Baby proofing cabinets - handyman recommendations?

R

rkp

Well-known member
i need to baby proof our apartment and our inlaws place, esp the cabinets and not interested in spending a day at something i am not good at.  anyone use a handyman to baby proof their place?
 
have you gone to Babys'R'Us?  They have several products for baby proofing.  The best are the magnet locks.  You can buy a set of 8 locks and a "key" magnet for around 20 bucks.  Easy self install.
 
rkp said:
i need to baby proof our apartment and our inlaws place, esp the cabinets and not interested in spending a day at something i am not good at.  anyone use a handyman to baby proof their place?
Click to expand...

We used our regular handyman, but also hired 3 baby safety consultants to observe and test the installation. Let me know if you need my handyman's number...he also makes my kids toys, builds ikea furniture, adjusts my thermostat and sprinkler timer (damn rainy days mess me up), fixes my squeaky doors, and sharpens my dull steak knives.

 
Some baby proofing may require attaching screws so beware the landlord will take away your deposit for retrofit cost.

MOU, did you also have consultants create, cook and package optimum nutritious baby food? let me know if you need one. I highly recommend a visual, eye and hand coordination specialist too because the first 6 months you want to get the child's motorskill out of the way and move on to the multilingual linguistic regiment. I recommend SAT flash cards in lieu of those stupid animal flash cards. Instead of getting the musical mobile to hand over the crib I recommend the the 5 ball pendulum so your baby could observe and understand the conservation of momentum.
 
We babyproofed our home when our first child arrived... and we ended up not really needing it.

The first year or so... they can't get into any cabinets so all the locks we installed just made our lives more inconvenient. And by the time the first was old enough to open cabinets... she had already learned not to do so... and to not get into stuff she wasn't supposed to. I guess we were extra watchful during the baby years.

We didn't babyproof our next home and our second child was fine too.

The only thing we found useful was the baby gate (at top and bottom of stairs) and it was pressure installed so no screws or drilling required.

EDIT: For some reason, my original post got cut off.
 
irvinehomeshopper said:
I swore I heard Asians and Indians are pretty good handyman.
Click to expand...

Maybe we can find a win/win situation here. By hiring indigenous members of the Coastal Canyon Tribe to install baby-proof devices, we can support the native Irvine community and protect the kids at the same time. I am sure the tribal members would appreciate the job opportunities, don't you think so?? This is a solution everyone can feel good about. What's that worth? More than the cost of picking up a kit and doing it yourself, I tell you.
 
8b639732.jpg


This works pretty well for us, like IHO, didn't really need to go overboard with babyproofing, slapped these locks on the under kitchen sink cabinets and also cabinet with glassware...

Picked them up at Babies r us or Target
 
My toddler learned to turn the knob counterclockwise to unscrew the knob then alphabetized all the can goods inside. Good thing the magic switch on the bottom outsmart the 1 year old.
 
irvinehomeshopper said:
My toddler learned to turn the knob counterclockwise to unscrew the knob then alphabetized all the can goods inside. Good thing the magic switch on the bottom outsmart the 1 year old.
Click to expand...
Kids were smarter in the 90s... less cable channels... no iDevices.
 
irvinehomeshopper said:
Once the rascals learn the switch the entire line of devices is no good. This is how I taught my toddler. Put the toddlers fingers in between cabinet doors or between toilet seat and cover and slam really hard on them. Overly protective parents actually do more harm to the kids for the long term.
Click to expand...

You add so much value to all the discussions. 
 
Yes, for all you high achiever parents do teach your toddlers the complex theory of relativity but don't teach them the secret button on the latch. This is the real reason why we have 2400 point SAT students that get run over by a bus.
 
You only need to lock cabinets with dangerous things in them, like knives and cleaning products. It's good to keep some cabinets unlocked, and stocked with safe things that the baby can take out and play with. I think banging on pots with a spoon is a baby rite of passage.

And yeah, get some locks at Babies R Us and do it yourself. Paying a handyman to do it is looneytunes, in my opinion.
 
Just reverse the things in the upper cabinets with the lower cabinets like cleaning supplies to the upper ones. The cabinet opening skill could open a child's mind to how things work. Save yourself some money and buy less toys to clutter up your only living space by letting the kid play with cabinets and stacking cans. The only thing I would advise is to restrict access to water in buckets, tub and toilet bowls.
 
i saw an episode of Run's House on MTV, they have a huge ass house and when they adopted a kid some guy gave them an estimate of i think something along the lines of 20K, it was absurd.
 
Thanks for the helpful comments (IHS excluded of course).  So far we haven't done jack except put a gate.  She gets in all the cabinets, can move chair and use as ladder to get on top of counter, and can open doors now so not really sure what I can protect her from.  Definitely will buy some of those exterior cabinet locks so at least can stop her from the chemicals and glass.  And I guess we need plug protectors too.
 
I suggest hiring a handyman to help you install the outlet plugs. It could be an installation nightmare and the packages never come with instructions.
 
On a more serious note, one thing that I recommend is to remove all the cleaning products from your kitchen and bathrooms and store them in bins in the garage.  hard to open bins on a shelf that is hard to access.

those are the only items that I really worry about with my toddler.

 
rkp said:
... can move chair and use as ladder to get on top of counter ...
Click to expand...
I would be worried about this.

My kids never learned this habit... they knew what was off-limit but like I said... we watched them all the time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top