Babyproofing

[Anonymous]

Babyproofing advice please! Any recommendations or things to stay away from for kitchen cabinets? Recommendations or non-recommendations for gates for top and bottom of stairs or padding for fireplace hearth? Please share all wisdom of what worked well and what did not work well!

[Anonymous]

We got these amazing cabinet locks that are magnetic so you can't see them on the outside. Try to consolidate everything hazardous into one cabinet. I don't see the point in baby proofing cabinets with pots and pans for example. It's annoying that they go in there to get stuff but it's such a short phase. Focus on actually dangerous things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We got these amazing cabinet locks that are magnetic so you can't see them on the outside. Try to consolidate everything hazardous into one cabinet. I don't see the point in baby proofing cabinets with pots and pans for example. It's annoying that they go in there to get stuff but it's such a short phase. Focus on actually dangerous things.

Thanks! I've seen the magnetic options. Have you ever lost the opening key? I could see this happening, but maybe I would just use something else magnetic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got these amazing cabinet locks that are magnetic so you can't see them on the outside. Try to consolidate everything hazardous into one cabinet. I don't see the point in baby proofing cabinets with pots and pans for example. It's annoying that they go in there to get stuff but it's such a short phase. Focus on actually dangerous things.

Thanks! I've seen the magnetic options. Have you ever lost the opening key? I could see this happening, but maybe I would just use something else magnetic?

When we first got them we misplaced them a few times but they always turned up. Now we're better at keeping it in one place.

[Anonymous]

The babyproof locks that you attach to the back of the cabinet door have worked fine for us. My 6yo can open it now, but he's really good about not messing with stuff when he knows he shouldn't.

Agree with PP to consolidate the hazardous products and move anything breakable to higher cabinets so you don't need to babyproof as many cabinets.

We did these adhesive foam strips on our fireplace hearth and on the corners of a sharp table. The cheap plastic outlet covers on outlet covers. That's about it! We did have a gate at the top of our stairs when the kids were crawling/newly walking, but I can't remember the brand. It depends if you have wall to banister, wall to wall, or two banisters. There are conversion kits if you don't want to make holes in your banister.

[Anonymous]

OP here, we have one wall to wall stair, one wall to banister, and one banister to banister, so I suppose we might need three different gates. We also have an upstairs landing where the stair banister continues (not sure how to describe this, but it is basically slats). I see there are clear banister shields, though not sure if this is overkill. Baby is seven months and just starting to crawl, so it is hard to fully appreciate right now what we need to do...

[Anonymous]

I like the invisible magnet locks too. Just keep the key on the fridge and a backup in a drawer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, we have one wall to wall stair, one wall to banister, and one banister to banister, so I suppose we might need three different gates. We also have an upstairs landing where the stair banister continues (not sure how to describe this, but it is basically slats). I see there are clear banister shields, though not sure if this is overkill. Baby is seven months and just starting to crawl, so it is hard to fully appreciate right now what we need to do...

At the top of the stairs you need a metal swinging gate. At the bottom you can do a retractable one which is nice to not have it in the way. We attached a magnetic door stop to our metal one with cable ties to keep it open because otherwise our dog gets stuck.

For the bannisters, the thing to do is to attach a piece of 1x2 or whatever size wood to the newel posts with zip ties. Then screw the gate hardware into that. We also have a piece of wood screwed to the wall in another place (with anchors of course) and the gate is attached to that because otherwise it wouldn’t clear the baseboard.

[Anonymous]

If the “slats” are too code they should be too close together for the baby’s head to fit through so they shouldn’t be an issue.

[Anonymous]

We like the Kidco gates. We screwed our top of the stairs gate directly into the newel post at the instruction of the carpenter who installed our railings, because he said it would be easier to just fill in the hole later than to repair the damage from zip ties.

We have relied on these Safety 1st straps for cabinets and drawers because some of our kitchen drawers didn't work well with the interior latches. Surprisingly they have come off reasonably well without damage to the exterior, but not sure I'd use them if we had more expensive cabinetry:
https://www.safety1st.com/ca-en/adjustable-multi-purpose-strap-1pk-48367-s1-ca-en.html

We like these plug protectors for outlets we need to use from time to time:
https://www.safety1st.com/ca-en/secure-press-plug-protectors-48590-s1-ca-en.html
And these are really hard to remove, so good for outlets you don't need to use much or for particularly clever toddlers who are good at removing the easier ones:
https://www.safety1st.com/ca-en/deluxe-press-fit-plug-protectors-8pk-48307-s1-ca-en.html

If you find you have a kid who likes to unplug things, these are useful:
https://www.safety1st.com/ca-en/double-touch-plug-outlet-covers-2pk-10404-s1-ca-en.html

I'd say gates and plug protectors are a must, but otherwise your baby will show you what you need to childproof over time. And it may be different for each kid.

[Anonymous]

Thanks very much for the advice/suggestions!

[Anonymous]

All we ever had was a gate at the top of one set of stairs, a doorknob cover for the door to the basement, a magnetic lock for the cabinet under the sink, and a couple squishy corner things for an end table with sharp corners at toddler eye level.

I would start with those and then buy new things if you need them. We never needed anything else. My kids were never interested in outlets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All we ever had was a gate at the top of one set of stairs, a doorknob cover for the door to the basement, a magnetic lock for the cabinet under the sink, and a couple squishy corner things for an end table with sharp corners at toddler eye level.

I would start with those and then buy new things if you need them. We never needed anything else. My kids were never interested in outlets.

Oh, and we strapped the kids dressers and bookshelves to the wall, forgot about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, we have one wall to wall stair, one wall to banister, and one banister to banister, so I suppose we might need three different gates. We also have an upstairs landing where the stair banister continues (not sure how to describe this, but it is basically slats). I see there are clear banister shields, though not sure if this is overkill. Baby is seven months and just starting to crawl, so it is hard to fully appreciate right now what we need to do...

The good news is that you don't need to do it all at once - buy gates for the top of stairs now and then adjust as needed. For the banister - I would measure to see if you think baby's head might fit through. That is unlikely in a newer home, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got these amazing cabinet locks that are magnetic so you can't see them on the outside. Try to consolidate everything hazardous into one cabinet. I don't see the point in baby proofing cabinets with pots and pans for example. It's annoying that they go in there to get stuff but it's such a short phase. Focus on actually dangerous things.

Thanks! I've seen the magnetic options. Have you ever lost the opening key? I could see this happening, but maybe I would just use something else magnetic?

When we first got them we misplaced them a few times but they always turned up. Now we're better at keeping it in one place.

If you lose them, any strong magnet will work!