It was baby safety weekend at Casa de Hagy.
Seven short months ago we put in our very first safety item, the cat door to the basement. Dad, Matt, and JR installed that the day after we came home from the hospital. With it we can keep the basement door shut but the cats can still get downstairs to use the litterboxes.
Since then we haven't done much. But now that she looks like she's going to go mobile pretty soon, safety has come to the front of my mind.
When I was at the little Babies R Us by the mall earlier this week I noticed the fireplace guards were on sale. The prices were $28 for the fireplace guard and $17 for a table guard. It seemed expensive so I skipped buying them until we could go to the big Babies R Us and look at everything all at once.
I'm glad I did. JR had an idea to stop at Vater's to see if they had pipe insulation that we could use for the fireplace instead. We bought some and it worked out great. They also had a cord cover for the nursery camera (which amazon had for $22 and Target had for $29). Our total was $5 and some change. So we saved $45+ just by using our noggins!
It's a good thing we saved that, though, since baby gates are expensive. We bought a portable gate that we are planning to use at the top of the stairs, or where ever we need it, and a hinged gate for the bottom of the stairs. With the stairs being front and center in the living room I decided it's better to be safe than sorry. Especially since I leave her in the living room sometimes while I'm in the kitchen. And since I leave her in the nursery while I clean her diapers a gate for the top of the stairs seemed like a good idea. I hear they can get into trouble pretty quick while you're not looking.
Installation of the hinged gate was quite the adventure. We bought one that can attach to a banister since that's what we have. It was a bit of trial and error but we ended up pretty much abandoning the banister attachments. It's mounted to the wall and locks shut with the carabeener from JR's rock climbing gear. There was probably a cheaper way to do it but we've decided to stick with this one since it's installed.
To top off our safety tour we bought outlet covers for the downstairs and the accessible areas upstairs, and corner guards for the coffee table. The table is pretty pointy and right next to where she plays. My hope is that this way, if she falls, it will be just a glancing blow rather than a skull fracture with brains oozing out.
Next all we need to do is lower her mattress in the crib. But since she can't sit up by herself yet I'm waiting on that one as long as possible. For the health of my back. And so I can keep leaning in to give her kisses. :-)
Now she can go mobile anytime she wants.
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