Posted by
Wheelymate
18 yrs ago
is 6 months too young to start thinking about child-proofing the apartment? we are moving in 2 weeks to a new place for the next 2 years. he is very active and at the more spacious new place, i want to encourage his crawling/exploring/future walking BUT within safe boundaries. so my questions are:
1) there are so many child proofing locks and all in the market now - which ones are essentials and which are absolutely waste of money?
2) we will be buying quite a fair bit of furniture for this new place - any absolutely hazardous stuff that a clueless first time mum should avoid?
ps: we already have a playpen that i put him in when i need to be in the kitchen, bathroom, etc. but it's not such a great playarea for him as it's just not spacious enough!
thanks!
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We find the socket covers useful. Found the corner protectors useless, as they never stayd on.
No idea of the layout of your home, but when the playpen became too cramped, protected one doorway with a stairgate. We just made sure that there were no hazards in that room and felt that a stairgate meant that I could leave the door open while I went to the bathroom, kitchen etc., knowing that the children were safe. We could hear (and sometimes see) one another.
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thanks for the advice - i was convinced before this that the corner protectors were essential!! i have seen the cushion bumpers, quite hideous looking but hey the whole house is going to be a mess with all his toys anyway!
stairgate: i definitely plan to get one, just not sure where is the best place to put. dora, the room suggestion is a good idea but my hubby thinks it's most important to have one for the kitchen - do you have that too?
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cara, wow....9-10 dogs at home???
hmmm...dog fence, that's an interesting idea...bub is born in year of the dog...maybe it'll be appropriate for him, LOL!!!
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When I had to child proof my place I crawled around the place so I could see things from my son's point of view - just a thought.
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turtle1, thanks for the advice, intend to do that too!
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crj
18 yrs ago
Socket covers - agree are great.
Corner protectors and cupboard locks - agree as useless. It won't kill them, and they need to learn not to run into table corners and walls. (Saying that, I have bruises from walking into our table regularly!)
Lock on kitchen and bathrooms are a good idea though, as there are 'poison' in those rooms. Either locks on the entire door or just on those sections with 'poison' or dangerous materials.
Bookcases - a bracket to secure them to the wall so they don't fall over and crush baby when he climbs them.
Bookcases - I so regret that all of ours are all shelves. The style with 'cupboards' at the bottom would be much more baby friendly.
Fabrics - if you are buying sofas or chairs - either leather which is easy to clean or covers that zipper off and fit into washing machine.
Window blinds - be sure the 'string' is not near the crib so he can't reach it
Use a baby den or safety gates to create a larger play area in a corner of half of a room.
Oh, and nothing on the floors - we had vases and little things on the floor... not anymore!
Cables - our baby loves to crawl to any cable and chew it - so if you find a good way to secure cables, please share it here! We have a huge amount b/c we have a few computers.
Hope the move goes smoothly and you enjoy decorating your new home!
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All of crj's suggestions are excellent. Wheelymate, we did have a playpen in our kitchen in London, although our HK kitchen is too small to house one, so I bought a Leapfrog 'Move and Groove' thingy for that area. Basically it's a walker, without wheels (so not a danger in itself), has lots of toys and some really irritating music functions around it. Keeps them busy while you are cooking etc. Only problem is that they outgrow it at about 15 months. Now I resort to letting him play with pots and pans on the floor.
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to crj and everyone else,
many thanks for the helpful advice!
crj: securing cables..i think you can get plastic tubes/cable organisers from DIY shops that you bundle up all your wires and hide them inside the tubes? we are going to have the same problem for the home office too...my hubby thinks the easiest way is just to ban baby from the room!
dora: pots and pans are a great idea. what a friend of mine does is that she allocates a drawer in the kitchen for her 16 month old. in the drawer are old pots, pans and wooden spoons...safe items that he's allowed to play with. so when he goes to the kitchen, he knows that's the only area he is allowed access to.
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crj
18 yrs ago
WM - the drawer/cupboard that is 'safe' for baby to play is a great idea.
The cables, we have been thinking about those - but it won't help for all the cables - like the LAN going across the house or the cable to the printer... luckily the LAN is thick and he doesn't have teeth yet!
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we have problems with the LAN too - the cable point is actually in the living room - our current place has this super long wire that extends to the office - not a safe idea for bub! hubby says we'll go wireless for new place, no choice!
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All these safety devices are great however is your child "learning" anything? I have no experience with boys however the only piece of protection we gave our daughter was a fence to seperate the kitchen. Put serious poisons out of reach, put breakables up high...everything else was a combination of "NO!!" and "OUCH". She got the idea eventually, if she hit her head, she'd avoid it next time. If she got too close to the heater, well, lots of discussion, a well placed OUCH and pick her up. I realise "better safe than sorry" however we need to give them more credit for being clever individuals. I also realise we cant be in 100 places at once....but it seemed to work with our little girl.
IMO plastic stoppers and door locks are not only a waste of money they are also UGLY!!
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crj
18 yrs ago
One more -
Rubbish Bins with lids
baby likes to crawl to rubbish bin and tip it over!
We need to get to pricerite (or similar cheap shop) to pick up something more baby friendly for our bathrooms, office, bedroom and kitchen!
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hortons,
yes, that's my plan - general sweep (gates/lock up poisons, etc) of the house to ensure there isn't anything that will case serious injuries. but by and large, as he gets older, i think a bump on the head could be more effective in teaching him what to avoid.
crj: rubbish bins??? your boy is really EVERYWHERE, LOL! not sure how i'll react the day i see mine raiding the rubbish bin for things to chomp on!
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I am also planning to get window bars on some of the windows - as ugly as they are - better safe than sorry though!
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crj
18 yrs ago
I work at my desk, and there is a bin under the desk, as well as wires...
Baby either likes to be on my lap pounding my keyboard, or at my feet dumping the bin or chewing the cables...
He just crawls to anything, and at his level, the bins are about the perfect size and they have crinkly plastic in them that makes a great noise!
This is why we have full time help to entertain him while I am working :)
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mine is mesmerised by the computer screen....
pounding on the keyboard is also a fun activity for him....
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