baby proofing still needed at age 2.5?

I am moving in a few weeks and not really sure if child proofing is necessary now that she is 2.5? do you still have your house "baby proofed" for your older toddlers? if so..what things? TIA!

Re: baby proofing still needed at age 2.5?

My niece is 2.5 they still have cabinet locks although only certain cabinet/drawers really need it, and outlet covers. But baby gates and such they dont need. They do keep them nearby though for when DS comes over!

Re: baby proofing still needed at age 2.5?

I actually think we will be babyproofing more stuff now. My 2 year old is starting to open doors and can now reach into my kitchen drawers so now I want to get those door knob things and toddler proof the drawers & cabinets better. But if your toddler isn't getting into too much trouble, maybe you don't have to??? The longer we live here, the more trouble mine gets into.

Re: baby proofing still needed at age 2.5?

I would definitely babyproof things like furniture tipping and TV's/appliances, sharp knives, etc ... also household cleaners and medicines. I read an article how kids see windex and think it looks like blue raspberry fruit punch, advil look like M&M's, Lysterine melts look like fruit leather, etc so I would definitely look around and think about what she might see/do

Message edited 1/14/2009 2:13:20 PM.

Re: baby proofing still needed at age 2.5?

I agree with the APs. You need to babyproof even more now, but differently. DD is 2.5, and we don't use the gate anymore during the day, but we still block off the stairs at night, so she won't stumble down the stairs in the dark. Shelves that she couldn't reach before, now she can, so everything has to move up higher. She loves to climb on everything. Outlets are fascinating to her....

Re: baby proofing still needed at age 2.5?

bump for the night crew

Re: baby proofing still needed at age 2.5?

anyone else?

Re: baby proofing still needed at age 2.5?

I would do it. You want your child to have some natural curiousity but there are household things that even a 6-7 year old could get into trouble with and they might not know to stay away. Baby proofing is also very helpful if you have people over with mixed age kids.

Re: baby proofing still needed at age 2.5?

Re: baby proofing still needed at age 2.5?

I never went nuts with babyproofing but we did strap furniture to the walls and put on outlet covers (Ella was fascinated by them). We never had a gate on the stairs or cabinet locks, but she has a gate for her bedroom (for nighttime captivity )

Re: baby proofing still needed at age 2.5?

We also have a gate at the top of the stairs - it's only closed when we sleep (and there are no gates on the other two small staircases). We still have outlet covers and the bedroom furniture (his and ours) is attached to the wall (he loves to climb). We don't have cabinet locks though. DH, is his total overprotective and cautiousness, still uses the baby monitor - not just any monitor, but the Angelcare! DS actually gets out of bed and turns it off himself. But we always know when he gets out of bed because of that incessant loud beeping I've tried but DH refuses to stop using it.

Re: baby proofing still needed at age 2.5?

I think even more so now. My DD is 2.5 and gets into much more now than she ever did a year or two ago. She now opens the junk drawer (with scissors, screwdrivers, thumbtacks etc in it), the 1 cabinet my uncle broke the child lock off of which has chemicals in it, etc. Of course she never goes into the "safe" stuff like the pot cabinet or the Tupperware drawer. She is also now big into climbing on and jumping on furniture. I also agree with strapping TVs and furniture to the walls. My DD often pushes on or smacks the TV and it scares me to death. I was just telling DH yesterday that I need him to childproof these other things SOON, as DD just started climbing out of her crib and I'm afraid she'll wander the house at night before we have a chance to get her a bed.

Re: baby proofing still needed at age 2.5?

I still use a baby gate. Although Hailey can go down the stairs fine, I get nervous cause sometimes she gets excited when the door bell rings and I don't want her to slip. All of the outlets still have plugs. That is pretty much it. She is under my feet 75% of the day so I don't worry too much. The only time she is alone is if I take a shower after she wakes up. Then I start to worry.

Re: baby proofing still needed at age 2.5?

thanks ladies