Childproofing the house - tell me all about it.

As usual - I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this query so mods please move if need be.

Right - so DS is getting very mobile. So far I've installed a gate on the stairs and a fenced off area (with heaps of toys) next to the kitchen so I can cook safely.

So hit me with your ideas on what worked for you - what was vital? What was a waste of money etc etc.

Our house is one story (stairs lead off the deck down to the backyard).

Thanks ladies - the BB girls are always full of helpful advice!! :)

Little powerpoint covers are essential. So are locks for cupboards and drawers. Bunnings has a whole range of different locks- there is a fantastic system that works ith magnets and a magnetic 'key' that you hold on the kitchen door.

HTH :)

what we used in our unit

big wooden playpen (2m x 2m, modular so we ended up using it as a 1m x 2m playpen) so good to have a safe zone and it was big enough for adult to be in there playing with her comfortably. Also took it on big outside gatherings/picnics.

safety gates on
- laundry door
- bathroom door
- office
- between kitchen and lounge
- pantry (i have all the knives in the pantry in a high drawer)
(kiddie first aid course said to put one on toilet door also, but i coudln't buy ENDLESS numbers of safety gates).

powerpoint plug thingies.

the C locks you buy at kmart, dreambaby and one other brand, can't tell them apart, same price. they break easily, so you have to keep buying them, but good for locking two handles that are close together (where two cupboard doors meet).

keep remotes in high drawer (i bought plastic drawers to do this, had no high up drawers).

keep pens, textas in a high cupboard (saves them drawing on your walls, saves you having to ring Poisons hotline).

keep tv on high cupboard

remove anything breakable that you might normally have out on display

ESPECIALLY put dishwashing tablets up high, they are fatal if swallowed.

do kiddie first aid course

fire blanket on display in kitchen, so easy to grab when needed

empty lower drawers of anything you don't want baby to get. instead, put teaotwels, oven mitts, plastic bowls, things you won't mind them touching.

special corner protectors on corners of cupboards, coffee table, if you have sharp 90 degrees corners at their eye height

be aware they will use ANTYHING to climb, e.g we had a sofa UNDER a breakfast bar, so miss bilby would climb up on the sofa and use that to grab anything left on the breakfast bar. so i moved the sofa to where it didn't give her an opportunity to get into danger.

adult exercise bikes are a danger to babies too.

if you sew, try to block off around that area, (pins that fall on the ground)

for the bath tub taps, you can get plastic knobs that go over the taps, so YOU can use the taps, but little hands can't. i got them at the Safety Shop at the local Children's Hospital.

you can also get items to make the stovetop and oven safe.

kids touch whatever they can reach, my DD burnt herself on a halogen globe, on a lamp, left on a 2ft high coffee table (at a PND clinic, that was supposedly child friendly!). so be very aware when you're not at home too.

when you're sitting down breastfeeding (if you do) or having a cuddle with your child, have your hot drink (coffee, tea whatever) in a travel mug, so you can't spill it (on you or bubs).

lock on kitchen under sink cupboard
lock on laundry cupboard
we put the hair products in the bathroom, up high
(to take care of the poisons). Remember daily used things like dishwash liquid, clothes wash detergent, are poisons too.

remember to do up your child locks
remember to shut your safety gates

and for the car, put an old towel, cot quilt over the babycarseat, to stop child getting burnt by the hot metal of the buckles. even if your car has a/c once you're going along, when you FIRST get into car, anything metal is VERY hot on a child.

so none of this is rocket science, but i was glad to have it all said to me, and reinforced, at the kiddie first aid course. i needed reminding, and a bit of a push to do things that i had THOUGHT of, but not followed up on them.

We have all the juicy poisonous stuff up high on a shelf in the laundry - *I* can barely reach it, the toddler has no chance at all.

Pens and paints of mine are on a high shelf in the kitchen also unreachable, pens/crayons/textas of the older child are *supposed* to be somewhere safe but she hasn't figured this out yet so the little one constantly gets into the big one's stash and draws all over her stuff, which leads to lots of complaints from the big one and "I told you so" from us. Big one has a lock on the outside of her door to keep the little one out but often forgets or leaves the door open while she's in there and doesn't notice there's a toddler in the room with her dismembering all her stuff until something smashes loudly. The only really dangerous toy she's got is a Magnetix set with large ball bearings in it that the little one choked on once so that toy is under lock and key. Lighter glass marbles aren't as bad, go figure.

Otherwise we just tell the little one not to go through the cupboards or to put stuff back if we catch her taking things out and its fine. She's pretty good. Gets a bit hairy when she takes all the cans out of the cupboard and the canopener out of the drawer but for now, she can't actually *open* the cans. She's got out the potatoes, peeler and a knife before, had to stop that ... fortunately we work from home in the kitchen so its easy to keep an eye on things.

The biggest thing we have problems with is the toilet paper - I can't put it up high or the big one can't reach it, but an unravelled roll of toilet paper just *doesn't* go back on the roll and fit in the dispenser thingy. So we quite often have just a huge wad of unravelled toilet paper in the bathroom ...

We used two different cupboard locks. The simple plastic kind (multiple variations of these but the all do the same basic thing - link two handles or keep the drawer closed). And the magnetic locks. The reason we went for the magnetic locks is that this was our long-term solution. Once DD reaches 2.5-3 years old, she will know not to pull all the food out and not to unpack all the pots and pans. At least, not to unpack everything on a daily basis.....

But the magnetic locks on the bathroom cupboards and kitchen cupboards that house all the nasty chemicals will stay as locked cupboards until she is probably 10 or so.

Get down on your hands and knees (may need to pad them a little) and get around your whole house - see it from their perspective and you might notice some things you've missed.

Other than that, I couldn't add anything to that VERY comprehensive list above! Awesome!