Let the babyproofing begin! June 24, 2008
Well, C’s new skill - she crawls - is in full bloom since we returned from Edisto. She does this adorable monkey crawl, where she scoots along on her bum, with one chubby, dimply thigh tucked under her. It’s ridiculously cute, and the kid can totally motivate around now. She’s suddenly into EVERYTHING. Her favorite targets appear to be stereo equipment, small pieces of E’s lego-type toys, stray bits of dog food, pennies, and outlets.
Our house is 100% NOT baby safe yet. We’ve really done nothing at all to baby proof. So this weekend, my goal is to get gates in place (stairs, plus create at least one totally baby-safe room that is gated off). We need to put latches on cabinets and low-lying drawers, cover all outlets, latch the toilets, and reorganize shelves. A huge priority is going to be bolting the tall bookshelves in the downstairs hall to the wall. They are potentially very dangerous for a climber.
A busy weekend ahead.
And I had forgotten how expensive good baby gates are (the ones that swing open and shut). I’ll bet that we’ll spend more than $200 on baby gates alone for our huge house.
Let the chasing begin! How did C like the sand?
Maybe you can pick up some good baby gates at yardsales or on Craigslist.
I have actually ben scouring Craigslist. I am also going to check the nearest baby consignment stores
I’d definitely bolt the bookshelves, reorganize shelves , and put gates at the top of any stairs, but that other stuff sounds entirely optional. I gave up on outlet covers when my 10-month-old came running up to me, obviously holding something in her mouth. When I pried it out … yes, it was an outlet cover. So not only was it not protecting her against a shock, it was putting her in danger of choking on the dang thing.
Let me know what kind of gates you’re looking for. We go to yard sales every weekend and there are always baby gates for cheap.
We bought the Evenflo wood ones ($35 at Target online) as we needed 4 and they have done good by us. One thing I like is you can totally take the gate part off (but the hardware stays so it isn’t one of those ‘movable’ ones that seem a pain) if you want which is quite useful in our house as we aren’t in the basement much so I don’t have to keep it on at the bottom of the stairs (where the laundry room is) just the top most of the time. I called the company and ordered extra hardware ($10) and so now I can also use one gate to block off the hallway when I don’t want her wandering all over the house along with blocking off the den where the dogs sleep at night. They aren’t all that fancy but reasonably priced…