Travelling with Toddler

Besides covering electrical outlets and putting rubber covers on furniture corners, we never baby-proofed our house. When we took our toddler to his grandparents' house, he knew what he could and could not touch - and Grandma has a LOT of fragile knickknacks everywhere. He was also so busy being entertained by all the "new" people, he really wasn't interested in the kitchen cupboards, toilets, etc. (He'd seen all those at home.) Also, in June, you'll probably spend a lot of time outdoors, so I wouldn't worry too much about extraordinary baby-proofing.

Enjoy Vermont.

Hopefully your MIL will be okay with taking decorative objects off of tables, but other than that you'll just have to watch your baby a lot. That's just one of the many reasons why traveling with babies/toddlers is exhausting, and usually not much of a vacation for the mom. It's more work than having them at home.

I pretty much agree with everyone else that you are just going to make sure someone is watching the toddler at all times. If there are steep stairs, you could ask that she buy or borrow a spring loaded gate to use while you are there, or something else could be used as a barricade when necessary (all you would need is to slow the kid down long enough for whoever is watching her to get there in time). We've visited unchildproofed houses before and it hasn't been a big deal. Medicine and vitamins shouldn't be accessible. Depending on the age of the toddler, you might have to agree to keep the bathroom door closed (or if you feel that keeping doors "locked" is important, you could bring a child safety doorknob cover with you. I assume it's very unlikely your daughter would be in the kitchen or bathroom by herself opening up cupboards or drawers.

I think you can nicely let people know what she is capable of that they need to watch out for (pulling hot cups of coffee off the edge of the table, splashing in the toilet, opening the outside door, pulling a pen out of grandma's purse and writing on the sofa, getting a sharp knife out of the dishwasher, or whatever fits her stage of development.)

You didn't mention how old your daugter is, but it would be a good idea to start training her on "don't touch" . but most improtantly you will have to watch her extra close.

J.,
Remember you are a visitor not a resident. Even if the visit is for an extended period of time you should never need to baby proof someone's home. You will need to watch her more closely. Period. It won't be like at home, where at times you leave her alone in a room while you do dishes, laundry etc. When you get there you will need to make sure that there are no breakables down low, but you need to just play it as it comes. See what the dangers might be when you are there and address them at that time. When we went to my husbands parents home for a visit, they had their knife block sitting on the bottom shelf on their kitchen island! Not something that we immediately noticed, until our son crawled into the kitchen to explore. You will need to follow him around. It's examples like the above that can never be predicted. Just keep your eye on him and enjoy your time. My guess is that your beautiful little girl will never be alone enough to find herself in danger in the first place.
L.

I guess it depends upon how much of a firecracker your daughter is, what your mother-in-law's house is like (are there steep stairs? priceless art?). We babyproofed everything in our house for my older daughter, and probably didn't need to, because when she was at my parents' house (which was not babyproofed in the least, and still isn't to this day), my mom would just take her around the living room, and say, "See Nona's artwork? Don't touch it!" and my daughter wouldn't touch it. Now, when it came to my younger daughter, she really was out of control and even so, my parents still didn't babyproof. I really had to pay attention when we went over there. My mom collects hand-blown glass art, and since many of her pieces are valuable and not replaceable, I would just put them up high so my daughter couldn't reach them (I'm a risk-taker, but I'm not crazy!). But other than that, I just watched over her really carefully to be sure she didn't play in the toilet, stick her fingers in electrical sockets, fall down the basement stairs, etc. She made it through babyhood and is still alive as a 3 year old, so it worked! The one concession my parents did make was to put a hook-and-eye latch up high on the basement door so she couldn't open the door by herself and fall down the stairs.

Maybe you could suggest to your in-laws that they meet you halfway on the super dangerous stuff, and then agree to keep an eye on the baby with the rest of the stuff. I mean, our parents never babyproofed anything when we were little, and we all lived to adulthood, right?

just make sure someone is watching your daughter at all times. no big deal.

