Controling a crawling baby!

kfc1210

Hi,

My 8 month old is crawling fast, standing and pulling herself up on everything as well as exploring flat out!
Im wondering what other parents do as we are constantly chasing her...
Is a playpen the norm i was hoping it wasnt as i like her to have freedom

Cheers.

Ms2011

I have a playpen for my son which I put him in if I have to cook the dinner or do something upstairs & I can't keep an eye on him. I'd say he'd spend about an hour in it a day though not all at the same time.
Other than that we spend the rest of the time chasing him around, there is no other option really as it's how they learn & work those muscles not to mention their little brains ;-)

implausible

Closed doors, stairgates, locked presses and a rug should be enough. Like Ms2011, I use a playpen sometimes (well it's actually a travel cot that doubles up as a playpen) and my wee madame is in it when I need her to be confined. She spends most of her time in the kitchen on a big mat with her toys and a low coffee table to pull herself up to.

lazygal

Within reason, I don't think babies should be restricted.Obviously we don't let ours roam about willy nilly but we moved the really dangerous stuff out of reach and leave her to it. I'm not a massive fan of playpens, I know our lass would feel very restricted in one. I'm also not a massive fan of stairgates-I'd rather her learn to navigate the stairs herself than see as as a massive temptation and go straight for it every time. We have a big mat that we fold up and put away every evening and made sure the cleaning stuff was out of reach.

Hannibal Smith

oh god....you poor thing lol....you'll be needing nerves of steel...I think mothercare have a special deal at the mo

other than that baby proof everything and close all doors...we don't really have room for a play pen...so thats what we did.

implausible

lazygal wrote: »

I'm also not a massive fan of stairgates-I'd rather her learn to navigate the stairs herself than see as as a massive temptation and go straight for it every time.

On stairgates, personally, I'd be too scared to go without, especially at the top of the stairs. I trained my young fella how to use the stairs and he's never fallen (fingers crossed), but there's a lot of sleepwalking in our family, and a work colleague's 10 year old son recently came a cropper down the stairs and ended up in hospital. She's not sure, but reckons he must've been sleepwalking.

My boy was able to climb stairs before he could walk and when I found him on the third step one day, we were down to Argos pronto. I doubt Miss Adventurous is going to be any different :rolleyes:

Oryx

This is when the babyproofing starts. There's really no substitute for keeping a constant eye on herself. A playpen is grand for those times when you really cant avoid it, but generally you just need to be where she is pretty much all the time she is mobile. Its tough, but you'll get through it.

kfc1210

Thanks for replies, see we live in a one bed apartment and sitting room and kitchen is all in one so its pretty hard to baby proof it all.
I think we just need some new furniture, glass top coffee table that she seams to like to bang things off, TV cabinate is too low as well, internet modem on the floor and shes loves pulling them wires!
More baby suitable stuff is definately needed i think.
There is also the balcony with a high wall maybe il just let her roam that lol

Hannibal Smith

you can get this clevamama foam this that you can cover the legs of tables with. though we've ha to duck tape it down coz the eldest keeps peeling it off grrrr. its not the prettiest but it works

JanaMay

My daughter started crawling a little later than that and I did find it stressful. Our flat had the least baby-friendly layout. My mother-in-law insisted on a playpen but herself was having none of it! She had just learned to be mobile and wanted to make the most of her new-found freedom!

All I can advise is to keep your eye on her as much as possible and baby-proof wherever you can! We had to put some things into storage for a couple of months eg glass-top coffee table etc. if there's anything really dangerous, take it away for a while if you can.

If I had to go answer the door, or take something off the stove (one-bedroomed flat on 2 floors...nightmare!) I put her in her cot with a couple of her favourite toys for the few minutes it took.

It's tough, and you do need eyes in the back of your head...but remember she's only little and she needs you to 'manage' her world for her, but it doesn't last forever.

Queen-Mise

A playpen for when the child absolutely has to be confined i.e. cooking dinner, type stuff. A travel cot is really handy for this - as it can be folded down.

And other times - stair gates (also work well between rooms, not just for stairs. I had one on my back door - so could leave it open, but baby couldn't crawl out), and proof everything.

Everything is going to have to be moved up three/four feet for the next couple of years - so start now. Cover all plugs, moves all wires etc.

kfc1210

kfc1210 wrote: »

Im wondering what other parents do as we are constantly chasing her...
.

Yup. I'm chasing my 19 month old still.

Welcome to the next stage in parenting! From here on in you'll need eyes in the back of your head.
Crawling ain't so bad, it's walking, climbing and discovering that one can climb on to chairs and on to tables that's the real fun.
Or that every button in the house can be pushed, every switch investigated, every bin climbed into.

Toddler proof everything from four feet off the floor.

skit490

FavouriteSlave wrote: »

Yup. I'm chasing my 19 month old still.

Welcome to the next stage in parenting! From here on in you'll need eyes in the back of your head.
Crawling ain't so bad, it's walking, climbing and discovering that one can climb on to chairs and on to tables that's the real fun.
Or that every button in the house can be pushed, every switch investigated, every bin climbed into.

Toddler proof everything from four feet off the floor.

Anyone recommend cheapest place to get baby proofing stuff....

Oral Slang

I never used a playpen, had an activity centre that I used to pop her into if I needed to keep her from escaping, but once she was pulling herself up to standing the activity centre was gone. Used the cot sometimes upstairs if I needed to shower - used to just put a load of toys in it for her to play with. Now I close the stair gate & put out loads of bits on the landing. She usually stands at the side of the bath enjoying getting splashed now or else shouting bath at me, because she wants to get in.
I used a sling quite a bit if I was cooking etc. I bought the clevamama corner protectors, which were a constant attraction to bite & try pull off. We put up the stairgates a bit after she started crawling, but always let her go up & down the stairs supervised, so she's well able to go on them now. An odd time they're left open by accident & she's up them like a light, on the landing before we know it.