Baby Proofing Your House

The time has come when your wonderful baby boy or girl is no longer laying around.  They have rolled over and are about to change your life forever, again.  The world for you is never going to be the same.  You are now going to turn your house upside down and move things around you thought was safe, but turns out to be a death trap.  What we need to understand is that this process comes down to two basic philosophies: Raise everything up 5 feet or continually say no.

When you baby proof there are universal items and things you must do.  When you reach the point to baby proof your house.  Proof the house all at once.  Don't piece meal it out because you will find out having to scramble to get everything baby proof is awful.  Take a day to proof the house or at least the floor you plan to allow them to explore. 

Universal Things to Baby Proof:

Cabinets and Drawers:
When you baby proof there are a number of different products out there.  Installing these will require a little drilling and a little time depending on the amount of cabinets you have.  Currently there is the classic clasp which comes in a variety of styles these days or the magnetic turn key for single doors.  Personally having to have a key every time I want to open the door is a little over kill for me.  Put if your little critter is crafty you might have to go to this level.  If you have double doors with handles you can use clasps which come in a variety of things as well.
 








Gates for Stairs and Door Ways:

By far one of the most important parts of baby proofing is the gate.  It limits the access your young heathen is able to access.  Gates are important and come in two types.  Permanent and moveable.  Stairs should be permanent as you want something sturdy as kids are going to attempt to hang off of and try to take down, permanent is better.  There are so many options it's pretty much what fits you and your family.
 

Coffee Tables and Sharp Edges:
Despite what you think everything you own made from wood or glass has a sharp edge.  Due to this you might want to put some type of foam padding on these things if you don't remove them entirely.  I recommend taking them out as they will become a climbing, jumping or moved to gain access to things you don't want them having.  You say this will never happen but I guarantee you it will.  If your kid has any intelligence worry about their craftiness, unless your kids an idiot, than there's nothing to worry about.  If you decide to keep it or it's unmovable wrap it in foam or at least the edges.  Kids are clumsy, they fall a lot and smack their head on hard objects.


Doors:
Doors with handles are the greatest things next to gate in corralling kids.  They come in a bunch of different styles.  If you have any of those long door handles than you should change those out.  Kids find those really easy to open. 
 

Electronics:
This all depends on what you own.  If your a hippie, hipster, granola or any other of those crazies than skip to the next section.  If you are like the rest of America you have a TV and more than likely some type of gaming system along with some other odds and ends.  What you should know is that having exposed wires and other things within grabbing distance is a no-no in baby proofing.  No open entertainment systems, if you do you need to have some type of clear cover (this way the remote will work).  Also if you have one of those short entertainment centers you need to attach the TV to the hall and have cord covers for the wires.  In addition to this you need to strap the TV to the entertainment system.  Make sure your wires are covered and all electrical sockets plugged.  For anything that travels you can find hide-a-wire which is great for speaker wires, Ethernet and/or any other cords.  


Kitchen:
As far as the kitchen goes make sure to cover the knobs, cabinets and drawers, put up a heat shield to stop fingers from touching the scorching heat or pulling boiling oil onto themselves, a latch for the oven as well for who needs baby nuggets.  Last but not least is the fridge.  This is by far one of the most irritating things to not lock up.  Children with access to the fridge make your life hell.  Lock that shit up.  


Bathroom:
My personal opinion is to keep the kids out of the bathroom unless supervised, use the door handle proofing to keep them out.  However if you need to keep the door open there are some things to help keep them safe.  Cabinets follow the same philosophies as the kitchen.  In addition to cabinets Toilets have options as well.
 


Finally and not least once you get this done you need to release the kid to find anything you missed and fix it.  If your kid isn't old enough to be tearing the house apart yet, you might want to have a niece, nephew or a friends kid come over to test it out.  Good luck!