How to childproof your electrical outlets and devices {Guest Post}

This post is presented in partnership with Gillece Services of Pittsburgh! For more helpful home advice, you can visit them at Gillece.com.

Having a baby brings so much joy and light into your life. As infants, all they want is to snuggle into your loving arms. However, these children will learn to crawl, walk, run and climb – making it more difficult to keep them safe. Childproofing your electrical outlets and devices will help ease your mind knowing your child is safe from these electrical disasters.

For some reason, babies are drawn to outlets like a magnet. They will try sticking their fingers, toys and pretty much anything they can get their hands on into these hazardous outlets. Thankfully, there are some great products out there that can prevent your child from hurting themselves.

Outlet Caps – Individual outlet caps can be a quick fix. These little caps are the most affordable solution to the outlet problem. All you have to do is simply place the outlet caps, into the outlet. Your child will have a difficult time trying to remove these little buggers from the wall. When you need to use the outlet, remember to keep the outlet cap out of reach from your child.

Outlet Cover – Similar to the outlet cap, an electrical outlet cover can be purchased to prevent your child from getting hurt. An electrical outlet cover replaces your regular outlet and is safely attached with a screw. The spring activated cover prevents your child from having any access to the outlet. To plug in an appliance, place prongs into slots, slide and push.

Adapter plug cover – Does your child like making the lights in your home go on and off by plugging and unplugging the cord to your lamp? Babies may seem a little mischievous at times but they really are only curious. You can prevent your child from unplugging devices by using an adapter plug cover. Merely feed the cord through the cover, plug the cord in and attach the cover to the wall. No more dark rooms in your house!

Plug Locks – To keep your child from plugging in devices and potentially injuring themselves, plug locks can be an easy fix. A plug lock is used by plugging the device into the lock and removing the key. The plug lock can only be removed with a key.

Power Strip Cover – You might be wondering what to do about your power strip that has all your important devices plugged into it. Don’t you worry – there is a device for that as well. A power strip cover will do the same as an adapter plug cover – all of your devices will remain plugged in and your baby will be safe.

Long cord solution – Long cords can be very dangerous and a disaster waiting to happen. Keep your child safe from tripping on these long cords and shorten them. There are devices that can be purchased for this, or you can coil up the excess cord and place a zip tie around it.  

Don’t forget to inspect your outlets for discoloration and burns, this could mean there is faulty wiring near the switch and is dangerous. If you suspect there is something wrong with your wiring, seek professional assistance immediately.

As an expectant mother you are busy buying clothes, dippers, a stroller and many other baby necessities to prepare for your little one. Even new mothers are wrapped up with their new bundle of joy and coping with the work that goes with it. Although you might not want to think about it, your baby will leave your arms someday. Take the precautions and be confident knowing your child will be safe from electrical dangers.

See Also:

• House-Proofing: Pick your battles
• Child-Proofing vs. House-Proofing
• Baby-Proofing

House-Proofing: Pick your battles

I am more of a "house-proofer" than a "child-proofer." By that, I mean that I would generally rather teach my child to not touch something than to put bubble wrap around it. There are times, however, that it is wise to go the child-proofing route.

"If your son or daughter develops a fondness with the toilet seat in the guest bathroom, shut the door and keep it closed. We promise, you will have enough opportunities to train your pre-toddler and toddler in the living room and kitchen" (Babywise Book Two, page 109).

As you are house-proofing your baby (see Child-Proofing vs. House-Proofing), there are a couple of things to keep in mind.

1-Protect irreplaceable items

While in general I don't rearrange my house for my children, there are some items I would be devastated to lose. Well, I can only think of one off the top of my head. I have a vase that is my Braxston vase. It is a vase I got when I lost him. For me, it is one of the few tangible items I have of him. 

That is an item I do not mess around with. I make sure it is up high and out of reach of little ones. If you have items that you would be very upset if it got ruined, absolutely put it out of reach. Yes, the idea is that your child will not touch things that are "no"--BUT without a doubt your child will test those boundaries and you don't want a test to end in something you adore being ruined.

2- Protect children

There are some things you want to do in order to protect children. For a short time before she turned one, Kaitlyn was fascinated by outlets and really wanted to stick her fingers in it. I put outlet covers on our outlets. You want to keep your children safe--you just want to make sure you are going for real safety and not trying to prevent every single bump and bruise that might come along. Children do learn from falls. 

3- Keep yourself sane

As the opening quote indicates, you can limit your training grounds to certain areas of the house. You don't have to keep everything open for testing at all times. Start with small areas and slowly expand where your child is free to go as he shows ability to handle that freedom.

In our previous home, I had the baggies and like items in a drawer that was low enough for little ones to get into. In order to prevent a mess I didn't want to deal with, I put a latch on that one drawer. All other drawers were okay and were used as our training drawers, but that one drawer was  a drawer I didn't want to clean up if it became the testing ground.

Conclusion

So as you are teaching your child boundaries, keep these things in mind so you can pick your battles.The funnel easily applies to this as it does to other areas in your child's life. 

Related Posts/Blog Labels:

• baby-proofing
• Babywise II (25)
• babywise book two (5)

Should You Baby-Proof Your Christmas Tree

Should You Baby-Proof Your Christmas Tree or teach baby to not touch the ornaments on the tree?

I have a very simple philosophy on baby-proofing my house.

I don't do it.

