What safety stuff before baby crawls/ walks?

MrsKelly_2

For my DD all we have ever had is a plug socket cover near the end of her bed and a safety gate on the kitchen door. I think aslong as you remember to put things they really shouldn't go near away from reach then things should be fine, my daughter isn't allowed in the kitchen at all so cupboard locks etc have never really been needed, she knows not to go in there. (The cooker is next to the door so i taught her never to go near it as she never knows if it will be hot or not.)

Becles wrote: »

I wouldn't leave my toddler alone anywhere.

When I need the loo, and take her into the bathroom with me. I keep a book in our bathroom for her to look at while I'm busy, or she plays with her ducks if I use the childrens bathroom.

She comes with me when I'm busy. eg I was ironing in the utility room yesterday so I fetched a shape sorter through and she sat and played with that, and played with the dog (his bed is through there too) while I was busy.

If the bell goes or the phone rings, I pick her up and take her with me too.

This is what i also do my DD is never left alone apart from when she is tucked up in bed at night, if i need the loo she comes too, i never leave her alone in the car either (i.e petrol stations). If they come everywhere with you there isn't much opportunity for things to happen.

SarahNeedle1872

We didn't buy anything.... MiL got two great stair gates from the charity shop (£5 each), so we have one at the top of the stairs and one in the kitchen door way.... keeps DS outof the kitchena and gives the dog somewhere to relax too. Gap at bottom of stairs is too wide for a gate so we have a giant toy chest, which he knows not to climb over. Don't leave him on him own downstairs for more than the time it takes to have a wee....

Oh and sockets covered by large pieces of furniture!

keld

I've got three children. DS fell down stairs before I realised he could crawl, :eek: I was more scared than him. So I got stair gates for the top and bottom. None of them tried to climb over them or got stuck, even though my twin DDs do work as a team. I also had a few socket covers and 2 cupboard locks - 1 for the nasties and 1 for the sharps. Mind we are lucky as all our doors have round twist handles and it was really easy to close the kitchen door etc, while I checked on the cooker etc.

Now the children are older, I've reused one of the stair gates over a low window on the stairs, as if they fell through, it would be really nasty.:eek:

Good luck and enjoy your children while they still let you cuddle them:rotfl: in front of their friends - they grow up sooo fast.

SammyD_2

Please, please make sure that you attach anything really heavy to the wall - we screwed our bookcases, drawers and our heavy change table to the wall. Just before I had my daughter there was the report about the poor woman who lost her twins (aged two) when they climbed up on the drawers and they fell over on them.

You cannot guard against everything, but relatively cheap and obvious things do make a difference. I also put stair gates top and bottom, plug covers, locked the top windows (with keys bluetacked to the frame), and put a lock on the under sink cupboard. I also rearranged the kitchen so the china was kept in the cupboard behind the bin, whereas the plastic stuff was in the more obvious and accessable cupboard.

Its fine to say watch your children every second - but when you have two or more, it becomes much more difficult - when you are breast feeding baby and you think your 2 year old is asleep in bed for a nap...

My son fell down the stairs when he was almost two - I was 9 months pregnant, carried him upstairs asleep and put him in bed with me...woke up to a bump bump bump as he fell down the stairs. I had not shut the stair gate (to this day cannot explain why). I still replay that over in my mind. He is fine, but only by God's grace.