Help Me. Please. - Page 3

**conradd** · #81 08-10-2007, 01:58 PM

Oh my. Pippa,

for you and more margaritas.

What kind of window do the boys have in their room? The lock outside the bedroom door is good, but a kid like Bug . . . I have a nephew just like him, so I know what you mean. Great kids, but they see safeguards as just one more challenge in life and a puzzle to solve.

I know a woman who left her kids watching TV in the living room while she took a 10 minute shower. They burned the house down. Not bad kids, just no impulse control and they were curious about the matches they found behind the cookbooks ON TOP of the refrigerator. For some kids, danger is a magnetic attraction.

You have my complete sympathy.

*emeleel* · #82 08-10-2007, 02:18 PM

**pippadaisy**[$] · #83 08-10-2007, 02:34 PM

ANd here you all thought I was KIDDING when I said they'd burn the house down...

We have ONE thing to light candles/grills with. It lives in a secret location that changes on a regular basis. It also has an additional child lock to slow them down.

We are doing better with the gates. The older three go right over them, but Butter hasn't figured them out yet. I figure I bought myself a week to plan...

frazzledspice · #84 08-10-2007, 06:29 PM

I'm not sure exactly how old Bug is, but the best course is to put as many obstacles between him and the road as you can. That's what we did when we moved into a house with a built-in swimming pool when our youngest was an infant.

He sounds like he keeps you "busier than a one-armed paperhanger," as my mom used to say.

**hadassahchana**[$] · #85 08-11-2007, 09:17 AM

I remembered one of my more frightening clients when I was thinking about this last night. She had two of the most horrible children I've ever een. They weren't just impulsive, they were intentionally destructive. There wasn't a wall, cupboard door or doorknob which was intact. Most of her trouble came from no discipline and not childproofing her home. I mean, I did not buy #2 a set of real tools when he was four.

Anyway, in childproofing her home for drugs, matches, etc., she had drawers with combination locks installed in her kitchen and bathrooms, and locking storm doors on many of the inside doorways. I always liked the storm door idea except for the expense, and drilling holes in the oak doorways of my home.

Really, this age passes. #2 was the worst at age 3, there was some improvement by the time he was 4, and by the time he was 5 his wildness was not quite as dangerous. Usually.

jenninca · #86 08-11-2007, 09:45 AM

I think I need some of those ankle things. Connor has figured out how to get out of the shopping cart, the small stroller, etc. I do have a pair of shoes wit shoelaces though - I might have to try that out.

**jgibson2**[$] · #87 08-11-2007, 11:23 AM

Quote:

jenninca said

I think I need some of those ankle things. Connor has figured out how to get out of the shopping cart, the small stroller, etc. I do have a pair of shoes wit shoelaces though - I might have to try that out.

I have to get to the fabric store on Monday. I'll make 2 sets. One for Connor and one for Butter.

**Helen_B**[$] · #88 08-19-2007, 03:50 AM

I have to put in a good word for harnesses. The Mothercare one is the best, but even the old zip up the back one kept my daughter from running out into the road every time we walked along a busy street. I used the harness to keep little people from toppling out of the frame back pack, and from climbing out of the high chair. I used the harness with a walking lead to keep toddlers from falling or wandering off. It worked much better than hanging onto a little wrist and possibly dislocating an elbow or a shoulder in case the little one tripped, or suddenly stonewalled by going limp. The only problem was the comments of people who thought the harness was barbaric.

**hadassahchana**[$] · #89 08-19-2007, 09:11 AM

Helen, do you remember why we bought the Mothercare one? #2 unzipping the zipper one himself like a greased eel and running away from me in a parking lot?