How much freedom do you give your 1yr old at home?

Question

Do you let him/her walk/crawl everywhere? Or just in one room? How are they contained? Do they get into things?

Answer 1

it really depends on the set of up your home and where you spend most of your time. when my kids were that young they had free run of the downstairs areas (the kitchen, family room and dining room) with the exception of the downstairs bathroom and laundry room. I found baby gates worked very well at that age (they don't start trying to break them down until about 2, lol) and for rooms that I really preferred them not to play in I would close the doors (if they had doors), turn off the lights, and remove ANYTHING that looked like it might be "fun".

also, if you keep the approved rooms stocked with entertainment items (toys, books, etc.) they will be more drawn to function in those immediate areas.

Above all, make sure that your house is child-proofed and no matter where they go they should always be supervised (mine could find trouble in a padded room if given enough time, space, and opportunity! lol)

Hope this helps,
Good Luck and God Bless!

Answer 2

My twin 14 month olds get into everything so we put everything out of reach for them. We keep them out of the kitchen with a baby gate and keep them contained in the living room and hallway by locking all the bedroom and bathroom doors. We have lever style door knobs so we switched the knobs around so the locks are on the hallway side so we can get in and out of the rooms, but they can't since we just lock the doors from the outside. We put dining room chairs over the hearing registers on the floor so they don't walk around with the vent and then put toys down the ducting. We have a baby gate to use going into the hallway if we need to walk between rooms without their help. As long as you secure EVERYTHING and keep an eye on what they are interested in and make changes accordingly they can pretty much go anywhere. BUT, they will or are going to start climbing soon so you have to secure any item out of their reach so they can't climb up on something and then reach whatever they want to. It is a full time job, but you don't want to restrict them too much.

Answer 3

I never contained my kids, though my mom tried (and still does with the younger one) to pull the pack n play in the living room so they can stay in there. I tell her to put it back, than she takes the couches off the pillows and tried to confine them with that! She's a trip!

Anyway, no, I don't. They have free roam. I do keep the bathroom doors shut, I don't like the baby in there. My oldest in a boy, and sometimes his aim is not that great. I do wash the floor in there often, but you never know! Other than that, off they go. I have taught them to ask mommy and daddy before they go to a new area, place, room. This way they (mostly my older one) don't wander off with out telling anyone. Once they get the OK, off they go to explore. They have great Independence and use much caution when exploring. I'm also not one to hover over them all the time, I always make sure I can see them where ever they are when we are out of the house, but enough distance where they can be independent.

Well, this is my story! Congrats on your baby and enjoy parenting to the fullest!

Answer 4

with my first i tried to gate him out of the kitchen away from my room and the bathroom.
when i moved when he was 15 months old i only had one baby gate.
So it was at the stairs and the kitchen was open... for the first 3 weeks i couldnt keep the pots and pans and tupperware in the cabinets... i didnt fight him on it.
After the three weeks he never bothered with it again..it was somthing new that he couldnt do before.
Of course i kept the bathroom off limits till he was potty training with my supervision. Its not fun taking your toilet off the floor because a toy is stuck in it. ewww
For him the gate at the stairs came down when he was over 18 months old... i'm thinking 20 months?

With my second child she has always had free roam of the living room kitchen. and i never had to go through the OBSESSIVE tupperware and pan playing(yet). When we go upstairs she is allowed in the bathroom if i am with her(maybe she wont break the toilet if i do it like this)...she and i share a room, so of course she is allowed in there and allowed in her big brothers room.
the only place she isnt allowed is on the stairs unless i'm following behind her.

my son was into everything all the time.
my daughter isnt.(yet)

Answer 5

The more freedom you give, the more independent they will be. My stove doesn't have knobs, and all cleaning products are in the garage. My water heater is turned fairly low so when my kids wash their hands, they can do it alone without me worrying about them getting burned.

Never let a quiet second go unchecked. When they're quiet is when they get into something you forgot you had. I've given up on baby gates. My son was able to break them from the time he started walking.

Answer 6

A 1 yr old should be under constant supervision... You should be there every sec they are "loose"... If you have to use the bathroom then place them in the play pen.

It is the unsupervised babies that knock their front teeths out on the coffee table and such... get in the bathroom and make huge messes with your dangerous cleaning supplies that are "safely" in the vanity.

Empty out the pans in the kitchen the sec you need to use the bathroom.... why set them up??? They have a natural inquisitiveness and will ALWAYS use it when adults are not around... heehee

iS JUST THE NATURE OF THINGS SWEETIE

Answer 7

I let him go pretty much wherever he wants. Within reason of course. I keep the bathroom closed and my bedroom closed, but other than that he can go anywhere. I find the more freedom I give him the less trouble he tries to get into. I used to not let him climb onto the table and he wouldn't stop trying to get up there. But since then I've let him a couple times with supervision and now he doesn't care about it anymore.

Answer 8

My one year old was allowed in the kitchen and family room, the rest of the rooms were gated off. Well, I should say he was allowed in other rooms, but only if I was watching him like a hawk. I childproofed the kitchen and family room so he could roam and explore pretty freely and safely. I had all cabinets in the kitchen locked except for two, and I had my pots and pans and tupperware in those so that was ok for him to play with.

Answer 9

My daughter had complete freedom, and I watched her. If I needed to go to the bathroom or take a shower, I took her in with me and closed the door. When she was 14 months old, we moved to a house with stairs, and used baby gates at the top and bottom, so she was then limited to whatever floor I was on.

Answer 10

You don't let them crawl near stairs that go down. You can contain them with a gate on the door, close the door or put them in a play pen. Don't let them get in the cupboard where you keep cleaning products or they will drink them.