Advice for a soon-to-be father

[sabad66]

after reading the last few posts, so happy we didn't venture into the cloth world. The few bucks in savings does not seem like it's worth all the extra hassle. to each their own though.

we spend $32 per month on the big box of disposable pampers so that works out to about $384 per year... so for anyone else doing research i'd suggest using that number as a baseline for disposable when figuring out if it's worth it to go with cloth.

[nismodrifter]

Beyond fathers,

I seek advice re: baby proofing the home. Our boy is 9 mo old now and has begun crawling. I am looking for tips re babyproofing the home.
I would most appreciate your suggestions re specific items you have found helpful (Gates, cabinet locks, etc).
Stair gate is a big one, suggestions here would be really appreciated as I don't want to drill into walls if at all possible.

[ExtraSlow]

We had a company called "Little tigers" do a lot of the install at our house. If you want to pay someone, they are good. https://www.littletigerschildproofing.com/

They did the install of the magnetic cabinet/drawer latches, and I was happy with that.
Stairs, I ended up zip-tying a 2x4 to my nice wooden bannister, and then screwing the gate into that. Was nice and sturdy, and didn't fuck up the bannister. Other end, we screwed into the studs through the drywall, because that's easy to fix. We didn't like any of the friction-fit gates very much, and they aren't recommended at the stop of stairs for liability reasons anyway.

[AndyL]

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Beyond fathers,

I seek advice re: baby proofing the home. Our boy is 9 mo old now and has begun crawling. I am looking for tips re babyproofing the home.
I would most appreciate your suggestions re specific items you have found helpful (Gates, cabinet locks, etc).
Stair gate is a big one, suggestions here would be really appreciated as I don't want to drill into walls if at all possible.

First kid everything gets installed.

Second and third. Screw that crap! Sometimes you remember to use the safety slide lock on the under sink cabinet to keep them out of the cleaning chemicals

But you have no choice in any of it, it's mom's decision to use/not use

[Darell_n]

Dont be afraid to screw a gate into the walll studs. Kids will fuck up your walls over the next 18 years way worse than a few screw holes. Consider patching now a warm up for later.

[nismodrifter]

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Dont be afraid to screw a gate into the walll studs. Kids will fuck up your walls over the next 18 years way worse than a few screw holes. Consider patching now a warm up for later.

Yeah I've also been thinking this. House is brand new. I'm still in pre-fatherhood mentality lol. I have yet to accept that that shit will get wrecked/messy lol. I think zip tied 2x4 on stair post + secured into stud on other side is probably what is going to happen.

[ThePenIsMightier]

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Yeah I've also been thinking this. House is brand new. I'm still in pre-fatherhood mentality lol. I have yet to accept that that shit will get wrecked/messy lol. I think zip tied 2x4 on stair post + secured into stud on other side is probably what is going to happen.

Yep. Never a pressure gate, ever.
Oh, and get some actual door knobs instead of these evil levers that are in new houses

[tirebob]

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Beyond fathers,

I seek advice re: baby proofing the home. Our boy is 9 mo old now and has begun crawling. I am looking for tips re babyproofing the home.
I would most appreciate your suggestions re specific items you have found helpful (Gates, cabinet locks, etc).
Stair gate is a big one, suggestions here would be really appreciated as I don't want to drill into walls if at all possible.

Dude... Straight up... If you have any blinds with hanging lines, get rid of that shit or cut them off.

When my first kid was born I never thought much of it. My son was maybe 7 months old and started being able to stand and get around. I came home from work super early because I was sick as hell and layed down on the couch to nap. My wife snuck in the kitchen to wash a few dishes and I was sort of asleep and I heard a weird sorta gurgling sound. When I open my eyes my son had gotten to the wall and had his head inside the lines and the bottom ends tangled together and he either fell or tried to sit down and ended up hanging by his neck. He had turned purple and was on his way out. If I hadn't come home from work early and it happened he would have died. I got him out, he started bawling and his colour came back, I ran around like an idiot ripping all the blinds off the windows, sat down and fucking bawled my eyes out. Scariest thing ever to have shit happen to your kid like that and I wish nobody ever has to experience that.

23 years later and I still get shivers and fucking emotional about it.

[The_Rural_Juror]

Good thing you got there in time. They make them in single lines and cut pretty high now for precisely that reason.

[tirebob]

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Good thing you got there in time. They make them in single lines and cut pretty high now for precisely that reason.

Yep... We were the very first couple out of anyone we knew to have kids and were pretty young and naive and neither of us had family anywhere near us involved in the upbringing of our kids and as such, made a lot of mistakes in the beginning, but this is the one that woke me up to hidden safety issues.

In the words of Mad-Eye Moody, "Constant Vigilance!" (Yes I am a Harry Potter Nerd)

[ExtraSlow]

Oh yeah, the kids will fuck things up. Don't be shy about drilling into drywall/studs, that's an easy fix. your floors will get fucked too, carpet, hardwood, engineered laminate, anything, it'll get fucked. Just budget $20k worth of fixes when your youngest moves off to college.

[Disoblige]

I moved into a 6 year old house that had 5 kids in it. The hardwood is soooooo fucked up that I only did a recoat before I moved in to make things tolerable. Going to replace it all one day in the next few years.

They also had a brand new washer dryer that's only a year old and it's super scratched up (aesthetically).

Kitchen island is also super micro scratched and I wonder if it's possible to get it recoated...

[90_Shelby]

Do nothing.

You burn, you learn.

[The_Rural_Juror]

[schurchill39]

We did a baby gate at the top of the stairs and cheap child proof locks on any of the lower cabinets with glassware or chemicals. Besides that we tuck the the blind cords up now that he's a toddler but more out of fear he will break them. My house has a lot of stairs so as we were teaching him how to go down them properly the gate helped keep him away

[Darell_n]

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We did a baby gate at the top of the stairs and cheap child proof locks on any of the lower cabinets with glassware or chemicals. Besides that we tuck the the blind cords up now that he's a toddler but more out of fear he will break them. My house has a lot of stairs so as we were teaching him how to go down them properly the gate helped keep him away

Yup. Spent the first few years with each kid playing on the stairs with me. Thick carpet so no injuries and they mastered early on everything good and bad that could be done on them.

[Kloubek]

When our son was a baby, he ended up falling on the corner of one those wooden activity boxes. (The ones with the beads on a heavy wire, ect). He still bears the scar 8 years later. So my advice: Look for sharp corners around his level and take care of them with bumpers, etc.

[spike98]

Our second just turned 2 at the begining of the month. Both boys. First one was chill and didn't get into much. The second, well, he is the devil. That said, we gates and thats pretty much it. All of the bedroom blinds are stringless and we did some cupboard locks on the undersink cupboards in the bathrooms and kitchen.

Oh, we also got a door handle lock for the lever type handles for the garage/house door. It swings hard closed and didn't want him getting fingers chopped.

The important thing is to let them learn consequences and give them trouble when they are doing something REALLY dangerous. Else they will test and test and test.