What You Didn't Think of When Childproofing

Hi, my son never crawled. He went right to walking at 9 1/2 mo. So don't worry. He doesn't have to. He is now 31 years and is still walking fine.LOL

First of all, don't worry about the crawling. He will do it eventually, or he'll skip it completely. They all do it sooner or later. Besides, enjoy the time you don't have to chase him around!
As for childproofing, the best thing I've ever seen is to get down on the floor and look around. Everything within reach is fair game. Look for hanging cords, cupboard doors, the toilet seat, things that can be pulled over from his point of view.
Good luck!

Good morning!

We have just started an infant-2-year old Kindermusik class at the Abilities Center. It would be great for you son as we help with mobility and he probably loves music! Call the Abilities Center at ###-###-#### to visit the class tomorrow at 11:00!

M.

I found that even though I go thru and "childproof " my home, That doesn't do it all... You have to home proof the child. YOUR home may be as safe as you can make it, and then you go visit someone else... hmmm... Supervision and teaching them NO is the biggest thing... So if you see them going for something from across the room, you can slow them down at least with one word till you can get over there and physically take care of the danger.
(I do not YELL at my kids unless they are in immediate danger. They know if i raise my voice they BETTER listen. Saying No firmly and calmly as you move their hand away works IF YOU ARE CONSISTANT ABOUT IT. Then if you do have to raise your voice it shocks them. There is nothing more annoying to me than watching a mom scream at a child and the child be so used to the yelling that they ignore her. Most of the time i just say their name in that stern mommy voice and shake my head. My babys almost 1 and even he gets the body language behind it. )

Hi, R.,

Your baby is obviously content to do what he's doing, and unless he has some neurological disorder, will be doing what he needs to in order to become mobile when he's ready. As you have experienced, you can't make a child's brain or body develop faster than it is.

Overall, I found we over-childproofed our home, interfering with our work and effectiveness, without creating an environment that was any safer. In general, I found that being where my kids were and watching them almost all the time was more important than locks, barriers or other external means to keep them safe. They frequently went in unpredictable directions when exploring their world, and no amount of pre-planning could have caught every issue.

It's harder to parent when attending a child all the time, instead of relying on locks and barriers... but from the other side, I had to find a way to sleep at night, and I knew that if anything bad went wrong when I was convinced the devices and planning would take care of the child when I was doing something else... well... I would never forgive myself for thinking anything else in my life was more important if the lock failed or the barrier wasn't up to the task of keeping my active children away from something.

A great example of that was a 2yo I knew that took less than 15 seconds to get into a 'childproof' bottle of tranquilizers -- by stomping the plastic container between his hard little shoes and a concrete floor. Happily, he was in the company of adults, but their cautionary tale was important: if he'd been alone even for half a minute, he could have swallowed the whole bottle.

Hi R. - you sound very laid back yourself and that's great! Happy Mommies = Happy Babies ;)

My son took forever to crawl and was talking before he was walking. Once he got moving though, he was unstoppable! My daughter was running before she was talking! Complete opposite!! He'll get going when he ready and you're smart to do lots of tummy time - it's soooo good for him!

Maybe try putting a little pillow or soft toy underneath him to get his belly off the floor and make it a little easier to get his legs going. He may start to rock back and forth a little once he figures out how to get those little legs moving and then it's off to the races! Good luck and enjoy!

Hi R.,

I am in the same situation with my son as far as crawling. He is such a laid back little guy (like his daddy!) that he just loves sitting up and playing, or just watching everything around him. If there is one thing I learned from my teacher prep/child development classesit is that if there is nothing neuroligically wrong, don't push. All babies develop at their own rate and as long as he is healthy and happy then you are doing a great job! I have to remind myself of this all the time too, because of the outside pressures from family and friends. Just be patient, it will happen!

H.