I would just remind her that her wonderful grandchild is a TODDLER and, "Hey, it might be a good idea if you got all that expensive glass knick-knackery OFF your coffee table & up out of harm's way for the duration--and maybe pick up a package of those little goobers you stick in the electrical outlets". No matter how angelic your mother-in-law thinks her grandchild is, she used to have toddlers, too. You just have to remind her that even the most well-behaved toddler is still something of a savage. That said, my then-19-month old did just fine at my Dad's no longer very childproof house (my folks ran an in-home day care for 20 years, but that ended when my Mom got sick about 5 years ago) when we were there in December.
She wants to see her grandbaby--I can't imagine she'll be offended.

Just assess the place visually when you get thyere so you know where you have to be more cautious. You will just need to be on your toes. Dont worry though it will be fine.

Since most people keep the toxic household cleaners in a cabinet under the sink, you might want to consider picking up one of the safety latches for that and simply ask your MIL if it would be ok to put it on the doors while you are there so you would all have more peace of mind. Other than that, I agree that you'll just have to be sure to watch your child more carefully than at home. One thing to remember is that all the "childproofing" in the world doesn't work unless it's accompanied by close watching. We're finding in our daycare that these little tykes soon learn the combinations and circumvent the gates, latches, and even the outlet covers, so don't assume you're child is safe because you've "childproofed" the home.
You might also mention to your MIL that your child is active and that she may want to consider whether she needs to move anything out of harm's way for your visit. Just keep it on a friendly "so we can visit without worry" type of suggestion.

Ask your mother in law for help before you go. Apologize for being overprotective, but say that you would rather be on the safe side. Instead of childproofing the entire house, pick a couple of rooms that you will be in most.

I would just tell her that your daughter is very active and likes to explore things and that if there is anything she doesn't want your daughter getting into she might want to put it up while you are there. Other than that you really aren't going to be able to totally baby proof her house, you will just have to keep an extra close eye on your daughter.

You didn't mention how old your daughter is so that has a lot to do with what she will get into or not. I agree with some of the respones. You are visiting and your daughter depending on the age she should know if over 2 not to touch certain things. Bring a large blanket of hers and her toys to play on. She needs to know that she has her things to play with to keep her busy on her area. That is just the joys of visiting others having small children. Its a lot of work but as long as you bring things for them to play with it can be less stressful. don't expect your hostess to have a home to entertain her. Bring snacks and her things a fav stuff toy, coloring books. Like i said, not knowing how old she is, its hard to give advice. we have a portable dvd player for our now 3 year old. also vising during nap time is even better I learn. If she is younger, we take our pack and play to our families/friends if we are going to be there for long period of time, that way they are in a confined area and everyone is happier. The people you are visiting with will thank you for not destorying their home. If its too much work then its not worth taking them out to visit. Leave them at home or have them come visit you. Its the joys of having children.

Good luck,

SAHM/zombie 40yrs old with 2 amazing little boys. 3yrs old and 8 months.

With our four children we have vistied with many relatives whose homes aren't childproofed. We simply ask that medicines be put up out of reach. My grandparents normally keep them on their kitchen table and then we ask if there is anything out that they would be devasted if it was broken and we simply ask if we can put it up so that even though we intend to watch our children closely it won't happen. Also my inlaws have an unfenced, uncovered pool in their backyard and we insist that all doors that could eventually lead to the backyard be locked in a fashoin that out youngest chidlren cannot open them. The pool and the medications are the only ones we insist upon and we would leave if our faimlies wouldn't agree to that but that has never been the issue. Other than that we watch our children as best we can.

Remind your MIL how toddlers love to explore and touch EVERYTHING that is within their reach 0-3 ft. Let her know that you are concerned about her nice things and about the experience your daughter/family has at her house. On that note, ask her if she would be willing to move her treasured items out of reach so that you can all enjoy the visit as there will be fewer "no no's", no broken items, you will be able to relax more and there will be no resulting hurt feelings. Talk to your husband...maybe he would be willing to talk to her about it. Hopefully she will understand. If not, try to spend time outdoors or away from the house as much as possible. Good luck and have fun no matter what happens!

i have never asked anyone to childproof for us, but would definitely pay attention to things like where chemicals and medicines are. this is a good opportunity for your kid to learn about the unchildproofed world beyond his walls. i did have an interesting experience lately where i found out that the man we were staying with keeps a loaded gun in the house (he locked it up for us) and i realized that i should always ask people if they keep guns in the home. that is one thing i will never be shy about.

Can you bring a play pen and a spring loaded gate?