Houseproofing - the impossible chore?

I am thinking of putting all our furniture into the garage until my 14-month-old stops climbing.

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I'm laughing to myself because it goes so fast, but at the time, it's so bloody annoying.

I always try to make allowable areas for them, but still, my 17 month old will make a beeline for the garbage of all things. It's so tiring.
I found my first daughter grew out of it around 18-20 months once I stopped caring (nothing that could HURT her). But my second born is a wee bit more willful, so I think it will be awhile.

Sigh. So I feel your pain.

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How Funny! We're in the middle of trying to get everything locked/baby-proofed or removed.

I feel your pain.

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Alas, you do have a boy. Maybe with a girl you'd have the hope of someone sitting quietly, but a boy needs electronic incentive (read: video games) to do so.

Have you tried your local library's story time? That sometimes helps.

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Heehee-I have a 9 month old boy who is the same way-including the pizza, except ours is sausage and onion:)

Not to burst your bubble but you do realize in order to grow out of this phase he moves into another equally troublesome phase

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Dontcha just love this age ;) Finlay is 1 next week, and he is into EVERYTHING. THe latest trick is climbing the stairs - because of the way our stairs work, we've only just found a gate for the bottom, which I am waiting to fit. Meanwhile I only have to turn around for a SECOND and he's at the top. Being a New Zealander, I guess he's just emulating Sir Edmund Hillary ;) but he's SO QUICK! Oh, and the bathroom - we have a fine for not putting the lid down, otherwise we find all sorts floating in there - ewww!

We've designated the lounge as a baby-safe room - we can pretty much let him loose in here without a problem. Funnily enough we're having a party next week for his birthday, with twins of 2 attending - and I am more worried of the damage they will do than my 1 year old! We're putting most of our belongings in the garage for the day :) Stairgates don't thwart the twins - you have been warned, they don't last ;)

Oh, and it's not just 102yr old houses - ours is 5 years old and still a P in the A ;)

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Oh, goodness, this really does capture the prevailing environment in my household as of late. My 1-year-old son hasn't yet opened the refrigerator but I'm sure it won't be long.

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I'm sorry to tell you it's not a quick phase. Months 11 to 21 or so were physically and mentally exhausting. You like to run, too, right? Well, I went on maybe six runs during that time because I literally RAN after Baby A all.day.long. I had no energy left to run for my own enjoyment.

It is amazing how fast they get into trouble, and, no, you can't totally proof your house.

Even this afternoon, my 25-month-old Baby A wheeled her baby jogger over to the dining room buffet and used the stroller as a stepping-stool to reach the top drawers. I heard the rustling...by the time I got there she was deep into the silver box. I am embarrassed to say we still thought it was safe to keep steak knives in the very back of the top drawer. No longer.

Can you designate one room for play only, or get one of those circular gated areas? I thought they were expensive, but I see them on Craig's List and eBay for less.

Hang in there. The bright side is they become such amazing little people during those months, too.

- LDR

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You know what I baught one gate and blocked her out of the kitchen. We baught outlet covers for the outlets. We close the door to our bathroom and kitchen. That is all we do, didn't bother with anything else. My daughter climbs no matter what we do. She knows what to touch and what not touch. She is 18 months old and know the meaning of the word "no" and usually listens after the second time to say no. We found to truely try to child proof will take more time then it is worth and take more money then we have.

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Bwah-ha-ha-ha! Opps. Did I just guffaw that out loud? Sorry, sweetie, but he'll just keep getting more curious and, um, taller and will be able to reach even more stuff that you don't want him to.

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Get one of the plastic mats that people put under office chairs. Put it under your high chair. Voila - easy to clean, virtually invisible protection for your floor.

Clear out ONE room (preferably close to the room where you spend most of your time) and childproof it completely. Nolan can play in there unsupervised. In the rest of the house, he must be supervised. Otherwise you're going to spend a fortune on all that baby proofing stuff, and drive yourself insane. You house will NEVER be safe for a one year old to go unsupervised - he needs to be supervised. That's why God gave him parents.

In our house, the family room is right off of the kitchen/dining area. So I have my computer in the dining area (on the island that separates the dining area from the kitchen itself - very convenient for using online recipes, too). It is about a foot from the door to the family room (which is a 6 foot wide door). The family room extends behind the dining area and most of the kitchen. It is fully childproof. If the patio doors are shut I can slide the couch in front of the doorway to the dining area and take a nap, if I want to, and know that she's safe. She plays in there most of the day. There are no bookshelves - only a cabinet full of DVDs that *I* couldn't move if I tried, that has a lock on the door, and that is not climbable, two chairs, two end tables, a huge coffee table (actually a sawed off dining table that is great for playdough, crayons, and other large projects) and a couch. The floor is wash and go laminate. The rugs are cheapo Walmart rugs that look nice, but I wouldn't shed a tear over if they get something spilled on them. It is HER room. Upstairs we have fully childproofed her room. Our room and the bathroom are off limits unless we're right there.

Nolan is little. He doesn't need 2500 square feet to roam around in. Limit yourself to one or two rooms, and give the rest of the childproofing crap to Goodwill.

It occurs to me that our parents didn't have all of this plastic gadgetry, and we managed to survive.

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As a parent of an 11-year old and a 14-year old,all I can tell you is that this phase will be over before you know it.

Enjoy it while you can :-)

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Angie, that's nonsense.

I've seen girls that age and older that can never sit quietly. I've seen boys that age and older who will sit quietly and draw or read or look at things.

Like it or not, children really *don't* fit little sexist molds. I've seen it again and again, and I haven't even lived that long - people claim that "my girls, they're so girly, they only want to play with dolls" or "my boys, always roughhousing" - and I look over and I haven't the slightest clue what children they think they're raising, because the kids aren't anything like what the parents describe.

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Yeah, we tried to babyproof, but one already got in. He's gone from sitting up with support to standing up from a prone position, alone, in about 2 weeks. I think we're just going to have to put everything in storage and let him roam, suoervised and safe, around the totally empty house.

He does love a good extention cord, our boy does.

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"Dontcha just love this age ;) Finlay is 1 next week, and he is into EVERYTHING."I agree with Jen. I wish I could carry a video camera with me, so that I can record when my child is trying to open the refrigerator or takes his first baby steps and moves all around the house.

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What a strong boy to be able to open the fridge at 11 mos. Thankfully, the suction on our fridge is so strong that we can barely open it ourselves sometimes.
Just wait until he can reach the light switches. :)
Thanks for the memories. As some other posters have said, it goes fast. *TRY* to enjoy it.

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So, Uly, you're telling me that I don't know my own children? You're telling me that I didn't have a little girl that walked into the pantry and bit into an onion as a pre-toddler, but she was nothing compared to the little boy that climbed up the stairs MONTHS before he could even crawl?

You're telling me that I don't know what I'm talking about after 3 girls and 2 boys? From observation? Brilliant.

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Are You FRIED? Sit Quietly? You gave birth to a Child, NOT a 90 Year old, wheelchair bound person!
As for boys getting into more things than girls...Hogwash! I was afraid to look on the TOP of my Fridge in fear that I would see my daughter's tiny little footprints! Sometimes I thought I had given birth to somekind of Female-impersonating MONKEY...
Baby Gates? Save your money...Mine learned to hang her toes in the side and climb over faster than any "Rock Climber" could ever hope to scale a cliff.
Just keep your eyes and ears open and (literally) "Run With It"!...and forget about getting to a GYM to burn off those extra "baby-pounds"!

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for those who are interested in childproofing their homes, read this...

http://www.e-nterests.com/familyhtml/childproofingyourhome.php

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