How to Baby Proof Your Home Today

Now that your bundle of joy is graduated from the ‘eat, sleep, poop’ stages and onto more exciting things like ‘eat more, poop more, sleep less, roll over’ you’ll probably want to start thinking about baby proofing.  

In my opinion, baby proofing depends on the layout of your house and where your baby will be spending their time. Some people want to do it all at once, that way it’s done, whereas other people take the ‘we will get there when he gets there’ approach. Why put baby locks on the doors if baby can’t walk for months? 

One of the most basic baby proofing items parents invest in is a baby gate. There are literally HUNDREDS of gates ranging in pricing and lengths. For traditionally sized entryways, any gate will do. There are gates that screw into the walls to make a hard mounted gate or there are gates that you remove every time you need to go through the entryway. Make sure you measure your entryway before purchasing a gate. What you think may be a ‘normal’ size, might not. Many additional gates can be found online at cheaper prices, so make sure you shop around!

Another basic baby-proofing item are outlet plugs. These can be found almost anywhere including hardware stores. They come in massive boxes and are simple to use. Cabinet locks are another quick fix. Some people will lock all cabinets some people will only lock the dangerous ones. My first daughter never had any interest in our cabinets, so I have chosen not to buy any for the twins yet.  However, if your baby is more adventurous, cabinet locks are highly suggested. The most common type of cabinet lock is something to the effect of the Safety 1st Press N Pivot Latches. In my opinion, these are also the easiest for kids to figure out and learn to use. Being able to pivot these to an ‘off’ position is nice if your kiddo has finally outgrown the need for them yet you’ve got potential future use for them. These do hard mount into your cabinets so if you’d like to avoid damage, or are renting a home, these might not be an option. Another popular choice is the Safety 1st Secure Tech Cabinet Lock. These locks secure themselves around your cabinet hardware and because they are not hard mounted can be removed at any time and cause no damages to your cabinets. Since they are on the outside of your cabinets, they are not a very attractive option. Another type is called the Safety 1st Tot Deluxe Starter Set. These work by a magnet system. You install a magnet activated latch on one side of the cabinet and on the other is the receiving end of the lock. In order to open the cabinet and deactivate the lock you must have the “key” and put it on the outside of the cabinet which disengages the lock and you can open the cabinet. The concept is great. The only time I’ve used these locks was at a friend’s house and I thought they were rotten.  Maybe it was just me, but I couldn’t quite get the hang of them! Perhaps her set was just getting worn out. These also hard mount onto cabinets and if the “key” gets lost it will need to be replaced. Pretty much anything in your house these days can get locked including but not limited to: toilet seats, refrigerators, and stove knobs!

Doorknobs are another popular one. There are tons of different types of baby proof locks for doors, however, I have also found some of them to be parent proof! The Safety 1st Twist & Grip Knob Cover is a simple way to secure a doorknob. These fit around doorknobs and are operated by squeezing them against the doorknob and turning as you normally would. To me, they can be frustrating if they aren’t gripping the doorknob tight enough to enable it to be turned. To fit the more modern doorknobs, the oblong ones, Safety 1st Professional Grade Lever Handle Lock is the lack of choice. I’ve not used these myself but my neighbor has and loves them! There are also devices for sliding glass doors and “little moons” as we call them, to help prevent fingers from getting pinched in doors!

The options for baby proofing your house are literally endless, but remember, it’s your house! If all else fails, just wrap everything in bubble wrap and hope for the best!

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