Child Proofing

We have a five year old and three year old twins. We have a newer home and didn't want to drill holes in the new kitchen cupboards...I used rubber bands and put then between each side of the cupboard drawer knobs and wrapped them until they were tight...they left them alone...the few drawers that they could get into I left "safe" stuff like tupperware in for them to play with. Sometimes it kept them occupied while I was getting stuff done in the kitchen.

If your cabinets have knobs, you can get the things that go around both knobs, similar to using a rubberband. But they lock.

Or you could move all your husband's personal things into the low cabinets he likes to play in and start keeping tupperware in hubby's dresser drawers. I bet he'd get around to it really quick if his stuff was being messed with. :)

I agree with many of the moms that the kids need to learn what is acceptable to play with, and what is not acceptable. But we all know that we cannot keep our eyes on them for every single minute of every single day. Would you rather be safe or sorry that when you had to go to the bathroom was the one minute your child strategically chose to get into the bleach or dish soap she knew she wasn't allowed to have?

That being said, I bought the Kidco magnetic childlocks. They are pretty strong, and worked well for our little one who is also two. They attach with a strong tape, and there is a lever you can use to lock them open, or you can leave them so when the door or drawer is closed it latches shut. I put one of the magnet keys in the kitchen, and bought a second for storage with all of the other spare keys so that if we ever lost the key, there was a spare around. Mostly I leave them open now, but there are days when the pots and pans are all over the place and it drives me crazy so I just lock them back shut. They are on the expensive side, but well worth the $$ in my opinion!

We never did anything to permanently child proof our home. When my daughter started crawling we had a safe zone in the living room where we didn't have to watch her every second, but the rest of the house stayed normal. We worked with her on obedience and what she was allowed to touch and not touch, get into, play with etc... She did great. Worst thing was shredding a box of tissue. I don't have to worry about her getting into things because she knows better. She just turned 3.

Baby proofing if often an excuse to be a lazy parent. Don't fall into this trap. Get used to watching and playing with your kids. Training them to be obedient and respectful of other people's things.

Best wishes!

I use rubberbands too around my knobs. Gates we have gates, but now my daughter can push them down. Its sad that we wreak our house to baby proof it. Good ??? Glad u ask it. Anyone have problems in the bathroom or is it just my daughter. Good luck to you.

I agree with most of the moms who responded. Childproofing to me is silly, because you can't childproof everywhere you go. Houseproof your child. Train your child what is acceptable and not acceptable and expect to re-train a few times before it sinks in, and expect to be tested. This will be easier when you go to a friend's house who has no childproofing. My 1 year old knows what cupboards he can get into and now rarely tests me. Yes he is curious, but I have cupboards he is allowed to get into. When I was training him, a firm "NO" worked, then I redirected him to the "ok" cupboard and said in a happy fun voice "here you go!" then I opened it for him. I have slapped his hand only once (I slap gently here people, don't get cranky, just a tap on the hand) but I will when he is being defiant or doing somethingdangerous.
Check out the book "to train up a child" Trust me it helps!
Enjoy that little one, and watch closely! Eventually you won't have to be on your toes sooo much to keep little one out of things!
p.s. I agree with your hubby, holes in things are not the way to go, train the little one! You will be glad when you do!

They make locks that can go over certain types of cupboard doors to keep kids out, but honestly, the easiest way for me was to get a gate that could swing out and lock them out of the kitchen, there is a GREAT one that's tall and extensible; here's the link: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2632196

Also, I know Tupperware at one point had a whole little set just for kids to play with, here is the link to my consultant's website, she lives in Chelsea and I've known her for twenty years, her daughter is my best friend http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2632196 and she's great.

Good luck!

Hi R.,

I never child proofed my apartment. I felt that it was my job to keep my son from getting into the cabinets and trying to drink the bleach. It worked. My cleaning products are found under the sink, and he's never gotten into them. At 2 years old, your daughter should be able to start understanding consequence.... if you touch this, you will be put in the naughty chair, or get a spanking..... id honestly say by 2 years old, child proofing will be useless.

Try to talk to her about consequences, and watch her carefully. She'll get it.

Good luck.

i never did child proof my house and even left the cleaning stuff low....i felt that was somthing my son had to learn to stay out of and he never did bother the cabinets or drawers.

Our friends were lucky enough to only child proof under the sink. Their son stayed right by their side and didn't wander off. How nice would that be!!!! We had to put up gates and childproof everything in the kitchen. We haven't done the bathrooms yet but there are days that I want to. At first my husband didn't want to drill that much either, each one takes 4 screws! He screwed them into the drawers/cabinets but used double sided tape for the locking part on the under side of the cabinet. Let me tell you it did not work. Our son is strong, we even did it too, and if he pulled hard enough was able to rip it off and get in the drawer. I would imagine glue is the same way.

We got the regular ones that the drawer opens a couple inches and you push down on the lock and it unlocks from the hook. If I had to do it over again I would spend the extra money and get the magnet ones. You have to hold a magnet key in front of the lock for the drawer to open. Little kids can't get their hands in there at all. With the old school regular kind, we have to keep pens and sharp objects a couple inches back so they don't get hurt or damage anything. Wait until they can open the fridge! At least my kids go for the fruit or yogurt but ugh!

There are some that use super strong double stick tape to attach the magnetic parts to the inside of the door and the cabinet, then you use a huge magnet to release the lock. We used them when we lived in a rented apartment and couldn't damage the doors in any way. They work great, but are pretty expensive so I would pick and choose where you put them, putting all the dangerous stuff in just a couple of cabinets and then locking it. Totally worth it when you compare the money to the safety of the child. Good Luck!

I have a 13 month old that gets into everything, I found that rubber bands around the handles keeps him from getting into anything too dangerous, it works good and doesn't leave any marks, and it's cheap too!!