September 2009 Weddings
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
BR: Baby-Proofing
OK, moms... how baby-proofed is your house? Have you covered every outlet and latched every cabinet door? Or do you have one particular room or section of the house that you've paid attention to and let the rest of the house go free?
I ask because currently we have one room of the house safe for Samma, another where she's ok in if I'm there with her, but the rest of the house, though outlets are covered, are not Samma-proofed, so I can't just let her run around without being right behind her. For instance, have a baby gate in front of the stairs, but I haven't lateched the kitchen cabinet doors.
We're working on a Samma expansion in a couple of ways, and my mind is trying to focus on what we're going to need, and what's over the top.
Re: BR: Baby-Proofing
All outlets covered? yes.
All cabinets latched? no. we moved all the hazardous stuff to a cabinet where she can't reach it (either the one above the stove or the top shelf of the linen closet.) But I see no harm in her pulling out the pots and pans for a little fun on occasion.
I have doorknob covers on the outside doors and the door that leads into the garage.
Umm what else. We don't have stairs so that's not an issue.
We keep the bathroom doors shut at all times so she won't play in the toilets.
That's about it really. Our house is rpretty small so I can pretty mcuh hear her from wherever I am. If she gets too quiet, I go check on her. That's when she's into mischeif.
Home is a lot more proofed than work but all dangerous things are locked up and outlets covered. We have gates for the stairs but aren't up all the time because he knows better and he is very good at them anyways. He is overall very good at not doing things that he knows he shouldn't . He knows things are hot and stays away from them, if he finds something small or that he shouldn't have, he says "uck" and gives it to me, when a door is left open that he shouldnt go in like the bathroom, he shuts it. Of course I don't let him roam out of my sight for super long periods of times or leave things dangerous or hot within his reach, but I feel comfortable with him playing briefly not directly in my sight.
I am very confident with his ability of knowing what he shouldn't do already, so I find it important and feel comfortable with giving him some independence. With that said, I would never put his life at risk or give him more independence then what is developmentally appropriate for him.
Yep, this is me w/r/t Ellie as well.
Sam's still a few months behind these guys, so we're still working on the what she should and should not do. She's starting to understand HOT, and knows she's not allowed to go UP the stairs without us, and that there are certain cabinets she shouldn't open, but she's still testing us, ya know? Our upstairs is a circuit, so when we're up there she more or less runs around in circles til she tires, but still I don't let her in the kitchen out of my sight for long. And we keep doors shut to the rooms we don't want her in, like the bathroom (especially with the laundry shoot hatch in the floor).
I'm all for giving her more freedom, because I sure as hell know she wants it, which is why we're starting to work on this. We don't have the most ideal house with the two levels, but it's a work in progress. We let her explore, to a point, but I'm not going to let her assert her independence when I know she's going to get hurt, ya know?
updated 10.03.12
I only have cabinets latched that I don't want her going in. I do have outlet covers on every outlet in the house and we keep the bathroom doors closed at all times also.
I have gates on my stairs and we have bumper corners on the tables so that the corners aren't sharp. Other than that I moved all chemicals and I let her explore.
Nate's still young but as of now we don't have much.
His play room (the den) is gated off and everything in there is baby proof. Outlets covered, cords kept, book shelves anchored etc.
Other than that, there's a gate in his room so when we're upstairs we can put him in there without closing the door all the way and he has a toy box and toys up there. There are no gates on the stairs as of yet and there's a thick rubberband on the cabinet under the sink. We don't really let him roam around alone and our house isn't big that I always know where he is though most of the time he's locked in the den. I'm assuming when he's older we'll have to do some more proofing but I don't think we're there yet.
The lady I nanny for only ever had a gate at the bottom of the stairs and a rubber band on the cabinet under the sink. I take my baby proofing from her lol. Nate already knows not to touch the oven or the cabinet under the sink. He tries occasionally but we just say no, move him and distract him with a toy or a spoon etc.
:Blog:
Just start small and do what you are comfortable with. I started with small things like when the boys are playing in the kids room I nanny for, which is child proofed well, I'd put the gate up and the monitor on and run downstairs and do something like heat up my coffee and get them something to drink. Even if it's just a minute or a two at a time. Or take the bottom gate off only and just keep a close eye when he goes that direction.
You would be surprised with testing. A lot of the testing/defiance kids do at that age is to get a reaction. When they get a little space or think someone isn't watching, they may actually behave better. Because nobody to get a reaction from=no need to to misbehave for a reaction.
You know your child best so all you can do is move at your own pace
Because we have 2 dogs, all of the kitchen cabinets & drawers were already dog/baby-proofed. We already had a gate on the kitchen and added another one down the hall so that the dogs can't roam into the baby's room. All the outlets in the main rooms (& her bedroom) are plugged. The only one's that are not are the bathroom outlets and the outlets in our bedroom. Once she starts moving, I will be putting those pad things on the corneres of the coffee/end tables.
Dx: Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism After 2 years TTC & failed IUs,we have our IVF baby born 9/24/11
LO#2 aka 'Miracle Baby' Orig. EDD= 9/28 EDD moved to 10/3/13
"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." -- Dale Carnegie
"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." --Thomas A. Edison
I think I win least baby proof house with a crawling baby award.
Seriously, I haven't had enough time to do this and we haven't been home enough for her to even get into anything. Its on the agenda for this weekend though. I have outlet covers in the room that she plays in but its only two outlets. We still have an exposed media cabinet with wires everywhere (we usually keep her out of this area) and need to seriously put a TON of stuff away. I really need to make a list of things to keep tabs on what is needed. I am terrible at this thing called a memory.