Comments on: Back 2 the Future: Child-proofing

By: Viv

Viv — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:30:09 +0000

My17 month old just tugs on her 3 year old brother’s arm and says, “yup, peez!” He lifts her over. Then he jumps the gate himself. I no longer bother. There is no point. How I wish he weren’t so darn tall, and so strong.

Now my idea of child-proofing is not to buy anythingspecial enough that I’ll cry if it gets broken.
.-= Viv´s last blog ..Weekend fun and the pictures that haunt me of holidays past and present =-.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:12:40 +0000

Thanks everyone for the staircase gating suggestions, links and products. I’m going to check it all out because boy, these girls love the stairs.

By: M

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:16:46 +0000

Cindy, we had a problem with our staircase too … at the top we had a wall on both sides and had to drill into the wall to put a gate there, but the bottom was spindles on both sides and it bowed out and was really wide … we got a long gate that opened in the middle and used large electrical ties to attach it to the staircase. It was a little wobbly at first but I had the idea to put screws with eye hooks under the stair treads. I put them in under the tread then used another electrical tie to attach the gate to the screw. Problem solved and no repair needed when it was taken down. In our new house now, we have a staircase with spindles on one side and a wall on the other … it works here as well.

Hope that helps…
.-= M´s last blog ..Christmas Traditions =-.

By: Kristin Hutchinson

Kristin Hutchinson — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:19:52 +0000

Hmmm, I guess I am lucky in this regard (which is good because I am darn lazy with regards to this stuff)! Its definitely chaos around here with my 18 month twins, but not to the point of needing gates much anymore. We do close doors and that works for the most part for now, and I certainly have moments now and then where I freak out and push furniture around to block them off for a little while if they are driving me nuts.

It does help that my 3 year old will yell bloody murder if either of the babies does something dangerous or destructive (she is really a cautious one, ha ha) so I have a good watchdog to help me out.

Also, I tend to leave decoy items out for them to mess with — things I don’t really mind them dumping and throwing everywhere (all the kiddie plates bowls and cups in the kitchen, as well as my tea cabinet, piles of laundry (heh) and shelves of books, in the living room, etc). So far that mostly works, and the mess and destruction of those things is worth the time I get while they are entertained with it!

I do WAY too often find one or the other crawling across the kitchen table, so I regularly have to stack all the chairs on top of the table…
.-= Kristin Hutchinson´s last blog ..Happy Birthday to Me! =-.

By: Suzy

Suzy — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:38:41 +0000

I have a three year old who has learned to ” leap” the gate, box, door, prayer system I have in place for my 11month old twins. I think of it has cross training. I am using five baby gates to cobble together a system that sort of works, as well as putting to use the tubs and tubs of clothes as barriers. Unfortunately, the twins are now walking and can haul their fat little butts over the top of one tub, so I have to stack two. I guess when I really need to stack three tubs I’ll start piling furniture? Collyer brothers style…

By: Alli

Alli — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:24:30 +0000

I feel your pain. We have a total of 7 gates to try & contain our 16-month-old twins, but my house still ends up in shambles by the end of the day. .-= Alli´s last blog ..Their First Inside Joke =-.

By: SMx

SMx — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:37:30 +0000

So not looking forward to this stage. I have an open floor plan so it is difficult to gate rooms off. We’ll see what kind of mischief my babes create when they get mobile.

Cindy I just ordered something from http://www.safebeginnings.com/ that protects your banister so you don’t screw directly into it. A bit pricey but they have a 15% twin discount if you enter the code “tw”.

By: Mommy, Esq.

Mommy, Esq. — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:05:13 +0000

My kids hate staying in their playroom (with tons of toys of course). I want to proof the whole downstairs so they can roam. My husand doesn't. So we haven't. And it is a pain to listen to them howl. .-= Mommy, Esq.´s last blog ..OH, CRAP!! WHAT DO I DO NOW?!? =-.

By: Cristal

Cristal — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:45:12 +0000

We haven’t had a trash can in our kitchen since the boys could crawl. Just a couple days after becoming semi mobile they joined forces to make sure the trash can was erect for no more than a couple of hours at a time. Since then we’ve entirely removed trash cans from the kitchen and pretty much just take everything outside to the city trash can which thankfully they haven’t been able to tip over. It’s terribly inconvenient but even as they near two years old I don’t see the trash can moving back indoors anytime soon. Funny how things that never came up with my singleton daughter are huge baby proofing conundrums with the boys. I’m just happy the my Christmas tree hasn’t come crashing down.. yet.
.-= Cristal´s last blog ..Hands are not for stabbing =-.

By: Kim

Kim — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:23:00 +0000

Wow, I feel much better about our house after reading this post and all the comments. We have 17 month old girls. We, too, divide our [800 square foot] house with gates. It’s a circular floor plan, which I know they would love to run around but we block the hallway, including the bathroom and linen closet, and our bedroom so that we can at least have an area of the house that feels more like “ours” [minus having to go through gates to get to it].

I know the feeling of people coming over and gawking at the gates but it’s one of those things that really helps keep the sanity around here!

My other baby proofing trick: using highchairs for containment. It really helps buy me a few minutes to put them in there to prep dinner while they look at books or [gasp] watch Sesame Street.

Ah babyproofing, it’s such a constant thing isn’t it? If it’s not one thing it’s another. Glad we’re all in this together!