Now he's army crawling, pulling himself up the couch and coffee table, and getting into everything, most notably the cats' water dishes. Out of all of the toys that are strewn about our living room, he's always super-determined to get to the one thing he's not allowed to have. Not sure what's so exciting about playing with water that's tainted with cat saliva, but to each his own I guess.
He may look sweet and innocent, but in reality he's up to no good.
Needless to say, we've been baby-proofing up a storm. We already started months ago, but once he started getting more and more mobile we've been kicking it up a few notches. We were (and still are) adamant that we don't want to get too crazy with childproofing, since our parenting philosophy is to let "kids be kids" for the most part (as in, we don't need to pad and bumper every single surface to prevent our little angel from even getting a bruise). However, for important things like preventing a 14-foot drop and electrocution - yeah, we take those pretty darn seriously.
The biggest challenge for us in our childproofing adventures was how to cover the stair railing that leads to the basement. Although the railing widths are well within current safety standards, we don't want him getting stuck or somehow figure out a way to slide in-between them and fall to his doom.
See what I mean? It's like a baby death trap. Heck, I feel like it's an anyone death trap if you happened to trip and fall in that general direction. Admiral Ackbar agrees.
We debated and debated what to do. We found some options, but they weren't ideal (and, quite frankly, overpriced). As with most things, I figured if I wanted it done right I'd have to do it myself.
So, we went to JoAnn Fabrics and picked up some mesh fabric to cover the railing. We connected it to the railing via zip-ties - as for how we'll snip it off without the ends getting too sharp, well we're still working on how to solve that....any suggestions? ;)
To keep it in place while I zip-tied away, I taped up the ends to the top of the railings so it wouldn't move too much.
And here's the (almost) finished product. We're working on finding a solution for the two ends, which kind of stick out like a sore thumb. For the right side, we'll likely attach a block of wood to prevent little hands and/or limbs from getting through. The left side....yeah, I'm not quite sure what I'll do with that end yet. Stay tuned for the finished product when I have more energy and time. ;)
To finish off the bottom, I dug up one of the crib bumpers we were gifted awhile back. This is more of a temporary solution until I find/create something that's a bit more our style. Perhaps something like this might suffice, since I have a Pottery Barn rewards check coming in the mail soon from our steal we brought home from there last week....
We debated and debated what to do. We found some options, but they weren't ideal (and, quite frankly, overpriced). As with most things, I figured if I wanted it done right I'd have to do it myself.
So, we went to JoAnn Fabrics and picked up some mesh fabric to cover the railing. We connected it to the railing via zip-ties - as for how we'll snip it off without the ends getting too sharp, well we're still working on how to solve that....any suggestions? ;)
To keep it in place while I zip-tied away, I taped up the ends to the top of the railings so it wouldn't move too much.
And here's the (almost) finished product. We're working on finding a solution for the two ends, which kind of stick out like a sore thumb. For the right side, we'll likely attach a block of wood to prevent little hands and/or limbs from getting through. The left side....yeah, I'm not quite sure what I'll do with that end yet. Stay tuned for the finished product when I have more energy and time. ;)
To finish off the bottom, I dug up one of the crib bumpers we were gifted awhile back. This is more of a temporary solution until I find/create something that's a bit more our style. Perhaps something like this might suffice, since I have a Pottery Barn rewards check coming in the mail soon from our steal we brought home from there last week....
Total cost? It was about $9 for two yards of the mesh, and the crib bumper I got for free, and the zip ties and thread/needles we already had, and the new and improved crib bumper I'll eventually get with my PB rewards, so yeah....$9!
Moms/Dads/Etc. - what were/are your biggest childproofing challenges? Any additional tips/tricks to share?
You're doing things right, Laura. Many parents go overboard with child-proofing, but as you've said, the only major things to look out for are stairs, electrical outlets, and probably sharp corners. You can also try on proofing uncovered shelves as objects inside could fall when tipped. Other than those, you're kid can probably freely roam your floors and such. Take care!
ReplyDeletePaul Klassen @ PinnacleRenovations.ca
Thanks Paul! Definitely agree on the uncovered shelves - we're trying to come up with a solution in our living room that doesn't involve purchasing $200 worth of bookshelf doors. Otherwise we can temporarily swap out some of the heavier books for the time being.
DeleteAs for sharp corners, we don't have a lot of those in our house except for our entertainment stand. For now we got foam corners to hold us over and (hopefully!) prevent our kid from cracking his skull open: http://www.diapers.com/p/safety-1st-foam-edge-bumpers-expresso-89149
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