R.,
DOn't worry about your son not crawling yet. If he sees no need to crawl because he is happy and content just playing where he is at then he probably will just play there. That is until there is something out of his reach that he REALLY wants. My son started crawling at the end of 9 months, more towards 10 months and is now 2 weeks shy of 1 year (OH MY!) and has been walking for 3 weeks now. Something I did to try to encourage him to crawl was to get a toy or something he really liked to play with (for me, he loved to try to get my laptop, so I used that) and set it in front of him, just beyond his reach, he would go for it and each time he got it I would praise him and then move it a little further. Sometimes he would scoot to it or sometimes just sprawl out on his belly. I think it really helped him though because when he did start to crawl he would go forward the way he did when trying to reach his toys in front of him. Other than that, I didn't do anything to help him crawl, he just did it on his own time.

As for the childproofing, what a chore!! I actually got on my hands and knees and crawled with him to see what he saw. I kid you not, they find things you would never think of. My son one day has a piece of pink string in his mouth only God knows where he got it! Now that he is walking, it's worse. He scoots behind chairs in the living room, he is just everywhere. Just get down on his level and see what he sees, that will help you to see what he may get in to. One thing my son loves to try to play with are cords. I didn't really have a way to cover them up or move them and even if I were to put something over them he is really smart and lifted it. So what I did was took electrical tape and taped them down to the hardwood floor or the wall if there is carpet. This helped a lot.

Hope I was of some help! If you have any more questions let me know! :] Good luck! Once they start moving, the never stop!!!

Hi R.,

My parents have table lamps on endtables in the livingroom. My one year old's favorite place to play is just behind those endtables. If she doesn't try to pull the cord to pull the lamp over, she trips over the cord!

Both of my kids also love changing channels on the cable box. It's not only annoying, but it's also dangerous for them to play near the TV (it can fall off the stand onto them and very seriously injure).

That nasty little plastic thing that covers the bolt that keeps your toilet bolted to the floor...yeah. That's a favorite thing to play with too! I have removed mine and will replace them in time...

Just keep as close an eye as possible! Good luck.

A.

Hi R.,
I was just in your boat 4 months ago. My 9 month old son (who is a super happy baby as well) would not crawl and I was so worried about it. We tried all sorts of things to get him to do it, but the best advice I got was to let him do it in his time. Right before he was 10 months, he figured out that if he did the "army crawl" on his belly he could get around. Two weeks after, he started to crawl. It was so nice. Now, we are crossing our fingers that he will start walking soon! We just baby proofed as we went and saw what he could get into. Good luck!

R.,

My daughter was 18 months old (now 6 years old) before she started walking. Before that she scooted on the bottom. It was the funniest thing to see her push herself forward with one hand and scooting the opposite foot forward to get where she wanted to go. She was and still is a very laid back child. She could watch the world go by and wasn't concerned about crawling.

She was very small (17lbs at 1 year of age) and has always set her own timelines for milestones. I do think size and muscle strength plays a factor in the accomplishments as well.

Discuss this with your doctor. If they feel there are no reasons for concern don't worry about it. Your baby will accomplish these tasks when he's ready. Just continue to encourage him and it will eventually happen. Every child is different. My second child (a boy now 4 years old) accomplished everything at a early age. I think having a sibling gets things moving faster because they have someone to encourage them on their level.

If your child experiences other delays contact your doctor or local health department for free programs. My daughter was a preemie and received help in our home through a program called TEIS Tennessee Early Intervention System (I'm sure there is something available in your state). They work with children from birth to 3 years of age to develop fine and gross motor skills as well as speech/language. They worked with her each week for an hour and gave us the tools as new parents to help our daughter improve her skills.

She's now a bright and beautiful 6 year old kindergarten student.

Hang it there!

R., The number one thing over looked is a Television. People don't realize this is an accident waiting to happen. you can go on line and get what you call a safty strap. Google earthquake and some information on televison accidents, you might be surprised. Years ago our t.v.s use to be a part of the furniture and now they are free and heavy!!. just sitting in the entertainment center. Goodluck, L.

