The world through a baby's eyes (Baby Proofing)

Member Name: abbadabbado

Product:	Baby Proofing
Date:	15/12/08 (132 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: keeps them safe

Disadvantages: can make you neurotic

Having already been a Mum, I was determined not to make my home a bubble wrapped place where no one could do anything for fear of harming the baby. I insisted I wasn't going to baby proof anything and she would learn by us teaching her that certain things weren't for her inquisitive little fingers.

By making that above statement eighteen months ago, I have since learnt I was both right and wrong to say it.
Right because I believe every child needs to learn what they can and can't touch as not every place they go to will be child proofed.
Wrong because I have spend many a stressful day trying to remove things from her grasp when she got them without me looking.

There are a few necessities that any home should have when you have a baby. These are paramount to safety and will assist you keeping your children safe from harm.

- If you have stairs then a stair gate preferably at top and bottom of the stairs should be in place as soon as they begin to crawl. I thought it was easy just to shut the bedroom doors when we were upstairs to start with but soon realised how impractical that was when I needed to get things done, so a stair gate went on very quickly.
The bottom gate went on when I looked around one day to find my daughter half way up the stairs. I knew she could move fast when she wanted to but I only glanced away for a second. That was heart attack number one!

- A lock on the lower kitchen cupboards, especially the one where you keep your cleaning fluids is so important. Despite all household products containing dangerous chemicals having child proof lids on, accidents can still happen and you would never forgive yourself.
I had the locks in place early on but one broke away as I must have brought a cheap version and I caught my daughter getting the bleach bottle of all things out of the cupboard and putting towards her mouth.
Everything runs in slow motion in those times in your life, but thankfully I caught her in time and I was in the same room with her the whole time, but I still managed to beat myself up over of for weeks afterwards and saying "what if" over and over in my head.
That was heart attack number two!
- Plug sockets should be covered over with plastic protectors. Only too easily will a child want to naturally poke something in as we are forever teaching them to put their shapes in their shape sorters and praising them for it, so they won't see the difference here?
Thankfully this wasn't heart attack number three for me!

Those are the main two issues that have happened to me in her short life so far. I can tell already she is an inquisitive child and I am going to have to be on the ball with her all the time.

I do firmly believe in teaching the children right from wrong in certain instances such as not touching hot surfaces, leaving the video alone and not opening cupboard doors in the kitchen, but there are ways to prevent this with minimal fuss and will create a stress free environment.

You will never be able to completely baby proof your home however much you think you have. There will always be a sharp corner on a table that they can fall into when you can't get to them quick enough, and toast will always be able to fit into the video player if pushed in enough. There may also always be the gust of wind that slams the door shut trapping your child's fingers in it. You couldn't have baby proofed that one if you tried!
The one true way to child proof your home is to be with your children all the time and teach them something new each day so they become aware of what they mustn't do and more importantly why they mustn't do it.

None of us are perfect and as long as we are caring for the children in the best way we know how, ensuring their safety is paramount by securing the basics then I believe the rest will follow naturally.
Enjoy your children.

Summary: keep it safe but don't obsess