Welcome to another week of Preparing For a Little One (PFALO). I’ve truly been loving this link-up. It helps me write about all the things I’ve always wanted to, but the list was getting so long that I didn’t know where to start. Even though I’m on the tail end of the “little one” thing I’ve really enjoyed reading the stories of like-minded mommies. No matter where you are in life sometimes you just feel like you’re alone. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find there are other bloggy moms out there doing things like I do. It’s been a real treat. Thanks Kaitlyn over at Wifessionals for putting this together.
This week’s topic is Babyproofing your home. I’m going to talk about it this from more of a philosophy stand-point then an actual doing. In our house we babyproof as little as possible. The philosophy behind that is that we would like to train our children to be able to “handle it” when they are at homes that aren’t babyproofed. Right now someone has a light bulb going off over their head! It’s true, there are some things that I really feel should be babyproofed regardless – chemicals and medicine, rooms with dangerous items that can’t be put away and things like that. It’s like a swinging pedulum. I’d like to be somewhere in the middle. If you walked into a baby store, or stores with baby items, you might find every babyproofing gadget for every item in your home: door handles, toilets, refrigerators, stove knob covers and the list goes on and on. People remove magazines from their tables, books and movies from shelves and every cabinet has one of those annoying plastic things that breaks after using it once. My home however has very few things babyproofed. Instead we “trained” for lack of a better word, our children to leave those things alone. After about a week (the time frame it usually takes to change or implement anything when it comes to kids) my magazines are on my coffee tables, my knick-knacks our out and no one turns on the stove.
One of my other favorite tips that I’ve told to lots of my mommy friends is the one drawer/one cabinet rule. There’s always a drawer or a cabinet without rules in my kitchen. Usually its the tupperare drawer, sometimes its the drawer with their stuff in it (spoons, plates and such). If I’m cooking, and they are little, they can follow me around in there and keep themselves preoccupied.
So far this has worked for us through three kids, and no major baby-proofing incidents (knock on wood). What is so great about this, and where I really see the fruits of our labor, is when we go to people’s homes that don’t have kids or have older children. Usually we don’t have any problems with kids going nuts knocking things over or breaking things, or opening up every single cabinet. It might be different, but its a formula that has worked for us and I tell everyone I know about it.
Food for thought is always good.
My past PFALO posts:
How to Stay Connected to Your Partner
Favorite Stores and Shops (including small businesses!)
Introducing Solids
Baby Wise vs Attachment
Dealing with PPD
To Vaccinate or Not
Tips for Recovery (For the Hubbies!!!)