Hi R.,
My daughter was (what I thought was) a "late crawler" - if there even is such a thing! It's called a blessing in disguise! The advice everyone gave me, which was spot on, was that every child learns to crawl/walk eventually. They said to enjoy the freedom of not having to worry about a crawler/walker for a little longer - that time will come eventually! They were absolutely right! As far as child proofing, cover the basics (gates on stairs, outlet covers, kitchen cabinet and drawer proofing, medicine out of reach, etc., and remove things that are breakable or you don't want your soon-to-be toddler getting into, like a basket for keys and wallets on the entry way table put out of reach somewhere!). I've found that the child proofing is an ongoing process - the more mobile my daughter became, the more she got into, and the more stuff we moved out of her reach! She'll find whatever you missed - just get the really dangerous stuff taken care of! Pretty much everything we objected to our daughter getting into ended up being tucked away and/or above her height. The older your child grows, the more you'll notice that the homes of kids with toddlers are the same way - nothing on table tops, everything up high! Enjoy the laid back time while it's here - toddlerhood is just around the corner! :-)

childproofing....actually screw bookshelves and video cabinets to the wall...once he gets to crawling he'll try to pull himself up on things...those can fall over, especially if they are on carpet. the other one i never thought of...we put the plastic grocery bags next to the fridge...just shove them in that space...my little one crawled into the kitchen and grabbed one...they're fun...make lots of noise...but dangerous, obviously, because of suffocation...put those up somewhere if they are out!

On the crawling...let him sit! He'll get into less! Don't worry, he'll get to what he wants when he's ready. This way, you can leave the room and know where he'll be when you get back.

Here's a checklist of EVERY possible hazard in your home. It's a bit over the top...

In the Kitchen:

 Keep toddlers out of the kitchen with a safety gate when you are cooking or otherwise distracted.
 Turn pot handles away from the front of the stove so your child cannot grab them. Use only the back burners when possible.
 Unplug appliances when they're not in use. Make sure that appliance cords do not dangle over the edges of counters where curious children may tug at them.
 Store all cleansers, toothpicks, plastic bags and other hazardous items high above a child's reach in a locked cabinet.
 Store knives, scissors and other sharp utensils in locked drawers or cabinets
 Store glassware out of children's reach.
 Hang a working fire extinguisher within your reach but high enough to be out of young children's reach.
 Remove stove dials of cover them with childproof caps.
 Keep children away from oven doors.
 Install safety locks on drawers, especially if they contain dangerous objects.
 Place a lock on your microwave to prevent young children from using it. Never allow children under the age of eight to use the microwave.
 Keep hot foods and liquids away from the edges of tables. Do not use tablecloths or place mats around babies or toddlers to reduce the risk of a child pulling hot foods and beverages down on himself.

In the Bathroom:

 Never leave a young child unattended in the bath, not even for a few seconds.
 Place nonskid decals or a mat inside the tub to prevent slipping.
 Keep the bathroom tile floor dry and use a rubber backed cloth mat so that feet are thoroughly dry before walking on bare floors.
 Install an anti-scald valve on the hot water heater to keep the temp below 120 degrees.
 Put a lid lock on the toilet to prevent toddler drowning.
 Store razors, medicines soaps and cleaning products high in a locked cabinet. Medicines in general should not be stored in the bathroom because the heat and humidity may affect their potency. Store them in a locked cabinet in the linen closet or other room.

Throughout the House:

 Have at least one working smoke detector on each level of your home and at least on carbon monoxide detector.
 Keep matches and lighters out of children's reach.
 Place houseplants on high shelves.
 Cover all electrical outlets with outlet covers, including outlets in use. A snap on cover allows parents easy access to plugs while keeping little hands away.
 To keep small fingers safe keep front loading VCR's out of children's reach or secure the machines with a VCR lock.
 Install window guards on all windows. Do not rely on screens to keep children in. Never nail windows shut or partially open because the windows may be needed for exit in the event of a fire.
 Wrap window shade cords high above a child's reach (including reaching from the sofa, crib or other potential climbing position)
 Place nonskid mats beneath area rugs
 To keep children from accidentally locking themselves in rooms, remove the door lock or place a towel over the tops of doors to prevent doors from closing completely.
 Replace glass, if possible, with sturdier plexiglass in high traffic areas such as patio doors and doors with glass panes. Or cover the glass with clear contact paper, which reduces, but does not eliminate the risk.
 Install child safety gates at the top and bottom of the staircase.
 Place a cover over radiators to avoid burns
 Use extension cords wisely. Unplug them and put away when not in use. Stop using a frayed cord or one that is hot or warm to the touch.
 Perform routine maintenance on schedule, including chimney sweeping, checking heating devices to assure safe operations, and discarding unused chemicals throughout the house.
 Remove or replace small drawer knobs or electronic equipment knows (such as stereo dials) that curious young children may remove and ingest.

