Baby Proof...yeah right!

Some people baby proof their homes before their baby is even born...we are not those people. Matt and I baby-proofed as Tanner and Abigail began crawling and getting into stuff that they shouldn't. We want the house to be safe, but we also want them to learn what was safe and not safe to touch and/or play with.

The first thing we baby proofed was the outlets on the first floor, in the office upstairs, and in the nursery. We used the Safety 1st: Secure Press Plug Protectors. They have a pop-out tab for easier removal and they help save nails from chipping (thank God).

Matt installed a Staywell Cat Door in the living room so Willy and Gus could access their cat box in the basement and we could keep the door closed at all times. We did this the winter before the twins were born to cut down on heating costs, since there is a significant draft that comes up from our basement and because we knew that eventually we would have to because of the babies. This summer we had to relocate the cat's food and water dishes to behind the basement door because the twins (and their cousin Emily) became fans of kibble..YUCK!

We have two baby gates installed in our home at the moment. We have one at the bottom of the stairs that lead to the second floor and one in the doorway between the kitchen and the laundry room. My father-in-law installed a Munchkin Extending Metal Gate (Extra Tall & Wide) for the base of the stairs this summer just before my sister and her family came to visit. We didn't want any of the young children climbing the stairs and we knew keeping tabs on three kiddos throughout the house would be a challenge. We didn't put the gate for the laundry room up until just a few months ago because we use the washer and dryer as a changing station and are constantly in and out of that room all day long. Tanner and Abigail were starting to get into the detergent bottles and other off limit items so we put up a Safety First Easy-Fit Security Gate (given to us by a friend) and began climbing over it several times a day since it stuck to the wall and was easier to climb over than remove another layer of paint every time we had to pass through. Tanner and Abigail's grandparents had a difficult time climbing over the gate (which cut down on the amount of diapers they could change since they were in the laundry room) so we installed another gate (that was given to us) that swung open instead of having to be removed (or climbed over).

We now have the expandable one to use when we want to keep the door open between the guest bedroom and living room or to take with us to my parents house to use at the base of their stairs. It is a great gate to have since it expands to fit in many different places.

I baby proofed our oven door the day Tanner pulled on it and fell backward to the floor as the door coming down above him. Luckily the oven wasn't being used at the time but seeing him cry through the glass of the oven door was all it took for me to install the Safety First Oven Door Lock.

In the kitchen we also have Safety First SecureTech Cabinet Locks on the two side-by-side doors under the sink (where all the cleaners and other toxic chemicals are kept) and in our island (where the pots and pans live). All other doors and drawers in the kitchen (except the trash) are baby-proofed with Safety First Wide Grip Latches.

It may not be the safest approach to baby proofing but Matt and I have the "we will baby proof it when we need to IF we need to" mentality. We want Tanner and Abigail to be safe but we also don't want them to feel like everything is off limits. Eventually these baby proofing items will be gone and they will need to know how to live and play in their home safely, so why not begin teaching them now?