide cords here because they never showed much of an interest for them when it's attached to something (they will probably unplug it but that's it). We removed everything from their room though, they do play with cords attached to small things like monitors.

We also replaced the blinds when we moved for blinds without cords. I'm pretty paranoid about freak accidents, as I've seen several moms losing a toddler to cords, straps or blinds in 2 years (posters on other forums). DD's physical therapist knew a kid who died because a dresser fell on him. I honestly still worry about the microwave and the TV but I really don't think they could make them tip over, they're both pretty stable and heavy.

 

Never! I'm a pediatric nurse and therefore paranoid because I have seen the most bizarre accidents and am always looking out for danger, ie a 3 year old stacking phonebooks and climbing them to get his Dads lead pellets to eat eeek. Or a six year old whose bike handle went right into her upper thigh when she fell, you could see the handle on the xray. I agree all toddlers are different, my two don't explore the kitchen too much anymore but love to climb so I'm more concerned about leaving things on the counters during this phase...

 

I'd say around 2 I stopped worrying about cords, they never showed much interest in that. I still have the outlet covers and cabinet latches on. I don't plan to take them off anytime soon. We're not sure we're done having kids yet, so those will stay until we're completely done. I changed to the kids toothpaste with fluoride several months ago. They're learning to spit, but I know they swallow it too. We use such a small amount I really don't worry about it. They use regular utensils occasionally when all the kid stuff is dirty, or in restaurants. They do ok with it. I'll probably transition to using it all the time soon. We never had a gate in the kitchen so they've learned from little up to stay away from the stove when we're near it. They usually get scared when we say it's hot and to stay back while we're cooking, so they listen pretty good. All kids are different, so I really think it just depends on your comfort level with your own kids moreso than a specific age.

 

I think it's very individual. We stopped worrying about stuff like this pretty young for our girls because they just weren't very mischievous. I would say start bringing things back to normal little by little and see how they react. :good:

 

Well here's our rundown:

Appliance locks/outlet covers/door locks: Never used. We tried the door knob covers when the girls were 2, and they pulled them apart, so we were done. Outlet covers?? LOL NEVER and matter of fact a lot of outlets in our house (within kids reach) didn't have cover plates for the longest time due to renovating our house. I have pictures of all 3 kids helping us with our complete kitchen remodel when the girls were just turned 3 and my son was 1.5. We just make sure to reiterate the importance of not touching anything unless mommy and daddy are around.

We haven't used baby gates since my son was an infant, and the only reason we used a gate then was to give him some peace from his sisters...

The stove?? Yep, they learned the hard way not to hang on the door of the stove. Guess how I learned to stay away from the stove?? When I was 3 I caught my dress on fire helping my mom cook (and she was right there with me) Same with my kids. I was right there telling my daughter to not hang on the door - sure enough she swung backwards and butt hit the floor.. Hasn't done it since.


Toothpaste... We jus started using toothpaste with flouride, but honestly, even at 4 they still swallow. Our Dentist said it was fine so long as they weren't eatin the whole tube.

Not that we don't care about our kids - quite the opposite. I just don't believe in protecting them from absolutely everything. First of all I can't watch them all 100% of the time, so stuff is going to happen. I know you said you don't want something bad to happen to them, we still haven't been to the hospital becuase of anything really bad - no bones have been broken yet either.

We do make sure to follow very serious safety rules with things like the power tools (always unplugged and safety pins put in place, etc, even if we are continually using them. We just unplug after every cut, nail, etc) and they ALWAYS wear their bike helmets, knee pads.. and, at over 4 years old, I think mine are a couple of very rare kids that are still in a 5-point convertible carseat instead of a booster.

 

Oh by the way I love the kids utensils and it will be a while before we transition to adult ones. They can use them fine, it's just harder for them. We don't let them run around with forks so it's not that much of an issue.

My kids have shown interest in outlets so yes we have covers everywhere. Surprisingly though they've never touched the one in the toy cupboard where all the TV stuff is plugged in, that one we can't put covers on.

 

Toothpaste-I am going to talk to the dentist when they go for their first visit. They do like to pretend to spit in the sink like I do when they are done brushing their teeth but I'm not comfortable with introducing it yet.
Lamp cords-My kids were really never into cords and they stay away from them, so our cord set up has been the same
safety latches-I have safety latches on the cabinet with all the cleaning products and also the cabinet where our gas hook up is with the stove. I'm still not comfortable with those cabinets being unlocked, I do think the kids would stay away but I don't want to take that chance. Plus I have nosy cats that love cabinets and I don't them licking cleaner or anything.
utensils-The kids do okay with utensils but the regular ones are just too big for them right now, so I'll keep using the kid friendly until they are little older and more comfortable with the big utensils.
the stove-never been blocked off from the kids. DH and I have told them and still tell them to stay away from the cook top when Mommy and Daddy are cooking and they are pretty good about that. We have their play kitchen in our kitchen, so they will usually pretend to cook while we are actually cooking.

I think these are all great questions!

 

The one I wonder about is stairs. When do you let them go up and down as they please without you having to go with them? I just have awful visions of them cracking heads open on the entry floor.

 

I agree with Michelle that it really depends on the kid, and the thing in question. We still have outlet covers on because why not? Also if we have little ones over to play its nice to have them on there. I have two cabinet latches still on- the one under the sink, and one in the den. We've never had to worry about the stove or the fridge. They understand the stove is hot and the fridge is still too heavy for them to open. For some reason they've never really played with the water and ice maker on the fridge so I never had to use the lock option on that either.

