Hellobee

J A M E S  ,  J  O E  ,  N  I C K  –  4
L I L L Y   –  2 2  M O N T H S

At the time it seemed like we did a ton of babyproofing, but looking back it really wasn’t so bad. We had to meet a lot of requirements for our adoption which included plug covers, magnetic tot locks on cabinets with cleansers, medications, knives and other hazardous materials, and furniture bolted to the walls. We also had to build a new fence around our pool because our old one was not in compliance. We had to turn down our water heater to make sure the water wouldn’t turn on too hot and burn the kids.

After the three boys started walking, we ended up getting rid of a lot of end tables (They were climbing up on them and jumping off). We had to mount the TV to the wall because of our little climbers. We set up a play room that had a baby gate so that I could contain all three and not have them running all over the house. We also put on stove knob covers and door knob covers.

I didn’t think all we had to do for the adoption was necessary in the beginning. I was really mad about the pool fence, but after a while it grew on me and I was thankful it protected the kids more. I didn’t mind the magnetic locks because they actually kept the kids out. The stove knob covers didn’t work very well and broke off, so I think that was a bit of a waste.

L I L  C B  –  3 Y E A R S

When Lil’ CB came home, he was 15 months and already walking…no, running, so here’s what we had in place:

-gate at the top of the stairs (we got one that closed automatically)
-stove knob covers
-outlet covers
-cabinet locks for the kitchen and bathrooms
-drawer lock for the bottom drawer in the kitchen
-spout cover for the bathtub

And that’s about it! The only additional thing I would have done is mount the bookshelves and dresser…we might still do that before #2 comes home!

C H AR L I E  –  3  Y E A R S
O L I V E  –  2 2  M O N T H S

We did a little bit of babyproofing once Charlie started crawling, and did a second round once he was cruising and really mobile.

This is what we did…

– cabinet locks on 2 bathroom cabinets and 1 kitchen cabinet that held cleaning supplies and toiletries.
– oven knob covers – When he was younger, Charlie turned one of the burners on (it didn’t light) when the knob cover was open so we were always careful about this one. They are quite flimsy though and we are currently on our second set, but half of them broke too. But I think they’re necessary for us because Olive has tried turning the burners on too!
– top of the stairs gate – The kids are not allowed to go downstairs because we have a dangerous, slippery spiral staircase — Mr. Bee broke his toe on it when we first moved in. This is closed at all times when the kids are home. Because of the layout, we had to screw the gate into the wall, but in our previous apartment we had a First Years Hands-Free Gate that didn’t require screws that was really great.
– all bookcases and dressers mounted to the wall — We have read too many stories of children, even older children, dying from very small bookcases and dressers falling on them.
– bath spout cover – they’ve never bonked their head on the faucet, but it’s cute and better safe than sorry
– anti slip bath mat/appliques – a must once you’re kids are bathing in the regular tub because the floor is very slippery.
– light switch covers – We put these on Charlie’s lights when we switched him to a toddler bed and would turn the lights on in his room and not sleep. Annoying, but very effective!

Things we didn’t babyproof….
– we had some outlet covers but not on all the outlets. The kids stay away from them so it hasn’t been a problem.
– flat screen tv – We only have a tv in our room downstairs that the kids don’t have access to, so we didn’t babyproof it.
– table corners – We definitely would have gotten these if we had a coffee table with sharp corners, as coffee table falls are one of the most common childhood injuries. But we had a leather ottoman as a coffee table that was very safe for the kids.
– toilet – Charlie went through a phase where he wanted to touch the toilet water! But luckily he quickly outgrew it and we didn’t have to install a toilet lock.

Olive was way more cautious that Charlie was, so we never had to do any extra babyproofing once she was mobile.

W A G O N  J R  –  3  Y E A R S
L I L  M I S S  W A G O N  –  1 3  M O N T H S

We babyproofed as we went. We did very little pre-emptive babyproofing because we didn’t want to go overboard and spend all the time/money babyproofing a rental property if it wasn’t necessary. (My list is actually great for anyone who doesn’t want to install permanent babyproofing or has a rental property that limits the extent of their babyproofing!) So for instance, once Wagon Jr. started crawling and walking, we didn’t do anything until he started opening the cabinets and drawers every day. Then we went ahead with the cabinet and drawer locks.