Yes, I stick those outlet socket covers in most of the open sockets...though not all. And most of our bookcases are mounted to the wall. My cleaners are all stored so high that I can barely reach them. That is about as far as I go. No gates. No cupboard locks.

Knocking on wood, knocking on wood, knocking on wood....

And so far, no injuries to any of my three children.

Knocking on wood some more.

Hear that? It is me knocking on wood.

I don't rearrange my house to keep things out of reach. I remember being pregnant with Brayden and people laughing about how our stuff would slowly move up over time. I have literally seen homes where nothing is available on the last two feet of available space. Shelves are bare. Tables are bare. Drawers are empty...

Child-Proofing vs. House-Proofing

source

Parents often wonder if they should child-proof their house or house-proof their child. If you read my baby-proofing post, you will see that I am one who likes to house-proof my child. In it, I have lots of reasons for why I do so, along with good safety ideas for what definitely should be done to "child-proof" your home.

I was recently contemplating why some children have respect for the property of others and why some don't. Some children seem to believe everything within their reach is fair game. They will take it, play with it, and leave it wherever they happen to be standing when they are done. You might live near such children and find everything outside needs to be under lock and key or you will never see it again!

These are not children who are trying to steal or even really knowingly being rude. They just don't realize that there are things they shouldn't touch.

I know children like this. They are children who are raised by wonderful parents who teach them strong morals and values. I have also known adults like this. It got me thinking.

As I thought about children old enough to make decisions of whether or not to touch things with the realistic expectation of them obeying, my thoughts led to the home. I realized that homes that were child-proofed rather than house-proofed were producing children who didn't have knowledge and control to not touch the property of others. I am not talking other kid's toys; I am talking things in your garage or even cars. Whatever they can reach is fair game.

And doesn't that just make sense? Doesn't it make sense that  a child who is given no physical restrictions in the home will carry that over around the neighborhood? Doesn't it make sense that the child who is allowed to be overly physically active in the home with balls and other toys because there is nothing breakable around will translate that into the homes of others? Of course they will!

House-proofing your child helps your child to learn boundaries. It helps your child to learn respect for others and for the possessions of others. You can't touch whatever you want whenever you want in the real world. When Brayden was 9 months old and I was following the advice to leave some things to be "off-limits" to him, I had no thought about this benefit. As I told him over and over again to not touch a coveted item, I had no idea that it would lead to him having a respect for the property of other people. What a blessing to me, my neighbors, and himself!

Train To Obey Your Voice

"The goal is to train the child to obey your voice (which includes tone and modulation), not to the object" (On Becoming Babywise II, page 95).

This is very important to remember when training your child. You are not seeking to train your child to memorize a list of objects that are okay and objects that are not okay. Your are seeking to train your child to listen to you and obey you when you tell him to do something or to not do something. As Babywise II points out, you are the constant. The object is the variable.

If your focus is on objects, then your child might end up being well trained at home, but when you go out, he could be a difficulty. That is, unless the places you go to have the exact same objects that are nos in your home with nothing added.

Yes, your child will get to the point where he knows what is and isn't okay at home. He will ignore the nos. That isn't a problem. You just want to be sure that your child obeys you. When you are in a new situation, you want him to listen to your voice. You will encounter new nos at the park, the store, your friend's house, on a walk, etc.

This is further reason your solution in life is not to "baby-proof" your entire house. Remember, you take care of safety needs, but you don't remove everything from your child's reach in order to avoid conflict with the child (see Baby-Proofing ). You want your child to learn to obey you. It takes time. It takes effort. It takes consistency. But once your child obeys you, you will have no problem taking him shopping with you. You will have no problem taking him to the park while you have your newborn in tow. You will be able to enjoy your child.

Yes, there will be rough days. I remember one day when Kaitlyn was a few weeks old. We went to the park. When it was time to go, Brayden did not want to leave. He cried. Kaitlyn cried while I was trying to round him up. I wondered what on earth I was doing at the park. The hard days will come, but you will have far more good days than bad, and you will be able to take the bad in stride.

Related Posts:

• Baby-Proofing
• Boundaries (Toddlerwise)
• Boundaries: Part II (Toddlerwise)
• BW II: Freedoms: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/01/babywise-ii-freedoms.html
• Discipline: Progress is a Spiral
• Prevention
• Teaching Your Baby "No": http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/01/teaching-your-baby-no.html
• Training in Times of Non-Conflict
• Discipline Methods: 10 Months and up
• Proactive and Directive Parenting
• discipline (blog label)
• obedience (blog label)
• Babywise II (blog label)

Tips for Baby-Proofing Your Home

Tips for Baby-Proofing Your Home. What to baby proof and what to leave out. You don't want to make everything indestructible. 

When it comes time to baby proof your house, I would recommend you not go overboard. You do not need to baby proof every single thing.

Of course it is wise to do what is necessary for the safety of your children. For example, put outlet covers on your outlets, move your household cleaners out of the reach of your children, secure bookcases to the wall if needed, perhaps a gate for the stairs, etc.

It is also wise to remove or move anything that you would be devastated over if it were destroyed. If you have heirloom china out from your great-grandmother, perhaps that would be good to put in a safe place until you know your child will obey you and not touch it.

Once you have things fully safe and the valuables moved out of the way, there is very little you need to do. You don't need to lock up every cupboard and drawer. You don't need to move everything out of the reach of your child. You needn't have bare shelves and tables. Doing that removes learning opportunities for your child. It is okay to have items that are off-limits that your child can reach. In fact, I it isn't just okay, it is a good idea.