How We Baby Proofed The House
Before I had a kid, the thought of a baby proofed house made me cringe. I couldn't imagine getting rid of all the things I love and admire just so a toddler couldn't terrorize them. Reason #49 I wouldn't really have labeled myself as a "kid person" until after I had one of my own. A lot changed about me after becoming a mom, but my desire to refurnish the house purely for safety purposes did not. I don't want to replace coffee tables with pillows. Does this make me a bad mom? I just fell like we may as well just live in an asylum if we have to cushion everything in our space. I'm a believer that kids should work within the parameters of your life. At the same time though, safety is #1 and there comes a point when making them work with those parameters would be a full time job. Would I rather have the locks on all the cabinets, or have to stand one foot away from Sailor at all times to make sure she doesn't pull dangerous heavy objects onto herself in the kitchen? So baby proofing on some level was a necessity, yet I didn't want our house to scream it. Today, in partnership with Munchkin, I thought I'd share with you some of the ways we made our home safe for Sailor at this highly mobile/curious stage (18 months).
Cabinet latches (above). Once Sailor learned where her favorite things are in the cabinets (namely snacks and tupperware), she started emptying them out at her leisure. This obviously couldn't continue, and she hadn't discovered the dangerous stuff yet. These Dual Locking Latches are so easy to use, you get used to opening them pretty quick and forget they are even there. When she gets a little taller, breakable bottles and decanters will probably have to be ousted but... one step at a time.
Gates. This was the number one update we had to make sooner rather than later. We installed 3 gates in the house. One at the top and bottom of the stairs (the girl is a climber), and one to the doorway to her room. It won't be too long before she transitions to a toddler bed where she would have access to wander during sleep time. We don't need her roaming about the house or showing up in our room while we're sleeping, and we don't want to just lock her in the room with the door closed either. So we felt that now was a great time to get her comfortable with the idea of being in her room with a gate on the doorway - a perfect happy medium. She can hear and see what's going on so she doesn't feel closed in. The Luna gate is a favorite, because it's lightweight and high quality, closes super smoothly, and looks sleek. It even has an LED light that can double as a nightlight on the bottom if you choose to use it.
Plug Covers. We don't use them on the entire house, but the lower outlets that are open to the room are dangerous spots for little hands.
Corner Cushions. When Sailor was learning to walk, she was falling down all the time. Even now that she's a pro at walking, she still gets overconfident and waddles around too fast. We're concerned about her little head banging on table corners, so a few of the Xtraguard Soft Impact Corner Cushions do the job without looking like eyesores.
Pool fence. We really struggled with this one because we didn't like the idea of breaking up the backyard with a fence, but we literally couldn't hang out at all back there without being on high alert. Not relaxing at all. This was a total game changer for knowing she's safe, and for the dogs as well! It may not be the prettiest, but we love it for the peace of mind. The kind we got is mesh with stakes in the ground so it's technically removable if we want to ever take it out for a party or something (but it's fussy to do it so we probably never will).
At the end of the day, baby proofing is a blessing on all fronts and there are ways to do it that don't ruin your decor. I'm still coming around to certain things like replacing the coffee table with an ottoman, but I'm warming to it as I see how much more relaxed we are after making these changes. I'd love to hear about your baby proofing tips! Have we missed anything to help make our lives more relaxed and safe?
This post is sponsored by Munchkin.
Photography by Ashley Burns