Child Proofing

Hey everyone,

I was just wondering for those of you that have already done it, what did you do to child proof your home.
I am about to start (should have done it sooner) and was just wondering if you could give me any little tips and help.
ie. what did you use and how and where?
If that makes any sense.

Thanks in advance

Hi there Kristee
If you google Child Safety it comes up with lots of sites to give you some info. I bought the locks for the cupboards, power point protectors and a gate for the stairs. We also put a gate across the toilet door. Also if you have blinds or window dressings, make sure there aren't any cords hanging at baby level.
Hope that helps :)

Thanx JaZMum,
There just seems to be so much out there in child safety it just sends my head into a whirl because is everything necessary??

power plug thingies. so they can't stick things in the power points. You can get them from the cheapy shops for like $2 for about 12. Gates for the kitchen and bathroom, stairs if you have any. Thats all I did. Maybe the other ladies can help with more suggestions

In our house we use plastic plugs on the power points, and safety catches on the kitchen cupboard doors and drawers... and that is all really. We dont have any stairs, so no real need for gates etc.

Moving to General Baby & Toddler Discussion

In our house we also have all the above , plastic power point plugs , safety gates and safety catches for the cupboards. We tried the corner thingos for tables but Kaityn just pulled them off anyway !.

We have also made sure all Teles in the house are set back so she cant pull them on top of herself...also lamps and anything else heavy enough to hurt her. and then all the obvious ones like keeping an eye on how her reach is extending so kettles and knife blocks ect are all set far enough back from her reach .

We used the powerplug thingies and moved things off the ground especially a couple of floor standing tall lamps and wine bottles in wine racks - they can be lethal! Also moved all sharpish kitchen utensils out of the drawer and up high into pantry instead.

We also found that despite our good intentions Gabriella like Kaitlyn just pulled the plastic corner things off the furniture. We SHOULD have used the latches on our laundry cupboards etc but were a bit slack in that department (naughty naughty)... will defintiely do it for Alexander tho.

Oh and we kept unplugged other things that she could grab the cord and pull onto herself like lamps and just plugged them in when need be.

as above, and used the maglocks on cupboard & buffet doors - thus you cant see the locks from the outside - took a bit of time to install, but will be worth it in the end

Fridge doors and pantry door also have a velcro strip that goes around the corner. I can only just open the fridge door with that "done up"

Just curious on this subject... we have bookcases in our lounge room that have dvd's in them... would a child gate across them work do you think? As we've really no where else to put them.

Maybe burning some copies of special ones jic as well Kell ;) we leave the burnt copies out on display and put the real copies in sleeves up high and out of reach. We learnt the hard way when Matilda started climbing and got to the higher levels once when I went to the toilet.

Thanx for all the tips girls,
Well i went out and have started buying little things to start child proofing, and i'm sure i will need to do it to everything as this child is bound to get into everything!!! She has already rolled herself into the bottom shelf of the tv cabinet and attempted to eat the dvds!!!!!!!! So i better get cracking as she will be on the crawling move very soon!!

Hahaha, make sure you get a lock for the front of your VCR! We opened ours and found a whole pile of CDs and DVDs that DD had "posted" through the slot! :)

Also, make sure that any tall furniture (book cases) are really stable at the base or bolt them to the walls. It's actually pretty easy for a climbing toddler to pull a big piece of furniture like this over!

In addition to all the things mentioned we also got an electrician to install a couple of safety switches into our fuse box. They work to cut the power supply should anyone do something silly like stick a piece of metal into a power point.

Lol at the things being posted in the VCR!!!!!! Yep - we pretty much have the same as already mentioned. Plastic plugs, draw and cupboard locks and anything valuable or dangerous out of reach.