In the Garage, Laundry Room, and Backyard:

 Replace your current automatic garage door with one that contains a sensing device that will not close if blocked by a child
 Do not allow your child to play in the front seat of a car, where he may accidentally disengage the brake
 Keep outdoor garbage cans secure with locking lids
 Keep trunk doors locked when not loading or unloading the car
 Keep garden supplies and barbecue supplies in a locked bin out of reach
 Keep children away from barbecues. Put a fence around the area and keep children a safe distance away while you cook and for the hours it may take for coals to get cool
 Never leave children unattended near a pool, even a wading pool. Make sure your pool is securely fenced in so that children cannot have access without your knowledge and supervision. Do not rely solely on pool alarms or pool covers to keep your children safe.
 Remove the doors from old, unused appliances such as refrigerators and freezers. Lock any out of the way freezers, coolers and trunks securely because these things are intriguing hiding places for young children who may suffocate inside them.
 Secure the doors of clothes dryers, so that children cannot open them.

To prevent falls:

 Close stairwell doors.
 Do not allow children to climb on furniture or other tall objects.

To prevent choking / strangulation / suffocation:

 Move electrical cords out of reach.
 Tie up blind cords and long curtains
 Clean up the floor. Coins, paper clips, bits of cloth or paper, pet food, small toys, string, etc. Follow the “toilet paper rule.” If it will fit through a toilet paper tube, it’s not safe for babies and toddlers.
 Pick up plastic grocery bags, dry cleaning bags, and other plastic or rubber items

To prevent injury / poisoning:

 Close and latch bathroom, laundry, or utility room doors.
 Block off or latch kitchen and bathroom lower cupboards.
 Install outlet protectors or block access to all electrical outlets.

I wouldn't try too hard to get the mobility going. I was 2 before I walked and was also content to sit around and I'm okay. My son, however crawled at 9 months and ran at 10 and it was tough! If you're concerned about development talk to a doctor. If they say all's well, enjoy!!! Sooner or later you'll see the will to try to get for what's out of reach, but I wouldn't do anything like tempt him or try to create frustration. It will happen. If you end up having more than 1 child, I bet you'll see the others get there earlier. He sounds happy!

As for the crawling...does your little one like puffs? My daughter loves puffs and so we used them as an incentive :-) She is 8 1/2 months old and just started crawling on all fours last weekend. We would put a trail of puffs on the floor and she eventually moved her body to get them. She slithered for about a week and then got up on all fours!

My second child was a "no problem dude" kinda kid, he crawled at 10 months. Don't stress about it! Each baby has their own agenda as to what's important to them. He pincer gripped things really early and could manipulate things with his hands incredibly well (like putting shapes in a sorter) at a really early age. He did that young but did other things later than the charts said he should have. He's 3 now and is a whiz with big kid lego and when he draws he say "I'm going to draw "insert thing here"" and he does draw a pretty good facsimile of it whereas my oldest would draw something and then figure out what it was when he was done. I think that has to do with him being so hand oriented when he was a baby. Your's is working on his vocal ability, who knows where that will lead!

As for the baby proofing, I highly recommend securing dressers,bookshelves, anything climbable...strap em to the wall, it will save a lot of worry and heart failure later on. Do all the cupboard where you store household chemicals too. You'll find you are a lot more relaxed. I got a lot of "we didn't have to do all that when my kids were little and they survived" but now my 3rd son is crawling (at 5 months no less...agendas!)and he's free to go anywhere in the main section of the house after I check the floor for stray legos, can't baby proof those :)I'm confident in my baby proofing, he's totally happy to be free and I know he's still safe.
L.

