My youngest child will be starting to get into everything very soon, and while we have some things safety set in our house for our 4-year-old, we’re going to have to put back all the baby locks and everything else to make the house baby proof. What do you need?
Well for us we decided to go with tot lock system for keeping doors and drawers in the kitchen and bath. Tot lock uses a magnet. You don’t see any of the hardware so no one can tell your house is being baby proofed, unless of course they try to open a door or drawer without the tot lock key. The key is a magnet you can stick to the fridge in the kitchen so it’s in a convenient place to find and use; in the laundry room just stick it to the top of the washer or dryer.
Even if your little one gets the key it is very hard for them to figure out how to unlock the doors with it because you don’t put it into anything. To unlock the doors you have to hold the key in the exact spot that the lock on the inside is on to get it to unlock, and then keep the key on that spot while you open the door because as soon as you move that key the lock will relock.
I chose to use this system over the traditional push down plastic locks because I saw so many of my friends’ kids opening the doors and drawers still with those. They either figure out how to do it right away or they yank and yank on the door until the plastic piece breaks. With the tot lock system your doors and drawers are firmly locked and you can not open them even a little without the key. No fingers will get smashed with the tot lock system, so many parents complain of with the traditional locks.
Next after I have secured all the doors and drawers that the baby should not be in, I take Velcro and Velcro down any valuable items (such as a lamp on a end table) so that the baby will not be able to pull the item down on top of themselves. And no one will notice the Velcro because it is on the bottom where you don’t see it. So, you don’t have to put away all your favorite expensive accessories just because your baby is starting to explore and get into everything. Just Velcro it down so he/she can’t get. A little Velcro will do the trick.
Sliding door in our house is a major problem. How do you lock that from a toddler? Well they can remove the bar you put in so the door can’t open. They can turn the little lock. And they can slide the door open, without you even knowing sometimes. My daughter did it while we were all sleeping once and that’s when I decided we had to either get rid of our back door or find a way to keep it locked from her but able for us to open it.
I found 2 great products. The first is just a wireless alarm that sticks to the door and the frame. We put ours at the top corner so the child can’t reach it to turn it off. When the door opens it lets off a really loud audible sound which usually scares the kids not to open the door. It worked great for us until we started getting lax about it and not switching it back to alarm after we would come in from outside. So if the alarm isn’t on, the kids can go outside without you knowing.
So I found the second item that I think are awesome for sliding doors!! It completely fixed our problems. You can find these locks at My Precious Kid LLC.
Now that you have all your doors and drawers locked you can rest a little that your little one won’t be getting into everything when you turn your back for a second. But as kids are curious and determinate they will most likely find something else to get into that you didn’t secure. Just make sure you are watching them so they don’t get hurt.
