Never really was.
I can see your shock-faces from here.
Oh sure, at our old house we put a baby gate at the top of the stairs. And we put cabinet locks on a whopping... three(?) cabinets - you know, the ones with cleaning supplies in them.
Other than that... yeah, nothing.
Nope, not even outlet covers.
Nope, didn't even put picture frames and the like out of reach.
I don't remember what age Jena was when it occurred to me that maybe we should, I'm sure it was probably around the time she was getting very mobile. But at that point she had shown exactly zero interest in outlets, and if she went to open a cabinet or reach for a glass trinket, all it took was a "no", followed by some redirection.
Seriously. I remember talking to my mom about it, after a trip to BRU, where I saw the bevy of child-proofing items you "need" to make your home safe.
And my mom reminded me that back then, they didn't have most of those items. They had outlet covers, and that was it. Instead they simply kept an eye on their children and taught them what to do or not do.
Interesting perspective.
{{ tangent - makes me wonder how much of the baby-proofing phenomenon is a spinoff of the working mom phenomenon, as there is less parental guidance at home... }}
At our new house, we have had one cabinet lock on one cabinet (again - cleaning supplies).
We did install all tamper-resistant outlets throughout the home, including tamper- and weather-resistant outlets in both bathrooms. You know, since we had to replace them all anyway. (Jason gets all the credit for this - I didn't even know they made such things until he told me)
And we at one point had doorknob covers on every exterior door. But then she just learned how to take them off, so... no real babyproofing here either.
Now we do preschooler-proofing. You know what that is, right? That means putting anything that makes a big mess on top of the fridge: bubbles, Play Doh, paint, markers, etc. And also, candy.
************************
this post inspired by this post
3 comments:
You also have to bolt down every chair, stool, or anything else that can be used to climb up to said messy things. (lol) I learned putting things up high just makes it a "challenge" to get to and way more likely to get into. Now I just put them in the low cabinet and make it clear to only get them out with mommy. For some reason it works. I also believe if you make it clear from the start that pictures and breakable items are to be looked at and not touched that there is no reason to put them all up when you have small children. I am glad I am not the only one out there that believes children should be taught what is expected of them and expect them to follow it, the world is not "child proof."
BHAHAHAHA! You've never had to spend 24 hours alone with my little persistent destructive ball of energy. Babyproofing is for children like my Auburn. You turn your back for quite literally ten seconds, and she can ruin anything or get into something dangerous. She wasn't one who responded to a simple "no" or redirection :) LOL, who knows what the next two kiddos will bring!
LOL my mom always said that excessive childproofing was interrupting natural selection. We all lived with minor injuries and we learned fast what hurt and what didnt.
Great post!
Post a Comment