Hi, please don't stress over not crawling. My children all walked then crawled. The only thing you can do is place him on his tummy and if he wants to do something he will.

Also if your son is on the bigger side like mine (90%) then it will naturally take longer because they have to be stronger to begin with. The tiny kids like my daughter (5%) have it easier, she was moving around more than 2 months earlier.

As far as baby proofing, I found getting down on their level really does allow you to see what will interest them. I keep the bathroom closed at all times and make sure that all the toys my 3 yo plays with are safe for my 18 month old. She follows him around everywhere and as soon as he puts down a toy, she has it. He's only allowed to play with the older toys when she is napping and has to clean up and put them away when nap time is over.

Good Luck and just like the other moms said, nothing works better then supervision.
K.

R.,

I did not have a chance to read through all the great advice but don't forget about the fridge!!! We learned the hard way when we had eggs cracked on the floor!!! Granted, it was not right away when my son learned to crawl but by 1.5 yrs. old he was cruising!! Fridge locks are sold at Target...they are cheap and work well!
Good luck.

On the crawling thing, every kid is different. My children grew so fast that they were delayed in a lot of movement . They are both fine now. Childproofing,,, ummmm The volume button on the stereo. He turned up super loud and scared himself to death, not to mention hurting his little ears.

When childproofing, even if you put locks on things, they will still find a way to get in there. They watch EVERYTHING you do. So when you do things you don't want them to learn just yet, simply stand between them and what you are doing, like unlocking a cabinet. Don't let them see you standing on things to get things. They'll figure that one out all by themselves soon enough. If you can - and should - move it to a higher or better location, do it. For when you are cooking in the kitchen, I would keep a small basket of toys that are just for cooking time - tuck 'em in their chair with their basket and maybe a goodie from what you are cooking and they are content to not be under your feet. I was told that if something is smaller than a golfball then the baby can choke on it. We had a bottle that had a golfball sized opening. Anything that fit in there we put in a box up high, but that was hard with all of the older kids we had in our house.

here is my tip..

we put plexiglass on our fireplace.. it looks nice. and you can hardly tell it is there. but it keeps those cute little fingers from eating the ash in the fireplace..

my daughter never got into much.. I let her play in the pantry and cabients..we mostly just watch the kids - and we havent had any problems..

I would get in the habit of closing the bathroom door, the toilet is a lot of fun and very dangerous. Put latches on your cupboards, especially cleaning supplies and trash. Watch what you throw in open trash cans (like in the bathroom), for example, medications, old razors, sharp lids, etc. Make sure medications, and make up are in a high place he can't get to.
Check for tipsy furniture that could fall if he pulls up on it. Get gates for stairs or rooms you don't want him in. They also really like books and magazines, so might want to move them (not dangerous, but can get ruined easily by a drooling baby.)I'm sure he will find everything you haven't thought of. :0) Have fun.

Hi R.,

I am in the same boat as you!!! My daughter is 8.5 months old and not crawling either. She is so happy and content to do the same things as your little guy. She has tried to get on her knee's, but has not figured out how to get one of her knee's beneath her.
Many people tell me not to do anything. Not all babies crawl and they will do things when they are ready.
At this point, we are luck, we have not had to childproof our homes!

R.,
Other than locking up medicines, cleaners, and knives, and covering outlets. (the obvious) It depends on your child. My son figured out how to open every child lock they make by 18 months. It was like he took it as a personal challenge if I put a lock on something. The only one he couldn't get was the one that covers the door knobs. (thank goodness) I had a monster of a toddler who could never be trusted out of your sight. My daughter on the other hand, responded very well to NO and would stop whatever it was she was doing and wasn't too hard to handle. So I guess the key is to keep an eye on them and teach them No means NO!

