Babyproofing

We have not been all that serious about baby proofing so far, but we have done a few things so I thought I'd write up what we've done and what we still need to do... maybe it'll help keep me accountable.

I kinda feel like some bumps and falls are okay- they will teach baby beaver to be careful and to figure out how things work. For example, our coffee table has a small wooden shelf and glass top, and it rolls. We planned to take the wheels off but didn't get around to it right away, and within days of being able to stand our daughter figured out how to pull up on the table with no problem. It only took her a couple of attempts before she figured out how to apply her weight so that the table would not roll out from beneath her. We intervened so that she wouldn't get hurt, but could not believe she learned so quickly! My mother-in-law is very worried about the table rolling and tried to convince us that we need to do something about it, but once we realized that taking the wheels off isn't even an option, we decided to leave it be. Baby has been pulling up on it for 2 1/2 months now, and there haven't been any injuries so far! Also, she has figured out how to get up using the lower level, and then reach up and behind herself to grab the glass top and then stand in a way that she doesn't even bump her head. It doesn't sound all that impressive, but I was amazed watching her figure it out!

The point of this long example is that we have decided that some things are not all that dangerous and can provide learning opportunities for cautious behavior, so I think our baby-proofing has been pretty minimal.

Here's what we've done so far:

-outlet covers. easiest and cheapest baby-proofing step, no reason not to do it.

-get rid of power strips and try to hide power/electric cords or make them as unnoticeable as possible

-reorganize pantry so that doors can be kept closed (didn't think this was that important until baby almost pulled a heavy can of tomatoes off the shelf)

-gate kitchen so that dog food can be on whatever side baby is not on, and to help confine her while I am cooking or doing dishes (luckily our dog has absolutely no issue with food aggression/jealousy for people, even babies- but the food is the perfect choking size and for some reason is the most appealing thing ever to baby. Plus, can't be too careful even with a very well behaved dog)

-block off bookshelf in office: we really, really need to anchor it to the wall, but even once that is done it is nice that she can't pull everything off (which would be within the first minute of being on the ground)

-top-of-stairs gate: probably the most important thing we have done, although I still don't feel as safe as I would like about the stairs.

Wow, when I decided to write about this I thought we had done a lot more!

Here's what we still need to do:

-gate off basement door, since we leave it open way too often (more stairs)

-tether the office bookshelf to the wall

-move all cleaning chemicals from bathroom and kitchen to basement

-cabinet locks for kitchen cabinets that have shelves holding heavy things that could be pulled down... not going to worry about most of them

Things I am still deciding on:

-corner covers for tv stand- she tends to let go when standing near this a lot, and I worry about her hitting her head on the corner. But I don't know if it is really necessary or how long she will be unstable standing hands-free...

-drawer locks in the nursery. She has already started pulling the drawers open and is really great about not pinching her fingers (although I'm sure it will happen and I don't have a huge problem with it-learning experience). I am worried about her pulling all of the drawers open and making the unit unsteady- I'm not sure if it is possible but maybe it could tip forward and fall on her. Also, I worry about her climbing the open drawers like stairs.

I'm sure I'm missing some important things, but these are my lists so far. I've found baby proofing is waaay more work on a daily basis.

-There are new shreds of the dog toys on our living room floor constantly, so every time we play in that room I have to clean them all up, and hide the toys because for some reason they are way more exciting and yummy than baby's toys. This becomes difficult to keep up with when the dog immediately finds her toys and brings them to baby to play. Again, we are super lucky that the dog has absolutely no jealousy/aggression issues with baby/people and her toys, but it grosses me out when they go right into her mouth. Baby has already learned "no, those are Lili's toys", but doesn't always listen.

-Anything on any surface within reach (almost all of them now) is fair game to our daughter- and she loves ripping paper. This has helped me with keeping my work confined to my desk, but books, magazines, mail, etc. are often out and we have to run to get them before they are chewed on and pulled apart.

-cleaning in general is a greater priority. When everything, including the rug and floor, are kissed and tasted constantly, you start to pay more attention to how long ago it was that you mopped.

We still need to watch her every.single.second. because it seems like no matter how few seconds it was since we vacuumed, there is some new chunk of dog toy in her hand, or some power cord calling her name. Luckily it's a lot of fun to watch her play, it just makes it hard to get anything else accomplished.

All this being said, we try our hardest not to intervene and hover when baby is exploring. We keep a very close eye and grab tiny things about to be put in her mouth, but otherwise I think our daughter feels like she has complete freedom to grab/taste/touch/climb/push/pull/scratch/bang/etc. anything and everything, and it really seems like she is constantly learning and discovering new things. I can't believe that she is still getting to be so much more fun every day!