I am in the middle of potty training my son. It is taking longer then I ever expected. I have an unusual question. My house has always had gates every where since my son use to throw himself on the floor during temper tanrums. The only place my kids are allowed is were there is carpet. So for instance the bathroom and kitchen were gated or the doors had a child proof knob. The problem is now he is 3 1/2 and my daughter is 1 1/2 and how do I open the bathroom to him without the little one getting into everything. When I try to open up a room to them that was off limits before they have no restaints they get into everything!!! I know I have created this situation since my sister did the oposite and did not child proof at all and nothing in the house was a big deal. I guess my question is two parts. How do I keep my daughter safe in the bathroom while giving my trying to be independent son access? Also how do I get rid of these gates since my kids have always been able to touch anything in their reach. I wish I had started out diferently but keeping my son safe was our top prority.
Thanks for the sugestions. It seems since my house was so baby proof that we did not have to say no that much. Now I am finding that when I do say no it is a big deal. My son will try to flush a hundred times and put a whole roll of toilet paper down the toilet if I let him. So I am trying to set limits. It is not easy at this point.
I think I need Nanny 911!!!
He is starting OT so I am hoping that they can give me some sugestions on the temper tantrums.
How about a latch at a height your son can reach, but your daughter can't and think about latching your medicine cabinets and make sure all cleaners are out of reach. For more safety products, ideas, and solutions, I had Protective Parents come out and childproof my home. www.protectiveparentschildproofing.com. Good luck.
J.,
Why don't you just try to child proof your bathroom so that both kids can go in and out? Clean out the cabinets that are within reach of the kids so that whatever is inside is safe to play with. Get a little stool for the sink so that the 1 year old can learn to wash her hands... Our 18 month old son has no problem going in and out of the bathroom. We used to keep the door shut when he was first learning to walk... but now he's brushing his teeth and washing his hands by himself. You can put a safety latch on the toilet if you're concerned about that. Also, the kitchen is a very fun place for little ones to play. It's kind of a shame that yours is off limits. We have hard wood floors throughout our house and our son started walking at 9 months so we had lots and lots of falls for a while, but no injuries at all. That was just part of the process. For the tantrums, it seems like there are several methods that work well. Time out in a chair (or pack-n-play--which sounds like it might be safer for your son) seems to be the most popular and effective...
hope this helps
If you really need to be able to keep your daughter out, how about looking for a bathroom door latch that your son can work, but daughter can't? My daughter was able to open some of the child latches by 4, so maybe you could find something like that... (I would not use the same style as other places you want to keep him OUT of!)
OR a regular latch (think hook and eye like old screen doors had) that is high enough for him to reach but would still be too high for her.
Definitely take all meds and cleaners, etc out of bathroom. A heavy stool in front of the sink is a good way to keep them from opening the cabinet there too, but still latch it if you need to. Soft, washable rugs with non-slip backing and a toilet cover wouldn't be a bad idea since he may have a tantrum in there, or either of them could stumble.
My daughter threw herself around like that too... I padded the edge of the tub, the edge of the toilet tank, and the counter edges with stick-on foam from the baby department of Target.
Good luck!
-Amanda
Just some thoughts...
Our house is semi-baby proofed. When we moved in, most of the cabinets had the safety locks on them, so we left them attached. It also had the cushion around the brick fireplace edge. So we left it. Most of the main floor (ranch) is hardwood floors/ceramic, so we've had some bumps and bruises on Jacob. I do understand that your situation is more specialized with your sons tantrums.
I've found that we don't really need to do much more at this point. We have glass shelves for our TV equipment that he's not allowed to touch. We have a gate by the kitchen but we have two German Shepherds that would lick our son to death! Other than that, we let Jacob in all of the rooms - with supervision. He likes to spin the office chair, pull all my books off my bookshelf, look out the windows in his room, play on the "big bed" (our room)...etc.
Maybe you can try to let your son have access to the bathroom so he isn't so preoccupied with being allowed in an "off-limit" room and feels comfortable in there. The same for your daughter as her potty-time will come soon, too! I'm not saying the bathroom is a playroom and I know there are major dangers in there, but kids (and animals) seem to want things that we don't let them have! Lol. SO, maybe just being in the off-limit bathroom is enough for your little guy. Take that excitement away and maybe it will help. As long as you put the cabinet locks on and supervise any activity in the bathroom, I don't see much of an issue.
