A probably not exhaustive list of things we need to do to baby proof the house. What am I forgetting? And can it be addressed with angle brackets?
- Put cabinet latches on all bathroom and kitchen cabinets (except a designated "safe" cabinet or two).
- Obtain or build and deploy radiator enclosures.
- Identify all small objects stored within a few feet of ground level (low shelves, drawers, cabinets, coffee table) and find other homes for them.
- Secure remaining unsecured bookcases to walls. This involves figuring out what we want where in the boy's room.
- Oh, and that set of shelves in the kitchen too.
- Figure out a solution for concealing electrical cords and do it.
- Put the outlet covers on the outlets. We have some cool ones with little doors that allegedly snap shut over the outlet but are hard to open; I haven't tried them yet to see if they're useful or fun toys we've now attached to electrical outlets.
- Get plexiglass or something for the non-wall side of the crib, because I don't know how long it will take him to learn to not wedge an arm or leg through the slats.
General practices:
- Do not leave the boy unattended on any non-floor or non-enclosed surface, even a little. We're mostly good on this, but only mostly, and he's quick and getting quicker.
- Do not leave small objects lying around. Included: check after standing up that we didn't just shed pocket change by accident.
- Stop leaving glasses and silverware on the coffee table too.
- Turn pot handles in.
- Vacuum once or twice a week. No, eating grit and shreds of paper won't hurt him, but it's poor form.
- Bolt the basement door. Mostly to develop the habit; we'll need to figure out a way to keep him from tumbling down the stairs while we're down there at some point (a baby gate or sequestering him in another part of the house).
For the future:
- Figure out how to secure the medicine cabinet. Actually, if he's climbing on the bathroom sink, we have fall risks before poisoning. I have no idea how to manage his climbing onto chairs, tables, desks, counters, etc. when he's older. Maybe he'll be mentally capable of grasping it's unwise to be up that high. That was a joke.
- See if there's some stove knob cover we can use so he won't be able to turn on the gas.
- Teach him not to put everything in sight in his mouth once he's capable of reason?
- ???
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Is he freakishly tall? Denton was old enough to leave alone before he got tall enough for the stove or tabletops to matter. Some kids aren't climbers. Your list seems a tad paranoid.
ReplyDeleteWe have steam heat, and never bothered with radiator covers (though the gas comfort-heat stove needed rails around it). Our radiators are hot enough to learn a lesson on, and not hot enough to do lasting damage.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for picking up the steak knives and the glass of whiskey, but Denton could drink from an open cup reasonably reliably shortly after he could walk, so glasses of water were a non-issue. Spoons and forks make fine playthings in a pinch.
We have flip-up knob covers for the stove, which keep the dog from turning the burners on when she tries to scavenge stuff off the top - Denton figured them out almost immediately. If you want to make the stove knobs impossible to accidentally turn on, I think your only useful option is to pull the knobs off and store them out of reach.
I don't know if he'll be as good at defeating all safety measures as Denton, but it's good to know that knob covers are no help. I am indeed paranoid about certain things right now: I have clinicals at Shriners' and am looking around for ways he could possibly burn / scald / set fire to / blow himself up. I don't expect him to be seriously mobile any time this spring, so in the fall he'll be used to cold radiators. I may be overworried about them.
ReplyDeleteAs for the table, we have a couple of low coffee tables at perfect cruising height. I think the room is in more danger from glasses of liquid than he is, but yes, knives are right out.
I think it's more productive to think in terms of 'attractive nuisances'; there's stuff that's irresistible, because it clearly does something that the kid's programmed to learn about.
ReplyDeleteIn our house, the early examples of those things were the microwave, the dog's water bowl, and the CO2 detector. What they have in common is immediate feedback upon tinkering with them. (The CO2 detector shrieks like a banshee upon pressing the test button; Denton has terrified himself with it about every six months.)