Hopefully you don't have a tenascious one like I did. It really is exhausting. Boy, do I have some stories. Oh, and the one place I didn't think to childproof that was an issue was a daily check under the recliner. At nine months old, he was reaching underneith, treasure hunting I guess, and he found a quarter under there and he swallowed it sideways! Luckily he gagged it up. It could have been a disaster.

To encourage him to crawl I guess I would put him on his tummy and put all this toys out of his reach. See what he does. My little guy did the army crawl thing. He never got up on his hands and knees. I guess every kid is different. Good luck!

J.

Unless there is something preventing your child from crawling (something muscular or neurological), he will learn to crawl (or may just go right to walking). We are "programmed" to crawl and no amount of demonstration or teaching will get him to crawl earlier. If you think something is wrong with him, see a doctor who may suggest physical therapy. I'm guessing that he is like my son was, which was busy doing other things and developing other skills. My son's gross motor skills were late to develop but his fine motor skills developed on the early side. He didn't crawl on all fours until he was 14 months (prior to that, starting at around a year, I believe, he did a military style stomach crawl)and he didn't walk on his own until he was 19 1/2 months. Now he is just like all of his friends his age.

I think your son will crawl when he is ready. Our son never really crawled. When he was ready, he pulled himself up, then cruised, then started walking. He'll be fine.

As for childproofing your house...get down on your hands and knees and remove/fix/adjust anything you can reach.

crawling is not a milestone. i wouldnt worry too much about it, plenty of kids go straight to walking. :)

Besides all the obvious stuff like cleaners, under the kitchen/bathroom sinks, electrical outlets, house plants, etc. for us it was the cats water/food dishes, litterbox, and things on bookshelves and entertainment center that the kids could reach like DVD's, CD's, books, etc. For some reason my kids thought it was fun to basically knock everything on the floor and then crawl away.

Good luck!

Our first child, a son, was also a very content guy and didn't crawl until he was 11 months old. He was and is very healthy, no developmental issues, just seemed perfectly happy to be where he was. We finally got him to crawl by holding a Twinkie in front of him!! It was too funny - and makes a great story for him. As a mother of 3 now, my advice would be to enjoy the peace before he starts getting into everything! Our youngest is 13 months and is a little bundle of curiousity and energy - I kinda miss the days of her lying on her little blanket on the floor. As far as babyproofing, just keep a very close eye on him once he is mobile, and he will quickly let you know what you need to move - they seem to be drawn to what they shouldn't get into. Good luck and enjoy!! :)

As stated...there is plenty of advise. I can say that we didn't childproof our house at all. We kept a close watch, made clear boundaries and had no problems. It made my parents nervous but we never turned out back on him when he was crawling around unless we had him in a play area that we would make. Good luck.

take advantage of the situation. my daughter didn't start crawling 'til 10 1/2 months and i miss when she used to just sit and play...lol. the only thing that i've found where i wish i would've done something is the outlets, and no i don't mean the outlet covers i've had those on for years just for friends kids, i mean the cords plugged into the outlets. i had to use a toy to block an outlet that is near her play area and luckily she's forgotten all about it.

Woah, more than enough advice here...My best purchase was with an extra one or two gates...

We installed one at the top of our stairs so we didn't have to worry about it getting pushed over.

The big thing though, you may need to keep your baby from wandering too far away from your eyesight. Gates are great to give them boundries and keep them safe.

R.,
I wouldn't worry about your son not crawling yet. My three kids have all done this very differently and at their own pace. My oldest boy walked at 9 months, my next child who is a girl crawled first then walked at about 11 months and my youngest who is now 10 and a half months old loves to scoot on her bottom. Its the cutest thing. She has never crawled but loved to roll around and then she just learned to scoot and she's fast. She loves to stand and can pull herself up but hasn't really started walking on her own but I am not worried because she healthy. The only things we never child-proofed with the two older ones were the drawers in the kitchen cabinets. With this last one we will have to because she can pull them open too easily. The other two didn't go into the bathroom like she does. Good luck and he will crawl or even walk when you least expect it. Take care!!