Home > Health > MOMania > Archives > 2007 > September > 02 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USMany obstacles to raising a free-range baby
The to-do list seems endless when baby proofing a house. How did you handle the siblings’ toys, pets and hardwood floors?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My 5 1/2-month old baby is crawling toward her big brother’s room. She’s doing a combination of an army-man leg drag and a real crawl, lifting her booty high up into the air as she moves those knees. She is heading out her bedroom door and straight into a death trap. Her brother’s room is a veritable mine-field of tiger eye marbles, Ben 10 action figures, tiny magnetic X-Men, and hundreds of Legos.
My little darling started crawling several months ahead of schedule. She began moving a little bit at 4 months and has gradually added speed. Now she’s unstoppable.
So far I’ve been baby proofing like the Little Dutch Boy and the dyke — plugging holes as they erupt. I’m constantly picking up tiny toys, closing off dangerous rooms and moving her away from heavy furniture. I have performed triage for many immediate dangers, but there are still countless plugs to fill, gates to hang and hearths to cushion.
While my husband was out of town in August, I called my parents for an emergency crib lowering and gate installation. The baby started moving with a little bit more vigor and was perching herself up on the bumper pads right near the top of the crib. I was worried she was going to leap out. Taking care of those items made me feel a little better, but the basement stairs still need a gate.
When we moved in, I decided to put the small toys in the kids’ bedrooms and not in the playroom. It might work out later, but for now, I’m not sure it was the right decision. We’ve been closing the kids’ doors to keep her from these choking hazards but that definitely isn’t fool-proof. One friend suggested gating their doors permanently, but that doesn’t seem like a great solution either.
While tiny toys abound upstairs at least it is carpeted. The main level is mostly hardwoods - which are great when toddlers are spilling stuff but terrible when babies are crawling. I fruitlessly try to keep her on two blankets in the family room, but she keeps wandering off. It’s too hot for thick pants, so I bought her baby knee pads to protect those pudgy knees. My 4-year-old keeps using them as sweatbands.
In our other house, we had massive freestanding plastic gates blocking off the fireplace, stereo and TV stand, kind of like the Great Wall of China. I have a tremendous, and I think reasonable, fear of a TV crushing one of my children. The wall looked so terrible I am reluctant to set up the system again. Awhile back I did buy some special straps that hold the TV to the cabinet, but since they were disconnected for the move and I’m not sure they’re still sticky enough. I’d just replace the straps, but no one seems to be selling them anymore.
We haven’t purchased our office furniture yet. So I’m while I’m working the baby keeps crawling under the folding table to chew on the computer’s wires. This is bad all the way around - table could crush her, computer could crush her, wires could strangle her. So we have a little game we play: I get up and set her down at the other end of the room. She crawls toward me and the table and then we start all over again.
Not only am I dodging dangerous objects, I’m trying to keep her away from areas where I know the dog hangs out.
She and the dog keep having moments. She’s just his height. Their eyes meet. She gets all excited and starts to grab at this fur. He runs. She starts chasing after him as quickly as she can. I’m not quite sure who I should be more worried about. I know what you’re thinking: Just stick her in the pack ’n’ play and be done with it. But she needs to explore, and she cries in the play yard. She wants to roam. She’s a free-range baby.
Comments
By Rob Carter
September 3, 2007 10:21 AM | Link to this
Theresa, I read with great interest and empathy your priceless description of how challenging it can be to create a safe home environment for young children, particularly with various ages “at work” under the same roof. Knowing what an uphill battle this can be for so many families, a number of years ago I co-founded a company here in Atlanta called PrepareFirst (www.preparefirst.com) to make it easy for busy parents to make their homes safe for their children and achieve peace of mind. I would be honored to have an opportunity to show you what we offer re: expert safety advice, where to get the best (and best looking) products to eliminate hazards, and installation assistance. Please let me know if you would like our help - perhaps the experience would be of interest to your readers! All the best, Rob Carter, President, PrepareFirst, Inc.
By Geneva
September 3, 2007 3:29 PM | Link to this
Isn’t this blog a commercial-free zone? Buy an ad, pal.
By DB
September 4, 2007 7:06 AM | Link to this
Theresa, one word:
PLAYPEN
(They are bigger than a “pack and play”.) Especially when you’re working! That, and get those hose-like things that bundle and cover computer cords.
Free-range baby or not, there’s no time like the present to learn limits.
At some point, we became a generation of parents who lived for our kids, so that they would never have a moment’s discomfort or unhappiness. Not so sure this was a good thing, in the long run … :-)
By past50mom
September 4, 2007 8:25 AM | Link to this
I agree with DB, a PLAYPEN is the reasonable and safe way to manage the times you cannot watch the baby. Until the child learns the limits and NO!, then a crib, playpen and child safe bedroom are plenty big for her explorations. P.S. They learn NO very quickly, you just have to teach them. You have 5 people living in your home and it’s unfair to the others to let the baby rule the roost because you think she should be free range!
By VLS
September 4, 2007 3:54 PM | Link to this
I agree as well with DB and past50mom…PLAYPEN. It might be hard to say “NO” now…but it will be easier to say “If only I would have” later in the event (god forbid) something should fall on her, or she place something in her mouth, or even get shocked due to chewing on cords…etc.
By boring
September 4, 2007 4:45 PM | Link to this
That’s not “several months ahead of schedule”…..sorry to burst your bubble.
By ?
September 4, 2007 7:44 PM | Link to this
?, huh, what? who lets their baby crawl around with the dog, chewing on wires??..while they “work”. I need a qualude.