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Toddler Proofing:

Since your baby is growing up and is now a toddler, your house has been baby-proofed for a while now. What many people fail to inform first time parents of, however, is that there is a difference between baby-proofing and toddler-proofing. There are several main differences between toddlers and babies that make this true, and the most common and most prevalent are the following:

• Toddlers are taller—this means that they can reach higher areas, so the baby-proofing cannot stop at floor or coffee table level anymore.

• Toddlers can climb—this means that they can, and will, climb on anything and everything that appeals to them, and the less access they have to get up high, the better.

• Toddlers are smarter—babies get into whatever is in front of them. They don’t tend to wonder yet how things work. This means that a baby is a lot less likely to stick an orange in the dryer (to see what will happen) than a toddler is.

• Toddlers are more independent—this involves just about everything they do, they eventually reach that phase where they want to do it on their own. While this in itself isn't such a bad thing, it becomes very bad when said toddler not only wants to do something on their own (such as pour themselves a glass of milk), but also tries to do it without even letting you know.

• Toddlers are more mischievous—they not only want to see how things work and do everything for themselves, they also like to do things that they know they are not supposed to do. Amazingly, these little creatures can be the loudest, most talkative, most question-asking, most under-your-feet little people to ever exist, and they are like this almost constantly. That is, until they are doing something wrong. Then they might as well be asleep, because you are not going to hear a peep out of them.

• Toddlers are more curious—you thought that your baby investigated everything, that there was nothing in the room she hadn't yet discovered. You are wrong, and your toddler will prove it to you…just as soon as she can reach that shelf.

Combining all of these facts together (the more intense curiosity, the higher intelligence to be able to figure out how things work, being able to reach more things that they couldn't before, having a very strong desire to do anything and every thing they have been told not to, and being sneaky little people) requires that a house be child-proofed to a whole new level.

There are many latches you can buy to help keep your child safe from harmful products, and to keep your stuff safe from your child, including ones for the cabinets, drawers, toilet lid, refrigerator, and more. You will want to keep all the precautions you took for when your toddler was a baby, such as covering electrical outlets, and then add more. Anywhere that has something interesting up high should not be easily accessible at the bottom. For example, you don't want to have a small table at the base of a tall bookshelf. If you do, it is almost guaranteed that your child will be on top of the table trying to climb up to the highest shelf just as soon as they notice that it might be possible.

Keeping the most interesting things, such as Mom's make-up, put up not only out of the child's reach, but also out of their eyesight, as well, is an excellent idea. Your child will try their hardest to figure out a way to have those most wanted things, and just having them put out of reach doesn't necessarily always do the trick. It is best if the child has no idea where it is, that way they won't risk harm by trying to reach something they shouldn't have.

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