“I don’t want to baby proof my house, I just plan to teach her not to touch certain things. My mom said she never baby-proofed our house. We just learned what not to touch. If I go visit friends, their houses may not be baby-proofed so I want her to learn. If she just knows what 'no' means.”Something I have thought about. Except I would like somewhat of a balance, creating an environment where Henry is encouraged to explore safely*, but also while respecting certain boundaries?
Care to discuss? Has anyone gotten away with this philosophy personally?
image and quote via the glow. Have you checked the glow out? Beautiful & inspiring mamas.
*of COURSE we will make sure there is nothing seriously dangerous accessible to him
our parents didn't baby proof, did they? we turned out fine. (i think).
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure mine did. They definitely had
ReplyDeleteBaby gates on the stairs and socket covers. I'm comfortable allowing my kid to get a few bumps and bruises (no getting rid of the coffee table for us) but anything that could seriously injure or kill a baby (ie. Bookshelves not attached to the wall) has got to go. I'd like to feel like I can let my guard down a little in my own house. But to each her own.
it's just not applicable to my life. I have three kids, age 5, 3, 1. I can't keep an eye on the 1 year old at all times. when I am in a house that is not baby proofed I do keep an eye on the one year old at all times.
ReplyDeleteWhen I have kids, I will be baby-proofing. For their safety and my sanity. Somebody shared this on FB today: http://www.shitmykidsruined.com/
ReplyDeletexo.
we're baby-proofing/making safe. but that doesn't mean ridding our home of everything.
ReplyDeletei want E to be able to explore our/her home without me having to constantly say "no". no is for big items that are made safe but still dangerous and unavoidable (oven, fireplace) in every day life.
brazelton (touchpoints) has a really great chapter about creating "yes, yes" environments for little mobile explorers.
I did not have a negligent mother by any means, but I did have a bookcase/entertainment center fall on top of me when I was little, so, yeah. At least babyproof the big stuff.
ReplyDelete@woolandmisc i turned out a royal mess.
ReplyDeletei think this all depends on the type of baby you have. i was the kind of kid that understood my boundaries, so baby-proofing was not needed. my sister, however, easily had a good 5 black eyes by the time she turned three. she probably should have spent her youth in a straight jacket.
I am struggling with this right now, I am determined not to baby-proof, and am trying to teach my 16 month old son what no means, but the downside is that I feel like I am constantly saying "no", "don't touch" and things like that. Like, CONSTANTLY. It is pretty tiring, and I don't seem to be making much progress - except now when he is about to touch something he turns to me to see what I will say, and if I say "no" he smiles a cheeky grin and immediately touches whatever it is!
ReplyDeleteI only keep my most beloved breakables up high - the rest I leave up to "boundaries" - and once they get use to a potted plant, they seem to get over it and move onto something else. With baby 3, however, I learned to keep all drawing utensils locked away. Our house would be scribbled from wall to wall :/
ReplyDeleteI love the Glow. Gorgeous shots and fun interviews.
I have a Harry Potter-like scar down my forehead to teach the dangers of not baby proofing to others. HA! But a balance is definitely good.
ReplyDeleteyeah. i am thinking any items for safety (obv) and anything that can't be easily replaced.
ReplyDeletestart there, and see how it goes....
i am way more about the yes thing. so if it is something he simpy should not touch, we keep it out of his reach. if it is something he needs to learn how to correctly touch? maybe that can stay out....
There's two parts to baby proofing: keeping the kid safe and keeping your crap safe. I believe you should baby proof to create an environment that maximizes their ability to explore while minimizing the amount of serious damage they can do to home and self. We have wooden stairs so we used baby gates top and bottom until the kid could climb them very well on her own. I put latches on our closest doors because the ancient doors don't shut properly and I'd like to have a place to keep stuff she can't get into (eg the toilet plunger and cleaner - toys of toddler dreams apparently). We didn't go so far as other people I know who put locks on the toilet, refrigerator, dishwasher, all drawers/cupboards, etc. The downside of wanting to keep things a tad more relaxed is that I get to spend far more time saying "No" and moving her onto other things. You have to figure out whether you prefer to live in lockdown mode or spend large chunks of the day repeating "no".
ReplyDeleteI removed all of my books from reach, my son is obsessed with books. I even removed all of his books that have paper pages. We'll get those out of the basement later. We live in a 2-room apartment with a small alleyway kitchen, so we can't make a room just for playing. When we go to other peoples' houses, I get SO exhausted having to monitor everything and I'm always relieved to come home to our safe space where everything is something to explore. We haven't locked all the drawers cabinets stove etc, as I'm watching him 99% of the time we're home anyway, but I did remove anything dangerous within those spaces.
ReplyDeleteI don't really know why people get hung up on keeping their living space the "same," or "adult-oriented." I feel like kids use the space WAY more than adults ever do, and they are certainly an equal member of the household, so they should be represented aesthetically and whatnot.
I am of the mind that babies should really be free to explore until at least 18 months or so. "No" seems like a concept that doesn't really apply to my son's life yet at 13 months. We tell him not to eat stuff at the park, etc, before gently removing it and redirecting him, but it doesn't really stick. And why should it? How can he take that information that he's not supposed to eat something or touch something and apply it specifically to other situations? "No" can only be generalized at this stage, and I certainly don't want him to feel that he has to be cautious approaching *everything*.
Looking at The Glow -- Can I be frank and say that while those people and places are GORGEOUS, they kind of make me feel uncomfortable? Like... seriously gorgeous mothers and living spaces? Not in my world!!
ReplyDeletea friend of a friend thought that she could train her 15-month-old not to touch their wood-burning stove just by repeating "no" every time he went near it....fast-forward to a trip to hospital with a badly burned 15-month-old hand....some baby-proofing is vital in my opinion (electric sockets, removing glass objects that could shatter, putting a guard around the fire) but kids do need to learn that there are things they shouldn't touch, even if just out of good manners, when they go to other peoples' homes, so you can't baby-proof 100%....
ReplyDelete@intwosometwiminds.com my friend cara of peonies & poloroids just out it wonderfully (re the glow) "It's simultaneously wonderful and terrible."
ReplyDeleteall in all good talk. i agree with most of you all. we dont want "no" to be the first word he has to learn.
our house will be baby "friendly" ;)