Babies are cunning little things (Baby Proofing)

Member Name: zerub

Product:	Baby Proofing
Date:	27/10/08 (45 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Your baby stays safe

Disadvantages: Your guests can't open your cupboards either

My house is fairly child-proof as I have two older children. No breakables or sharp things lying around in this house. All the wardrobes are attached to the wall and the windows are locked. But we have a baby who looks like he is about to crawl so baby-proofing is on my mind again.

My top tip is: wait until your child is moving and see what they go for. Think about it, be prepared, but hold off turning your house into Fort Knox. When my daughter was about 8 months old we baby-proofed the house - locks on every cupboard, gates on every step, guards on all the appliances, a fireguard that encompassed half the living room. We stopped short of padding the walls... And then it turned out that she was quite cautious, couldn't open cupboards and wasn't interested in the stereo or the video.

So I've been through the toyboxes and removed all the really tiny bits, and put a good lid on the playmobil box. The bleach is up high. We've got a gate ready to go across the top of the stairs but we're not bothering with the bottom - by the time they learn to climb up, they can cope. I have some cupboard locks - I wonder if we'll get away without them? I can already see that I'm going to need to put all the socket covers back in though.

I do find that when we go to a friend's house, my children always find all the things that their children never thought of. And vice versa. Baby-proofing is an individual thing I think.

Whatever you do, don't babyproof your house and then relax. Because they will find something you didn't think of. Top tip 2: if it goes quiet, check what they're up to.

Summary: Don't overdo it