Baby proofing -Crawling Lifesavers

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I’m calling his part 1 as I’ll probably find more tips to share over the next few months as Baby H gets into more and more! This is a follow up to my 10 things I’ve learnt about crawling post last week. A few baby proofing tips that have been complete life savers in this crazy stage of having a movie  baby!

So how have we coped with Baby H’s crawling? Here are some tips I’ve learnt recently:

Baby proofing & crawling lifesavers

1. Tape cabinets shut: Baby H appears to love our TV unit (probably more than we do!) – she will open the doors and will hit things off the glass, while squealing and laughing at her reflection. Ours is now taped shut using insulation tape. She did try and try to pull the doors open (using the handle!), and then would get bored. In fact it’s been about a week now and she’s generally not interested anymore. (I’m sure you can get proper door-keeper-shutters, but we didn’t really have time for that. It was a ‘we need this NOW’ moment).?
2. Creating barriers: We’re moving next month, so we plan to get some protectors like this. But, in the meantime I’ve used my old pregnancy pillow along the front of the fireplace. She does try to climb over it, but is much more interested in waving and shouting at herself in the reflection. I have put some pillows on the hearth so if she does faceplant, its onto the pillows.
3. Concealing untouchables!: Our main problem were the plugs and wires behind the TV – I’ve blocked off the sides with toy boxes, and a nappy box jammed in the gap where she used to move the toy box over to get to the wires/plugs behind! She’s just too clever! Well, much more clever than I initially giver her credit for. However, there was a problem with this method, she now leans on the nappy box and pulls it over, so make sure there’s only light, soft toys in the boxes! Our nappy box now stays on it’s side so she can pull toys out of it easily (a good game!)??
4. Keeping baby in one place (hey, I need to go to the toilet every so often!): ?I found that I could literally run upstairs to grab something or run to the toilet and Baby H was nowhere near where I left her. Being paranoid at the rate of things I was discovering were not baby safe (I really NEVER would have known she’d be moving so quickly). We decided it was time for a baby ball pit! We had some issues with the way friends have done this though, Baby H could climb over the standard baby paddling pool and I’m not sure I trust her in the ball pits like this one or those that just use a paddling pool like the one Baby H has; she’d just lean on the side or climb out. So in anticipation on moving house, I wanted a room divider so we can just cut off the area with the TV and fire place and the majority of plugs so that Baby H has free roam most of the living room (aka I can’t bear to see her constrained and me miss out on the cute-ness of her crawling over to me mmmmm-ing for milk or just to play with my feet!). So, this is what we have got:??It’s very useful now as a playpen. I never thought I’d use a playpen, it always sounded cruel. But, she absolutely, completely and utterly LOVES it! She sits bashing her toys, bashing the balls, and, then holds onto the bars pulling herself up. She’s really good at bouncing on her knees when she’s excited and its just SO cute to watch.
5. Another ‘sit still’ method is the Bumbo: I wasn’t really a fan until the last few weeks. I always thought she was just trying to get out, and why did she need to sit in it when she can sit perfectly well without the support. But constrained sitting for 15 minutes here and there does us both the world of good. I can sterilise, clean, wash toys, make food, eat lunch and she sits watching me and bashing her toys! Note. we have one that does not have the straps (we were given it) but I’m always watching her in it, she’s never on a high surface, and always has the tray on so she’s rather well held in. Actually it’s a struggle to get her into it most of the time!
6. Standard baby objects that become dangerous!: We have a fairly open plan living/diningroom. So Baby H likes to come and find me in the kitchen. This involves crawling from the living room, through the dining room to the kitchen. We deliberately bought a high chair that folded to save space. However, this is not safe for a crawling baby. H crawled over to the folded high chair and started pulling on the bottom bar and leg. I immediately grabbed her. Now, we keep the high chair up. I would not trust her strength, she is very strong and I can see exactly how she could pull it over. Beware!
7. Shoes: Baby H LOVES shoes, we now keep them all in a box. She will eat the laces otherwise!

 

Right, that’s most of my baby proofing tips so far. I hope these help someone (if they do please let me know, I love reading your comments!)

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I’m sure I’ll have some more tips next week!!! This is a VERY steep learning curve – eeeek!

Lynne x