Here’s what we have in place today (a few things have been taken off since he’s much older now, but will probably have to be put back in soon since LMW is crawling like crazy).

– outlet covers on any exposed outlets at baby level (and the ones on the walls in the bathrooms since we sit them on the counters for toothbrushing)
– doorknob cover on the door to the basement stairs
– pressure-mounted metal baby gate with swing-open doors at bottom of stairs (the kids only go upstairs for baths and sleep)
– adhesive cabinet and drawer locks on all kitchen cabinets at baby level
– nonslip bathtub mat and spout cover
– oven knob covers (I got these when I read about Charlie turning on the stove…!! And since we have a gas stove I was so afraid of the gas being on all day without us knowing…) but three out of the four have broken so we need new ones.
– bookcases, dressers, and nightstands mounted to walls

D R A K E  –  3  Y E A R S
C H O C O L A T E  B A B Y  –  2  M O N T H S

I don’t know if we have done enough to be honest since we moved.

Currently we have:

-Outlet plugs downstairs where Drake spends most of his time
-A baby gate that separates the stairs from the play area and kitchen
-Cabinet locks in the kitchen
-Lock on basement door
-Cord shorterners for those long shade cords

We also removed some furniture when we moved that wasn’t baby/toddler safe and put it in storage or gave it away.

We are about to transition Drake to a toddler bed so we are planning on strapping all his furniture to the walls, and we are still looking for a baby gate for the top of the stairs.

N O E L L E  –  2  1 / 2 Y E A R S
J A R E N —  6  M O N T H S

Hardly any because Noelle was always such a cautious girl.

– Block outlet plugs, but after telling her just once that touching that is dangerous, she never went near them again!
– Put up gates at the top of our stairs, but she was also very very careful when going up and down stairs too so I don’t think we needed to do that either.
– Spout cover in the bath and a nonslip mat.

I have a feeling we will need to do a lot more with Jaren.

T O D D L E R  C H E C K E R S  –  2  Y E A R S

Like others, we baby-proofed as she grew and we saw a need for it. But to-date, we have needed to do very little!

– Gate at top of stairs
– Outlets covers
– Table corners
– Cabinet locks

Before I was even pregnant, we also got rid of our coffee table since it had sharp corners and took up way too much play space in our living room.

L I T T L E  Y  –  2  Y E A R S

Little Y is a very cautious kid, so we’re not as crazy about this as we could be. He just turned 2, and the best baby-proofing often is a simple, stern “NO” or “HOT” with him. Of course, he’s also rarely unsupervised!

In our old place, we had the stairs gated, oven locked, outlets covered, and drawers and cabinets locked down. We had foam edges around our TV console and one end table.

We recently moved, and have done very little here other than outlet covers and a couple of cabinet locks. We are ordering cordless blinds, and the TV is mounted this time, so we don’t have to worry about that. Though he’s not a climber, we really should get the stairs gate up (and will definitely do so once he’s out of his crib).

C H L O E  –  2 1  M O N T H S

I joke that our house is padded now that Chloe is here!

– wine cabinet and all liqueur was moved downstairs
– outlets covers on all exposed outlets
– gates to both entrances to kitchen (from crawling until 16 months)
– cabinet locks on all kitchen cabinets and drawers (we gave her one drawer that she’s allowed to play in)
– cabinet locks on bathroom cabinet
– all cleaning supplies locked in a cabinet
– rubber strips put on our glass tv stand and window sills
– gate at top of steps
– all glass knick knacks temporarily removed
– bath spout cover
– rubber bath mat
– safety features on our windows (I can flip open a safety switch and it limits how high the window will open. Our patio door has a similar feature and prevents the door from opening fully!)
– lowered the crib as needed

We have handles, not knobs, on our doors. My studio is off limits (paper trimmer, paper, small parts and sharp objects for work!) so we turned all the handles to a 90 degree angle. We can still get in and out, but she can’t reach to turn the handles. Baby proofing handles don’t fit (we’ve tried every brand!) so this works for now.

L I T T L E  M  –  2 0  M O N T H S

We didn’t do any baby proofing before Little M arrived; instead we waited until he was more mobile before diving headfirst into the effort. Many of the more minor things we’ve done are in reaction to his showing an interest in something – like feeding toilet paper to the dog, for example.

