How would I safe guard our particular kitchen for when our little one becomes mobile?

Question

Our kitchen has zero cabinets. We made a kitchen out of shelves and a portable kitchen island. As you might imagine, everything is exposed and low to the ground...not easy to keep little hands away from dangerous kitchen supplies!......

What are your suggestions for safeguarding our kitchen (block of knives, loose knives in drawer, ceramic plates, etc)? Should we use a baby gate to block off the entrance into the kitchen? Are gates reliable enough? Do you get what you pay for in gates (ie: should we invest in something more expensive?) Do I need to move everything on top of the refrigerator? I hardly can imagine that! Is it unrealistic to say that we will strive to supervise every move our mobile baby makes in the kitchen? HELP! I know the baby is three months from being due, and it won't be for another several months before we REALLY need to worry about this, but it's never too early to begin planning!

Thank you in advance for your advice and opinion

Answer 1

if you're blest enough to OWN the house..get a barn door =)) seriously.... a half door.. locks on the inside where the Kitchen is but wee one cant open it :)) works like a charm...and you can see out

Answer 2

You could install a gate or better yet, how about a door? Kitchens are very dangerous places for little ones. You want to keep ALL chemicals up high far out of reach, not just in the kitchen, but the bathrooms and laundry room too. Anything sharp or pointed you want to keep out of reach too.

Also, no standing water. When washing the floors don't let the baby any where near the bucket. Keep the lids down on the toilet. When he/she is old enough he/she might try to climb inside and fall in. Never leave the baby unattended in the tub or on any surface higher than the floor. Babies will roll off the edge and fall. Keep all cords out of reach and do put the caps into your electrical outlets to prevent shock.

Best of luck to you.

Answer 3

Buy a gate and keep your little one out of the kitchen. You need to do some rearranging in the kitchen. Move things to a higher level. I have a gate to keep my little one out of the kitchen and out of the stairwell. If the entrance to the kitchen is pretty wide, you will have no choice but to buy an expensive gate. I bought a cheap gate for the stairwell for $20 and it is very reliable. All it takes is one second to look away and for your child to get into something that he shouldn't have. Don't run the risk of having your baby taken from you because you were irresponsible. I wish you the best of luck.

Answer 4

We always kept our knife block on the kitchen counter and our daughter is now 3 and has never once tried to grab a knife. From a very young age I would have her sit on the counter with me and help cook, I would explain that a knife is sharp and can hurt her and that cutting is a mommy job. We kept most of our cabinets unlocked and never bothered to put in gate on the kitchen. I keep Tupperware and cans in the low cabinets and jars and dishes in the upper cabinets. We did lock the cabinet under the kitchen sink because that is where we keep the garbage. We keep the cleaning supplies on a high shelf above the washer and dry - there is no way I would take a chance with poison (I know little kids who can open cabinet locks). If you do decide to gate off the kitchen, I would still recommend having some kid friendly space because your little one will want to be near you when you cook. try to keep a shelf for him/her with plastic bowls measuring cups and spoons, and a wooden spoon kids love to pretend that they are cooking just like mommy.
We bought a gate that worked great for our living room (we have a lot of blown glass) it was fairly expensive but worth it because she never knocked it down, eventually she did climbed over it. Our gate was expandable so it worked with the wide opening to the room and used a pressure system to stay locked in place (no screw holes).

Answer 5

Invest in the gates that you actually install with screws into your wall. The way your kitchen sounds your best bet is just to make it a completely baby free area. If at some point your child figures out how to climb over the gate you may have to double gate with one on top of the other.

If you decide not to gate you could get one of those sensors that businesses have that sound when someone walks through the door, then just install it at baby level.

Answer 6

Yes, you should get a gate and keep him out of the kitchen. We have cabinets and my son still gets into everything.He just has dicovered the pots and pans. Now you can't even walk in the kitchen because there are always pots and pans in the floor. It's funny but very annoying. You may have to put some things up as they will grab things in a split second. I have to be careful not to put a knife or anything too close to the edge of the counter because my son like to reach and grab and take off running.

Answer 7

buy a gate and keep them out totally.
they sell the barriers for the doors to prevent kids from getting into the room, also buy cover for the plugs cause they love to stick little things in plugs and get shocked.
The gates are quite reliable, and I never had problems with any.

Answer 8

the wooden gates are not worth the money you spend on it but do consider another type and just to be extra percautious go to walmart and buy draw locks.They even have comode latches and things like that just check out all the baby security items they have you will be impressed.