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I feel like I live in Fort Knox. Ever since my baby could crawl, he's been able to find trouble. We solved the problem by gating off our entire family room, eliminating his access to the kitchen (which is the adjoining room) and the hallway to the stairs. The family room is entirely babyproofed and is a safe place I am comfortable leaving him in if I had to run to the washroom or answer the door. When I sit on the couch I can see him anywhere in the room. He is 15 months old now and is still obsessed with the opening and closing of cabinets and drawers, as well as climbing stairs. So I know it's not time to take the gates down yet, but I'm wondering, in your experience, when does the "un-babyproofing" (in particular, taking the gates down and allowing access to places like the kitchen) happen? When can I feel safe having him walk around the whole floor like we do? |
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My son is 2 and I am starting to un-proof our house but I'm doing it a little at a time. We stopped using gates a few months ago, when he learned he was strong enough to pull them down. And just two days ago I pulled the foam corners off a chest in the living room. I still have to watch him to keep him from getting into things he shouldn't, but he is also getting big enough to understand that if he does certain things (ie climb on the back of the couch), then unpleasant, and sometimes painful, consequences will follow. +1 For "a little at a time" I can only recall that it was a very gradual process.
(19 Nov '10, 14:58)
Emi
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Depends on the type of baby proofing. We have some child locks on the TV/video cabinet which we could remove, one is broken, but haven't bothered. Thanks for sharing your experience! At 16 months, were you required to follow your daughter around the downstairs floor once you moved the gate, or were you ok with letting her roam the hallway and perhaps another room on her own? I like the confinement aspect because I picture myself having to follow him everywhere if he was not! :)
(19 Nov '10, 19:34)
DazedandConfused
updated my answer. Basically to start with we were just opening the gate and it was only while someone was in the dining room, then it was while we weregoing to be nearby and finally she was allowed the run of downstairs all the time, even if we were still upstairs.
(19 Nov '10, 23:54)
pipthegeek
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Interesting - we have not thought about that yet. Our son is now nearly 18 months, and (apart from the first try) he always waits for us to watch over him before climbing the stairs. We only have gates protecting the "falling-down-side" of the stairs and try to teach him that he can climb the stairs only when someone is behind him and prepared to catch him if he slips.