Let the Baby Proofing Begin!

Updated on June 05, 2012
A.A. asks from Tulsa, OK
5 answers

So we are going full force baby proofing in the near future. DS is 1 and can now walk so it's more than time. We've babyproofed our living room and his room, but need to work on the kitchen and bathrooms. We have lots of cabinets that are stained, and I really want to avoid drawer or cabinet locks that screw into the wood but haven't seen a lot of options. I have some for the cabinets with knobs in the middle (a loop like thing that secures the knobs to each other), but can't find alot for drawers. Also, we have a lazy susan that looks perfect for smashed fingers (I admit it, I've smashed mine before), is there any kind of lock for this type of cabinet? Amazon had 1 option, but it got bad reviews. Thanks for your help!

What can I do next?

  • Add yourAnswer own comment
  • Ask your own question Add Question
  • Join the Mamapedia community Mamapedia
  • as inappropriate
  • this with your friends

More Answers

S.G.

answers from Grand Forks on

While it is important to keep little ones safe, I would recommend that you don't go "full force" baby proofing. Children need the freedom to explore their surroundings (including inside cupboards), plus babies need the opportunities to hear the word "no". Try to put things that are dangerous to baby or breakable well out of reach, or in one cupboard that is locked.

3 moms found this helpful

☼.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

We purchased the ones that screwed in for both drawers and cabinets. You screw them in on the inside of the cabinet doors so that they aren't visible on the outside. When the need was no longer there, we just removed them and put some wood patch in the holes. This site has a lot of those gadgets; I think this is where we purchased ours:
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/thumbnail.jsp?Ntk=Def...

2 moms found this helpful

T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

I'm old school when it comes to this.
If it's sharp or poisonous, it goes up high (top shelf of linen closet, above the fridge, etc.)
Everything else is pretty safe.
Keep all your plastic, tupperware, pots and pans, towels/rags, etc. in the cabinets below the counter, and all your knives, crystal, glassware, medications, razors in the cabinets above the counter.
You may need to do a little rearranging but honestly it's easier than installing a bunch of gadgets, and then God forbid, what if one of those gadgets fails?
Baby proofing is really about minimizing dangers (and of course, actually watching your kid) and reorganization is such an easy, effective and cheap way to do it!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

H.W.

answers from Portland on

If any of your drawers have handles (instead of knobs, like a u-shape) you can put a yardstick through them from top to bottom. A little inconvenient, but it does work.

I agree with Sherri G; it might be time to rearrange some things. We use the loop locks (It looks like two zip ties with a plastic square and some 'buttons' to press to open it) on our cabinet under the sink as it has all those yucky cleansers, but I also put the more kid-friendly things lower and the forbidden items up high. And Lee Lee's suggestion of the push-down locks will work, up to a point. eventually kiddos do get smart to these, but by then they are hopefully more aware of what's for them and what isn't.

One thing I did was to remove the knobs on the front of our stove. They were just the right height for Kiddo to twiddle once he got comfortable on his feet and was a toddler. Up until he was about 4.5 years old, they just lived in a pretty bowl on the counter and I grabbed them out when I needed to cook. It also ensured that the burners were turned off.

Some people like a toilet lock. I didn't use one at our house, but some families do.

I also kept the knife block way back from the edge of counter and still set my knives in a mason jar after I've washed them. This way, when Kiddo is helping me in the kitchen and grabs something out of the dishrack, a knife isn't even a possibility. We have a stepstool which needed storing, so we bought two of those spring-clamps that people usually use for brooms... instead, we mounted them horizontally so we didn't have a stepstool which would be falling over or climbed up on unless we were intending it to be used.

Okay, I probably sound super-cautious...most of these modifications were purely for my convenience... a lot of things not to have to say 'no' to!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

❤.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

Use cabinet locks that you screw to the inside of the door & the latch part
screws to the inside of the cabinet.

For kitchen cabinet knobs, they have this loop thing that goes across both
knobs.

For the lazy susan, I'd find a way to stop that thing from moving (since you've done it to yourself) w/a gadget you rig. One you can pull off when YOU want to spin it.

For drawers, you can get creative. When my baby was little, I'd use masking tape then graduated to those springy bike lock things etc.

For Updates and Special Promotions
Follow Us

Related Questions