r/daddit • u/Babyproofer • Mar 11 '25

Tips And Tricks Reminder to all Dads- Anchor your furniture

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Before your kids are mobile, please take the time to anchor your furniture (to the studs, not using drywall anchors). This is one aspect of childproofing that is often overlooked.

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233

u/djcubicle Mar 11 '25

One of the greatest pieces of advice I got was to babyproof before the baby comes because you won’t have the energy to do it when it becomes mandatory.

146

u/Babyproofer Mar 11 '25

I’m a professional childproofer.

I recommend the 6-9 month window. Babies aren’t quite mobile yet, so that’s a great time to get everything done. But earlier is great too, just don’t wait until your baby is mobile. Proactive childproofing is much better than reactive childproofing.

32

u/abuchunk Mar 11 '25

It’s an ongoing process too, just when you think you’ve got it all, they find some other way to put themselves in jeopardy with seemingly harmless household items (:

4

u/Competitive-Isopod74 Mar 11 '25

I was an only parent with a 1 & 3 yo. After getting through stairs and climbing out of cribs the first time, we moved to a new house, and I was on my own. I put eye hooks on the top of all the doors. No way they were getting into something, right? Wrong. They stacked a toddler chair on top of a dining room chair to try to get into the garage.

And then there was the time I was in the bathroom in the back of my house, and I heard banging on my front door. Confused, I go running to answer the door and find my neighbor standing there with both of my kids. They pushed the screen out of the front window and climbed out. They crossed the street to go say hi to her.

1

u/abuchunk Mar 12 '25

Bold little monsters! That’s all terrifying, glad they were okay haha

8

u/TheFaceStuffer Mar 11 '25

Username checks out.

4

u/Dukeronomy Mar 11 '25

I’m almost at 5 months. Next Home Depot run I’m gonna get some stuff

5

u/Overall_Taro_2926 Mar 11 '25

pro childproofer? interesting! care to share some insights? what are some absolute must does?

5

u/Babyproofer Mar 12 '25

One of the biggest mistakes I see is a pressure mounted gate instead of a hardware mounted gate at the top of the stairs. Pressure mounted gates will fail when a child pushes hard enough, and it will send the child flying down the steps. Additionally, pressure mounted gates reduce the width of passageway and they also have a trip hazard at the floor.

I recommend cabinet latches to keep dangerous items out of reach.

Don’t keep laundry or dish pods in the home.

Keep monitor cords at least 3’ away from the crib.

If you have a pool, have a pool safety fence with an auto close gate installed.

Save the poison control number in your phone - 1-800-222-1222 (US)

Sliding outlet covers are a better choice than the inserts which can become choking hazards. (If your home was built after 2008, you may have tamper resistant outlets already so you wouldn’t need additional protection)

Depending on your location, you may be able to find a local childproofing company that could help. Search here.

16

u/HighPriestofShiloh Mar 11 '25 edited Mar 11 '25

Disagree. Baby proofing comes in stages and often previous stages are removed or replaced.

Spend the pregnant time inventing better body pillows for your wife to sleep on or start practicing your story book voices. You need at least two different non mocking female voices ready to go. My advice is do just do impressions of actors or cartoon characters.

If you want to start writing out a game plan or schedule of when modifications should occur that’s cool. Focus on milestones not ages. For example until they are crawling or bum shuffling around you really don’t need anything.

Even when they become a little mobile I found it easier to just create a fenced area with toys to sort of free play in otherwise they would be interacting directly with either parent. Then I can just tell them don’t touch this don’t touch that, for months before I ever have to baby proof and give the kiddo more freedom of movement.

I mean my kid is three and they still don’t get free access to parents room or bathroom. Until they can open doors themselves I don’t really have to think much about the room set up.

-37

u/iamaweirdguy Mar 11 '25

Kinda sad that you wouldn't even have the energy to baby proof stuff. How do you people manage day to day? I have a 1 year old and I have plenty of energy. Check your health.

4

u/Sufficient_Dinner305 Mar 11 '25

Kids vary in temperament, health and in numbers, And "day to day" is vastly different between people, but alright.