So far we have:
– Outlet covers on all the outlets (in his room before he was born and then elsewhere as he became mobile)
– Cabinet locks only on the cabinets under the kitchen & bathroom sinks
– “Dangerous” items moved to higher cabinets so that he can explore lower cabinets
– Gates at the tops of the stairs, however, this is more to keep him confined when I don’t want him to go down without me
– We had a gate at the bottom of the stairs, but he learned how to move it early on and mastered stairs (up and down) early so we removed it around his first birthday
– Breakable decor packed away or moved up very high
– Pictures within reach anchored to the wall with sticky tack
– Mounted TV to the wall
– Extra hook & eye latches very high up on doors leading outside both at our house and our parents’ houses (especially those doors leading to pools or the ocean)
– Toilet paper off the dispenser and up and out of reach
– Corner guards on the coffee table, which Little M has since removed
– Plastic bowls for dog food & water after M broke one of the ceramic bowls
– Dog water is only down in the evening after bed and during naps
– Shortened all blind pulls so they’re only inches from the top when the blinds are closed
– We’re in the process of moving a lot of furniture to make way for construction, but when that’s done all dressers and several tall, heavy items will been anchored to the walls (it scares me that they aren’t right now).

He’s a very curious boy, but if I say “no touch, that’s dangerous” or “no touch, that’s dirty” he usually listens. I give him ample opportunity to do similar things to the “no touch” stuff. For example, he has lots of opportunities to put pieces of toilet paper in the toilet (he gets a piece every time I get a piece) and to open a flip-top trash can (we use one for the dog food) so he’s much less interested in going after the “no touch” stuff because there are lots of instances where he can “touch.” In the kitchen all the cabinets except the one under the sink are fair game, so if the lock on the sink cabinet is open he’ll actually grab my hand to have me close it.

J A C O B I  –  1 8  M O N T H S

I feel pretty confident in the amount of baby proofing we did. There are still a few things I want/need to do though.

The biggest is that I want to secure most of the furniture to the wall – especially in J’s room.

Here is what we have done to date:

– mounted the TV
– cabinet locks in the kitchen
– removing items from lower shelves/reachable areas
– ALWAYS closing master bedroom and bathroom doors as those are not baby proofed rooms
– tying up window treatment cords
– getting rid of coffee table with items on it
– transitioning to eco-friendly/safe cleaning supplies. If he somehow DOES get into the products – they are totally safe.
– outlet covers

I really like knowing that he can explore and play without limitations and constantly being told “no.” Having a safe playspace is very important to us for that reason, moreso than a “pretty house.”

L I A M  –  1 6  M O N T H S

When Liam first started crawling, we put new outlet plates on all the outlets in the whole house that were not counter top level (the kind that have the built in covers that slide over a little instead of just the plugs). We put up temporary baby gates we already had used for the dogs to close off the kitchen (it has two small doorways), and just kept the bathroom, master bedroom, and guest room doors closed. We removed the bar cart from the dining room and moved the directv box up two shelves in the living room, and made the bottom two shelves of the entertainment center Liam’s toy display area. Then, we got sick of the kitchen being closed off, so we put the locks on all the cabinets, put the dogs’ water bowl outside, and put the trash in a cabinet instead of using step cans. We have an oven lock, but haven’t put it on yet because Liam can’t open it yet. We also have a toilet lock and I’m going to ask my husband to put that on today because that’s Liam’s favorite place to play right now. We have no cupboards in the bathroom, so the trash has to be in a step can in there, and he always wants to open it and it makes me crazy.

B A B Y  H  –  1 5  M O N T H S

Miss H is walking everywhere and each day I feel like we notice something that she could easy get into! We’ve done a fair amount of babyproofing but not over the top. So far we’ve done:

-Magnetic locks on all low kitchen cabinets
-Oven door lock
-Stove knob covers
-Outlet covers on all low outlets
-Baby gate in our master bedroom (which opens up to a staircase within the room)
-Doorknob handle covers for her room and the door leading to the basement (we need to buy more of these!)
-Purchased a big, upholstered storage ottoman for our living room “coffee table”
-Locks on storage cabinets in the basement where we keep toiletries and cleaning supplies
-Mounted all furniture to the wall that could be tipped (dressers, bookcases, etc)
-Toilet lock on one of the toilets (one bathroom is used by guests and Mr. H’s clients so we’ve opted not to lock it. Miss H has already thrown a toy in that toilet!)

