Baby Proof

Well, it is that time. I have been avoiding it, but I need to buckle down and baby proof our house.

I am not sure if it is laziness or lack of knowledge, but either way, I have been dragging my feet a little when it comes to getting areas in house baby safe. Our little guy is on the move and it is time to get some things done.

Our family room

We are focusing mainly on our family room, which is where Calan and I spend 90 percent of our time. We have moved out our kitchen table to open more space for him and now it is time to make the room safe. We removed our hard coffee table for a softer ottoman. Our first challenge with the room was finding a gate small enough to fit our awkward door size. It took awhile and it boiled down to only 2 choices that would fit a 26-inch doorway. Both were hardware mounted, which we were trying to avoid. The one we choose was the more expensive of the two, but it fit our house style better. I figure that we are going to have that gate up for a long time between Calan, our little girl, and their future sibling. The other things we need to do to the room will be latches on our built in storage doors, outlet covers (of course), fireplace guards, and to remove a few more decorative items.


Since the family room is where we spend most of your time, I'll just be doing some minimum proofing through the rest of the house. Not sure yet exactly what we are going to do, but I figure I am just going to watch Calan and see what he is drawn to and decide as time goes on. This might be the wrong way to think about it, but I figure if the family room is safe then I just have to be sure to really watch him in the rest of the house.

I don't want to remove everything from his touch. I think there is something to be said about learning limits. If I never have to say, "No, don't touch," at our own home, how will he understand it when we are at someone else's. I know that this sets up for disaster in our house, but I'd rather have him learn by breaking our things than someone else's.

Obviously, this doesn't mean that I am going to leave dangerous items around for him to hurt himself on, but having a few things here and there that are potential risks, I think, helps to develop limits.

I guess we will see if my theory holds true. I am always famous for ideals that sometimes miss the reality mark. For now, however, that's what we are going with. A semi-safe house for our very adventurous boy. Wish us luck.