Childproofing - Waukee,IA

I childproofed as my son showed me what to childproof. when he started really moving i moved all stuff off of lower shelves and put his toys in those places and i put baby locks on cupboards with chemicals in them. moved the computer so that all the wires were concealed. and moved furniture to block outlets that were in use, and gates where i thought he shouldnt be going. none of it is any inconvience to us and it is worth it to keep my baby safe. My mothers house is definatly not baby proof and i just have to watch him all the time and not really let him roam on his own. It is definately a good idea to at least put gates on stairs and locks on chemicals or move the chemicals up where little ones can't reach them.

You can't expect every place you go with your child to be "childproof". However, you do want to be able to relax a little in your own home. For example, if you are sitting in the living room watching a movie and you hear junior over in the kitchen, you don't have to be worried about what she's getting into. You would want to use a furniture strap only if you have a heavy piece of furniture, i.e, a bookcase, that could fall over if she tried climbing it. I think you should just use your judgement, if she doesn't have free access to the bathroom, a toilet lock isn't necessary. Some things are a little excessive, some things are a life saver.
Good luck
L.

Unless you're planning on leaving your baby alone for long periods of time, I think you can get away with basic childproofing. I think too much childproofing gives people a false sense of security. Your supervision should be your main childproofing. I started out with good intentions of childproofing everything with my first baby but quickly found that I had to worry about some things and not others based on what my daughter wanted to get into. She never even so much as tried to lift he toilet seat, so I didn't do that lock - same thing with the refrigerator door latch. By the time she was able to even open the refrigerator, it wasn't really a problem. So here's what I did:
-Baby gates at the top and bottom of the stairs.
-Chemicals either moved up really high or latches on those doors.
-In the kitchen, moved pots and pans and tupperware drawers down and breakable stuff up
-latches on doors wtih knives or other stuff we didn't want her to get at
-Outlet covers (or move furniture in front of outlets)

We didn't do much childproofing. But we also never left her unsupervised...and still don't really even now that she is 4. I would say how much you need to childproof depends on your parenting style and how close an eye you want to keep on the little one. If possible, it does make things much easier to have at least one area where you spend a lot of time that you feel is very safe. You really don't HAVE to childproof...but if you don't then you HAVE to REALLY watch them all the time.

We have a nearly one year old and we have cp'd to a degree. Gates for the stairs, padding on the corners of coffee tables, etc and locks on the hazardous stuff in the kitchen. We have a step down into the living room that he knows to not go down, (they just know I guess), which is good because it is to large for a gate. Other things we have just put out of reach like candles, etc. We have decided to er on the side of some caution, but we also feel that the more we childproof the more comfortable we will get. Because really he can still get hurt..but it's a good idea for those times when you have to let the dogs out and he takes the opportunity to crawl up the stairs! So some peace of mind is great. Our parents didn't have ever piece of childproofing under the sun like we have options for-they had to watch us.

You have to childproof... imagine if you were not to and something were to happen to your little one and get really hurt. How horrible would you feel for not protecting her. Outlet covers, furniture straps, cabinet locks(for places with chemicals or sharp objects) and baby gates for the stairs or dangerous rooms are a must. If you leave your house as is, they will either break a lot of things, get hurt on a regular basis or make you really frustraited for not leaving your things alone.
We just child proofed the rooms that he spends the most time in. Our family room is safe... except for the Christmas tree which will be a battle till its down! His bedroom is TOTALLY toddler proof and safe. We also have cabinet locks on the cabinets with the cleaner and the knive are kept up high. Door knob caps are also a must at our house... he learned to open the doors and could escape, but not anymore and I fixed the problem before something bad happened. Also when you are visiting other peoples homes you will probably not be taking your eyes of her... I would hope. As where at home you can be a bit more relaxed. And you will be spending ALOT of time at home and little time at others homes.

We do it to some extent, but it's nearly impossible to COMPLETELY childproof, and little monkeys always find a way.
We do the outlet covers, keep breakable and sharp and other obviously dangerous items (scissors, knives, screwdrivers, small toys that are choking hazards) out of reach, and use stair gates.
You didn't mention how old your child is. That makes a big difference. There are different things you do at different ages. My toddler is almost 2 and can find a way into or onto just about anything, so it's more about teaching and supervising than childproofing to keep him safe. Example: we keep knives and other sharp objects out of reach, but allow him to play with Legos and marbles with supervision.
Good luck!