L I T T L E  C O N F E T T I – 1 5  M O N T H S

Our baby proofing has been minimal, since we live in a one-story apartment. I tried to do a few things before Little C was even crawling with his belly off of the ground:

-Anchoring our bookshelves to the wall
-Covering the outlets (with the plates that slide, rather than the plugs)
-Putting up cord-winders, because we have tons of blinds with long cords that drag on the ground.
-Moving all cleaning supplies and extra toiletries to high shelves.
-Replacing our 3-tiered glass (death-trap) coffee table with a cushioned storage ottoman that holds C’s toys that are on the current week’s rotation.

Since then, we have done a bit of rearranging of the contents of our shelves, moving heavy books up and making room for kid-friendly items like toys and children’s books. We haven’t put up cabinet locks, toilet locks or anything on our stove, because they have not been issues yet, and I am hoping to take more of a teaching approach rather than locking everything up (mostly because I am like a baby myself- can’t figure out how to open baby-proofed locks).

L I T T L E  P I N A T A  –  1 5  M O N T H S

Little Piñata is 15.5 months old.

We put protectors in all the outlets that aren’t being used. We put guards on most of the cabinets and drawers that LP could reach in the kitchen and bathroom. We didn’t protect all the drawers and cabinets because he has a couple of cabinets he is allowed to get into (tupperware and pots/pans).

We haven’t done anything with door handles yet because he’s just now reaching them. We also had a gate at the top of our 2 stairs that go down to the bonus room since they’re concrete. But, since Little P has learned he can’t go down them alone we haven’t put it up much. He ALWAYS stops at the top and calls for one of us to help him down. 

S C R I B B L E S  –  1 2  M O N T H S

We are lagging behind so very badly! Since Scribble is only pulling up a little, we have managed to delay this a ton. Our house also isn’t an open floorplan style home, which has also made it easier. Our general plan has been to eliminate rather than fix. We did install plug covers in pretty much every room.

Living Room:
What we have done:
–Installed padding on the mantel, which Scribble immediately tore off, so we need to re-install with duct tape reinforcement
–Installed baby gates leading from the living room into the kitchen and the dining room/foyer area.
–We intentionally never bought much living room furniture because we didn’t want to have to remove it for babyproofing purposes.
–Rearranged our TV area and wireless modem to minimize visible cords.
–Cleared the bottom shelves of the bookshelves and replaced with board books
–Cut out/off the cord to the bamboo shade on our back door. I only use it for privacy, so there’s no real need for it to pull up or down.

In this room we still need to:
–Install two outlet covers and a power strip cover (they are hard to access, but still accessible), buy a shorter extension cord for our wireless modem and tape the excess to the wall
–Eventually buy and install a bottom of the stairs gate
— Install a hook lock on the closet in the living room– our sport equipment and tools live in there, and the door tends to open by itself.
–Strap down the bookshelves
— Consider moving our pie safe (an armoir-like piece of furniture) into the dining room. It is an antique and an heriloom so strapping it down is not an option.

Kitchen/Laundry/Powder area. Because our floorplan is not open, and there is a gate in the doorway into this area, Scribble is never unattended here. I have a jumperoo in this room that I put him in when I am cooking so that he is contained. But I do want to make it a child-friendly area, so I have started working in here a little.

We have:

–Gotten rid of all the things he could pull up on (small bookshelf, small side table and lamp).
–Cleaned all the chemicals out from under the sink and put them in shelves above the washer and dryer. So the only stuff he can get to in the kitchen is pots and pans. Right now our garbage can is hidden in a roll-out drawer, but I want to move it under the sink and make the old garbage roll-out into storage for other items so that I can use extra cabinet space to make a few shelves for Scribble to explore.
–Made a caddy of bathroom cleaners and I have that in a drawer in our powder room. I made the caddy out of a locking bucket; we have a ton of locking buckets that are used to contain pool chemicals. I can bring it from bathroom to bathroom for cleaning, but it will live in the powder room.
–Put the dog food in a big lidded tub so he can’t get into it.

