The ‘Pet Raccoon’
A friend and fellow writer recently described her daughter’s introduction to crawling like this: “It’s like having a pet raccoon. Foraging through everything and putting whatever (and I mean WHATEVER) she finds in her mouth.”
As L begins to crawl all over the place, too, I couldn’t agree with this assessment more.
L’s method of transportation is more a shimmy than a crawl at this point, but she’s close enough to get herself into trouble.
Yesterday, for instance, she wriggled like a Pinniped over to the bottom draw of her dresser, opened the draw and somehow managed to pull out every single one of the sheets inside. This morning, with cat sleeping on the floor across the room, she staggered over to him and proceeded to tug on his ears until he woke up, hissed at her and ran away.
For a neurotic dad like me, these new skills likely will trigger an extended panic attack of epic proportions.
The electrical outlets! The door stoppers! The bathroom cabinets! There’s so much for the baby to get herself into, simply thinking about all of the stuff we have to baby-proof makes my head spin.
And so, dear readers, I turn to you. When your respective “raccoons” started raccooning around, what were your strategies for making the house a safer place? Where did you start? What precautions did you find were overrated/overhyped? Perhaps most important, which precautions did you find were unnecessary?
Eager to hear your replies.
I really got down on the floor to see what was going on. Plugs, stuff on coffee tables, end tables, low kitchen cabinets, the dog’s water bowl, under the sink, bathroom cabinets, medicine bottles, cords to horizontal blinds, cords to lamps, low drapes, your paper shredder (keep it off and unplugged), the one step down between kitchen & living room…. It quickly leads to pulling up to standing which is when things get really hairy. There was also just a recall on roman shades-cords & strangulation or something.
Also keep doors to bathrooms closed-mine like to play in toilet water.
You name it, they will find it. And they will find what you did not expect them to find. Say goodbye to a home with any sort of decor under 4 feet. Everything ends up on the mantle and the dresser. My recommendations from life with 4 mobile toddler boys:
1) Move everything breakable & sharp into high cabinets in the kitchen, and put the tupperware & baking sheets low.
2) Clear off coffee & end tables of anything but books or coasters.
3) Use plug covers that are impossible to get off.
4) Double lock or move the poisons in the kitchen, laundry & bathroom- this includes medicine & vitamins.
5) Keep cords to blinds high or buy retractable cords.
6) Make a spot for her to play & keep directing her there.
7) Invest in really good gates for stairs- top and bottom.
Good luck!