We transitioned to regular toothpaste about 6 months ago after practicing spitting the toddler toothpaste for awhile. I still keep the toothpaste in a cabinet out of their reach though because, like vancouvertwins said, you never know. Even though they know they aren't supposed to play with or eat it, I don't trust them to not lose their minds with a "great idea!"

Other things I've become more lax about in the last year (since 3): I can finally keep a box of tissues out, we don't have anygates anywhere in the house, the girls have small plants in there room (very recent!), and I was able to put some small knick knacks out again (pictures, candles, etc).

 

The gates were removed when we moved also... so they were almost 2.5. We didn't put gates on the stairs either, they've been really good about them and we have carpet anyway.

 

We took the gates off of the stairs when they were almost 3. We kept the child lock on the door to the basement until they were 3 1/2. Plug covers are still in, but mainly because we are lazy and haven't gone around and taken them all out. As we use an outlet, we don't put them back in anymore. Cabinet latches came off around 3 as well. We kept the drawer with knives locked up until much closer to 4. The stove still makes me nervous, but we just continue to stress they don't touch it and only be around it when we are in the kitchen with them.

 

toothpaste -- I've never worried about this, but then again mine only like the orajel one and a very very tiny amount.

Hiding lamp cords or appliances -- We don't really have lamp cords nor small appliances that they can get too.


When do you take off the safety latches off kitchen counters/drawers -- The only cupboard that has a lock is the one that holds all of the cleaning supplies and that won't be going anywhere for a very long time. But I don't have any latches on anything else. They know the cupboard and drawer they can go into and don't bother the others.

Using regluar utensils -- Mine have been using regular forks and spoons for well over a year. My youngest uses them as well. Mostly because that's what you get when you go out to eat and they are actually better with them.

Understanding the danger of the stove- I am totally with you on this one and I still put up the gate in the kitchen when I cook as well. My oldest is 10 and I'm still careful with him. So I have a feeling this will be a while away.

Stairs-- We live in a tri-level that has 6 stairs going to the living room (hardwood) and 6 stairs going down to the basement (tile) and all 3 of my little ones go up and down by themselves all the time. I do make sure to have a rug at the bottom of all the stairs, and honestly all of mine have taken a tumble at one time or another but it's usually just them missing the last step.


My biggest fear is them pulling stuff down on them or climbing something and it falling, so we have everything attached to the walls. But I have climbers so this is a valid fear and already had to take my little one to the ER when his twin brother and sister knocked a dresser down on him (a small one and he was okay).

I agree that it's personal and depends on the kids. I feel outnumbered a lot so I tend to herd them into whatever area of the house I'm in

 

I let them go up and down the stairs on their own before they were 2 - somewhere between 18-21 mos. I ingrained in them from the very beginning that they have to hold onto the rails the whole time. Sometimes they forget and I'm more lax about it now. We haven't had any serious tumbles, usually just a couple steps because they were holding on. Our stairs are split in the middle and change direction, so they're not steep and straight down. The basement is carpeted and so are the stairs, so I feel ok about that too.

My question is when do you stop cutting up things like grapes and hotdogs? Even oranges - I figured that would be a nice healthy snack, but they are sometimes so chewy and pulpy that they end up choking and I haven't been brave enough to try again.

 

I have gates up still, because our basement stairs are exposed and so there's a gate there. But also on the stairs going up, the stairs are hardwood and we're getting a carpet runner. Still- my one dd sometimes swats at her sister or tries to compete to be first and my second dd is a touch on the clumsy side (maybe related to their prematurity, maybe not) so Im going to wait until I instinctively feel better about them going up and down alone. I agree that it's very individual.

 

Thank you all for your input! I feel so much more "normal" after reading your replies. I know I'm paranoid, but it took me forever to have these kids and want to protect them as much as I can without smothering them too much! My DD is much more obedient so I don't worry, but my DS is the curious one. Tell him not to do something and he will immediately want to go check it out and wonder why not! So far we have removed the gate at the stairs and my DS goes up to see me if I happen to go upstairs and get something. I don't yell or startle him, I just say hi and guide him back downstairs. Th kitchen gate does still go up when we cook- I won't let this one go quite yet!

 

It depends on the kid and the nature of the hazard. We never even had a lock on the oven -- our kids show no interest in it. However, at age 5 I still worry that they will come too close to the stove and set their hair on fire. So I don't worry at all if there's something in the oven, but if I'm cooking on the stove I'm constantly barking at them to stay back.

We used fluoride-free toothpaste till age 4 (at least) because Sarah would NOT stop swallowing it.

Never did anything with floor/table lamps -- kids never bothered them at all.

But I still won't let Amy keep her little PBK-type upholstered chair next to her bed, because she keeps doing headstands on it, then flipping backwards onto her bed, and I'm certain she's going to snap her neck.

I stopped cutting up grapes when they were about 2. I never worried much about choking and neither child ever came close to choking.

That's not an exhaustive list by any means -- just a sample to show that "it depends." :ibiggrin:

Also, as they get older they keep coming up with new ways to hurt themselves (like doing headstands or jumping down a whole flight of stairs on purpose), so you never relax completely!