In the kitchen/washer/powder room area we still need to:
–Put a lock on the oven (purchased, just not installed)
–Put a lock on the powder room cabinet and a childproof handle on the door to this room
–Put a hook lock on our pantry door
–Rearrange shelves to minimize Scribble’s access to heavy and/or expensive platters. I don’t mind him having access to mixing bowls, etc! But I may put a lock on the cabinet that holds my servingware. Not in a rush to do this because, like I said, he is rarely in here unattended.

I also try to keep the floor in the kitchen much cleaner so that he can crawl around!

Upstairs: (Nursery and other bedrooms, one bathroom)
We haven’t done much. I am always with him in these areas, so it hasn’t been a priority! But we have done a little:

–No chemicals in the bathroom
–We have bought a stairs gate, but we haven’t installed it because we don’t really spend much time up here so haven’t needed it yet. Surely by the time he is walking.
–Spout cover on the tub

Need to do:
–Anti-slip mat in the tub
–Install childproof knob covers on the doors to the bedrooms and closets. Closets freak me out because they get extremely hot in the summer.
Install locks on the closet doors (some are oddly shaped and don’t have doorknobs)
–Tape all cords to the wall in Scribble’s nursery, conceal any
–lower crib mattress
–move Scribble’s dresser, either downstairs and use plastic bins for him, or move it into his closet so that only I have access to it.
–strap down his small bookcase, or better yet find a replacement for it because it is already too small!

Master Bedroom/Bath: We haven’t done a lot in here, because right now this is our guest room since we still sleep upstairs near Scribble. There aren’t any cleaning chemicals in here, but we do have medicine, etc. We need to install a lock on one of these drawers for all that stuff. The rest can be open because we really only have towels and stuff in the cabinets. Maybe childproof knob covers on the closet doors.

Garage/Yard : This is a BIG problem. This area is just filled with poison, pool chemicals, motor oil, tiki torch oil, paint cans, weed eater, axes, saws….I mean, it is a horror show! We will buy a giant locking trunk for all the nasties between now and next summer. But mostly we’ll just have to watch out for him because the garage doesn’t have doors. I’m trying not to obsess about it!

Finally, we have an alarm system that sounds every time a door opens. That, plus a fence, is the extent of our pool safety, but we are thinking of getting a safety net next year. And swim lessons of course!

L I L  T E A C U P  –  1 2  M O N T H S

We are sort of in the pre-baby proofing stage. At this point because she is still so young, Norah is pretty much with us at all times when she is roaming about. If I need to do something in another room, she comes too or she goes into the playpen for a few minutes. She is a fairly cautious little girl and usually will not go back to something if I tell her no at this point. Hopefully that continues!

So far :
~We have baby gates on the top and bottom of the stairs
~ Plug covers on the outlets
~ I had already moved all medicine and chemicals out of reach before we had her because we have very nosy animals.
~We do not have cords on our blinds so that was a non issue. ~Our electrical cords are all wrapped to be out of reach as much as possible.
~Our bookshelves are all built ins so already bolted to the walls.
~anything breakable is kept in high kitchen cabinets

When she does start to walk, we will be putting more things in place I am sure.

B A B I E S  B L U E  –  5  M O N T H S

We’re just starting to think about what we are going to do initially. Here’s what we know for sure we will do:
-Anchor bookshelves to the wall.
-Cabinet locks on 3 sets of cabinets that have cleaning products, extra toiletries, etc.
-Mount the TV on the wall.
-Generally get small/breakable items higher up.
-Some plug covers.
-Bath spout cover and non-slip mat.

Other than that, we’ll probably wait and see what we need.

L I T T L E  L I O N  –  5  M O N T H S

We aren’t quite there yet! We are hoping to baby-proof as we go. So far we haven’t done anything, except move the cleaning supplies in the kitchen to a high shelf in the pantry. Our house is pretty baby-safe (we think??). We are going to get rid of our shaggy rug in the living room…it is way too easy for tiny things to get trapped in that rug, and we would probably never even know until LL was choking!

 .  .  .  .  .

How much babyproofing did you do?