Comments on: Baby Gear: General Safety Items

By: PIJill

PIJill — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:21:49 +0000

I agree with the hook/eye being better than doorknob covers, but there are doors in older homes that are set so that they cannot be hook and eye latched. We sadly have a few, and for doors like that, the doorknob covers are a lifesaver.

I think that window gates – which lock in place and let you open the window behind them, and can also be opened by a parent in case of fire, are a godsend for parents in apartments or for kids rooms above the 1st floor. Every year, our local news carries tragic stories of kids who fall out of windows and die, especially apartments that are above the 3rd floor. Screens do not hold the weight of a child, and in the summer months when you need to keep windows open, the gates are an amazing help.

By: speaksoftly2me

speaksoftly2me — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 10:29:00 +0000

We are big fans of Baby Safety Foam http://www.babysafetyfoam.com/ at our house. Our raised hearth is brick and has unusual angles so readymade products with right corners wouldn’t work. Our daughter likes to sit on the now foam covered hearth, and this product was worth every penny in preventing problems.

By: ladeeesquire

ladeeesquire — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:37:41 +0000

As a BTDT parent of 3 who has always lived in a 2 story home, I highly suggest that all parents teach their toddler to go down the stairs in a safe fashion. as soon as they are capable. The best way IMO is backwards, feet first sort of sliding down on their tummies. We came home with our dd when she was 11 mos old. She was already cruising the furniture by that time. By the time she was 12 mos, she could safely manage the stairs by herself. We taught her to turn around about 2-3 feet before she got to the stairs to begin her descent.

We still never allow her to go down the stairs by herself, of course, she’s only 18 mos and I go down backwards just below her so I can watch her closely BUT if by chance she did encounter stairs, she knows very well how to handle them.

Friends of ours with a bio son just 6 mos older than our dd thought my suggestion of going down the stairs backwards was “silly” and “wouldn’t work” –they had gates top and bottom but a visitor left one of them open and their poor little boy got to the middle of the stairs landing then wanted to come back down. He tried to do it like he’d seen mommy and daddy do and tumbled. Luckily, he wasn’t injured too badly, daddy caught his fall before he hit the tile at the bottom.

By: lilysmom2b

lilysmom2b — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:46:10 +0000

Another thing—while we lock up cleaning items because most (all?) are toxic, we often don’t lock up other things that could be dangerous if consumed by a child: hairspray and other hair products, room deodorizers, and some make-up/make-up removal products.

By: dlrs

dlrs — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:41:26 +0000

We have used just about all the safety equipment mentioned in this post ……but I must say how did we survive as kids???? My mother didn’t use any of these and my sisters and I never had a trip to the hospital. However, I think it is surely a step in the right direction to be safe than sorry.

By: cassiesmom

cassiesmom — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:31:16 +0000

Devorah, I hope it is not too late to talk you off your ledge. Each child is different. I have yet to bring home our baby from China but I have 2 very active boys. There are solutions for every potential problem (almost) but every thing is not a problem for every child. That said, we have mounted baby gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. Although my youngest in the house is six, we still put the gates on anytime we have an inexperienced stair climber in the house. I have very few fragile items in the house, and none within reach of a child. Medicines and cleaners are in cabinets up high. If you plan to follow your baby around ridiculously closely (as I do) if they are even mobile, during the first few weeks, then we should have time to baby proof for the trouble areas as we go before the babies have freedom to move around the home independently. That should give time to figure out your child-proofing priorities. Just make sure you have a truly safe place to place baby when you do need to go to the bathroom, or cook (e.g. pack n play, or high chair, etc..) You probably don’t need everything out there, just use your head. If you have any glaringly sharp corners on furniture or mantels, etc… address those. Outlets will need to be addressed, but your child will determine whether you can use removable plugs or must use attached covers…Anyway, you don’t need to have everything in place before you bring baby home, thats all I wanted to say….

By: lilysmom2b

lilysmom2b — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:46:08 +0000

Our 20 month old son loves to pull open the dishwasher door if we don’t lock it. As you might imagine, we sometimes have knives in there waiting to be washed so we try to be very diligent about locking it. Like many parents, we don’t just let him play or wander in the kitchen unsupervised. Still, it’s something worth thinking about.

By: ang

ang — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:18:40 +0000

i have 2 birth children and i’m working on my dossier. when we looked into storing cord blood for my first, i asked my doctor if it was worth it. he said if i was concerned about money, that i would be better off if i spent the money on babyproofing the house. i thought it was wise advice with a very strong point that little ones get hurt in homes all the time.

for those of you overwhelmed, put priority on potentially high injury like stairs, electrical things, locking chemicals… etc. usually the worse thing that can happen with a coffee table corner is a cut or a bad bruise… but a fall down the stairs just once can be fatal.

By: RumorQueen

RumorQueen — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:05:59 +0000

The equipment straps I linked to in the post get good customer ratings for holding TV's in place. You may need two kits though, look at the weight ratings.

By: waiting for Shania

waiting for Shania — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:04:30 +0000

As for traveling don’t forget a portable gate. We went on vacation a few days earlier than our timeshare week, so we had to stay in a different unit which had a staircase to the bedrooms. We did not sleep very well those few nights because we were afraid our dd would fall down them. The next trip we packed our fabric tension gate made by evenflo. Best thing we ever received. It gives a great peace of mind so we can sleep. We have even put it in front of hotel doors just as a precaution because our DD likes to open the door.