We are moving to an open plan house (large open kitchen/lounge area) and don't know how to toddler-proof it. At the moment we have a separate kitchen so just close the door so DS doesn't go in there. We'll also have stairs to contend with! Anyone have any tips for keeping an active 13 month old safe in a large open-plan area with stairs?

Hi,

We have a huge open plan living area, Kitchen, lounge and dinning room also with stairs. We have a metal saftey gate for the stairs, and DD gets in trouble if she plays with the gate.

As for the kitchen luckly it is large with loads of cubbard space, so everything is up high, DD has cubbards she can go into, I put a few toys in there for her.

acually love my open plan living space as we spend 99% of the day in there, no matter what I am doing I can see DD. The main things I have done is just put everything up out of the way, it works like a charm. IT is great as I can cook dinner while I am watching DD play with her toys

It is a real difficulty with this kind of arrangement. Our house is a strange set up because our living areas and kitchen are upstairs. We've blocked off part of the living area with a gate, so DD doesn't have access to any other room. I guess you need to be extra vigilant. Because I've had this arrangement since day one, I have always supervised her. It didn't really occur to me until I was at a friend's house the other day and she didn't seem concerned at all about where her child was because she knew her house was safe. I have to keep my eyes on Louisa at all times.

It must be frustrating for her to have such a small play area, but it's the only way we could arrange things. I make sure though that now that she's very mobile I take her with me into other rooms and outside so she gets a change of scenery.

My main worry, though, was the railing over the stairs. Now that she's climbing on everything, I've had to shift all furniture away from there so she can't use it to climb over. I hate to think about that! Their skills develop so quickly and the moment I discovered her standing on the coffee table was the day I realised I had to rearrange everything!

Don't forget the bottom of the stairs too. Kids will attempt to climb them and then injure themselves falling, so a gate here might be a good idea too. My gates are the hardwood ones from Babyco so they still look okay.

Although our kitchen is blocked off, other parents I know who have open plan areas just make sure that drawers and cupboards that contain dangerous items are kept closed with latches etc. Even thick rubber bands work. Keep a couple of bottom drawers for tupperware/plastics and allow them access to these to keep them amused. Even the saucepan drawer if you can stand the noise! Also fridge magnets are a big hit.

That's all I can think of for now. Hope this helps.


Suzanne


DD Louisa (One year old!)
DH Peter

I'm jelous of an open plan area - my next house will definitely have one of those, so that I can do chores while my DS plays near by. I do understand your concern though about keeping your DS out of everything.

We have a townhouse on a number of levels and when my DS was about 13 months removed all the gates. I spent a lot of time prior to removing the gates with him telling him to turn around and go down backwards (with a twirl of my finger too as reinforcement). It didn't take long for him to get the hang of it.

The reason we removed the gates was because stairs were such a novelty, if for some reason the gate didn't get closed properly and he got to the stairs he was so excited that it seemed more dangerous. I did wait of course until he was confident and careful.

My advice is to get him used to the stairs as quickly as you can.

Camilla

DS 31/1/03

We just moved to a house with stairs also, but luckily a door for our main living area I can shut.

For now we just have a barrier blocking the bottom of the stairs.

But I agree with teaching them how to use the stairs.

Unfortunately for me, while dd (16 months) will turn and climb down from a bed or chair, she will not do this with staires no matter what I do. She HAS to step down them forwards! So I have to keep the barrier!

Thanks everyone for your advice and tips. Sometimes I wonder whether we've made the right decision moving as we've got the whole safety thing completely sussed where we are, but then again it will be good for DS (and his mum and dad) to have a bit more space and more importantly a backyard to play in (we're in a flat now). Another problem we have is we'll be renting so I don't know whether we'll be allowed to put in a safety gate for the stairs and drawer guards in the kitchen cupboards.

stelvin, The saftey gate we have can be screwed in, but we are also in rented property and haven't screwed it in...(it is optional) I cannot explain it but it tightens onto the wall with out leaving marks....DH can shake the thing with all his might and it dosn't move! I do however always sternly say NO to DD when she wants to play with the gate.

I must admit I think the open plan is great with kids.

We have open plan, and stairs. We have a safety gate for the stairs, but Ds is around the open plan lounge, kitchen, eating area all day.

I have a couple of drawers that are child proofed, the under the sink (with soap etc) is as well. Other than that DS is fine. he has open run with the drawers with plastic stuff, the crockery drawers he has learned are not his. The BIG trick is that now he is tall (huge for his size) REMEMBER REMEMBER REMEMBER to keep knives clear of him when working with them.

I would not swap it for the world.

Our safety gate for the stairs is like Kushas, no damage at all. As far as cupboards we use the link things around the two handles. For drawers is different. But once again we only have locked one drawer which I never use anyway.





Anna