Please people, STOP childproofing your homes!

Or stuff a lolly in their gob for some peace and quiet.

lisan23, I wish you had had more attentive parents. What if your daughter goes to grandma's (or someone's) house and they do not do the child-proofing? You should be working with her daily to keep her safe in the rest of the world. Bad parent? Not at all. Just a different view.

I didn't call anyone a bad parent. I have a few "child protections" up myself, I posted them up the page some. The kind of childproofing I'm referring to, is a knob stopper on every door, locks or latches on every cupboard(this particular family even has the pan cupboard shut off to the kids, and the kids games) They don't get down and help the child learn how to pick up their messes, instead they lock the cupboards, and if one should happen to get in, scold and send out of the room, while they clean up the mess. I've done the latches and locks, and learned through experience that my children learn quicker if they are exposed to some level of danger. They then understand why sometimes when an adult says no its for a specific reason. Other than simply trying to teach a child no means no because I said so.

Nope, I don't thinkyou're lazy. If you're taking the time to be with your kids, get down on their level, and teach them right from wrong, good from bad, than I'm sure you're an excellent mom! Keep it up.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one that sees it that way. I was kind of worried when I posted this that I would get all kinds of negative responses. So, thank you for validating me. And yes, there are some things that should be kept away until a child is old enough to comprehend. The lighter fluid for the grill is behind a locked door, as is the fertilizers for the grass, and such. And my knives are kept in an out of reach cupboard. But I'm tired of having to refold my towels every time a certain family comes to my home, and continuously get the kid off the couch so he stops dropping things in the fish tank. AARRRGGHHH

i would have to agree with you to an extent, when it comes to anything toxic or it is weapons, yes i think it should be locked up, however that is the ONLY time i think that making sure it is child proof. However when it comes to the cupboards or fridges, doors no, i do not agree with it.

Yup, and I am honored that you have carried on some of the teachings that you received.

I know. Where do you think I got the idea from? (wink wink)

I'm going to have to start another post to share all the "horrible" things my kids have done, or gotten into, just for you to read to know they are not "good natured" children. I don't believe such a child exists. They are born curious and rambunctious. It is our job as parents to help them to learn how to control those natural tendencies. My kids have made their share and more of messes an catastrophes. But my personal parental philosophy is that a child learns through their mistakes much more effectively than being told to follow orders. No, I would not rather my child get electrocuted, come on, I'm not a heartless moron, be real. My keys have a place that they belong. And since my kids learned to crawl and stick objects in holes, they have been taught to stay away from outlets and sockets, and exactly why. We watch educational programming all the time, and they've seen from a very early age what electricity can do to a person. From the hospital shows that show burn victims, to the science shows that experiment with things. The lazy way out, would be to plug the hole and say no no. My way takes much more effort, an not necessarily more time. I work outside my home, sure its only part time now, but there was a time I worked two full time jobs. Did I mention I'm in college? And did you read that I am a child care provider? I can't have my eyes on 11 children all at one time. But I know I don't have to with my kids, because even if they do get into something they shouldn't, or some type of catastrophe occurs, they know what to do. It's these other kids who aren't being taught that I have the issue with. Did I mention that this mother had been a stay at home mom for 5 years? She had plenty of time. Did I mention she's my best friend, and hates the fact that she takes the easy way out, she admits it. So get off your high horse and spend some quality time with your kids.

I'm sorry if I offended you, that was not my intention. And my intention for this discussion wasn't to start a battle of wits over parental philosophies. That's why I started it with a warning to read and respond with caution. This started as a RANT about a particular situation I am facing at this time. You made it personal in your response. My point here is about the difference between merely plugging and blocking things and trying to teach a child no means no cause I said so VS taking the time to educate a child about the dangers, so they can KNOW why things are not safe. If you tell a kid no, it is his natural response to try to figure out why. So blocking and locking forbidden things off, without any kind of reason, only encourages the child to explore those things when they aren't locked up. My second point, brought out by responses, is that quality time with your child helps you to understand them more. And the more quality time you spend with them, the more a person will realize that just about everything is a learning experience for a child. Maybe not always right from wrong, but non-the-less some sort of growth process. My parenting style is not the only right way to go. Every family is different, with different strengths and weaknesses, different living situations, and different faith beliefs. Again, this was a rant about a specific situation I am facing right now. And I also commented that the mother I'm referring to, admits she takes the easy way. And she hates it and wish she could do something to change it. As posting this discussion, I was hoping to share this with people with an open mind, and maybe enlighten some of those feeling the same way as my friend, or encourage some feeling the same as me. If you don't like what I have to say, don't read it.

Well I wasn't personally offended and some of the things your saying I totally agree with BUT I was just trying to point out that not all people see these safety things as a lazy way and for people to just jump and say its lazy no matter what they think isn't really making anyone want to stop using them. I myself only use the locks for cupboards as I said before because I don't want my kids getting into cleaners and in my opinion it's the same as putting your ornaments or whatever you don't want them touching way up high out of their reach. I participated in this discussion because I wanted to not just because I don't agree. I have not agreed with alot of discussion on this site and have not participated in tons because of it. I was giving my point of view as everyone does on this site.

If you read the entire discussion, you would know that I'm not criticizing all forms of childproofing, and that even I have the chemicals behind locked doors, or at least out of reach. Stuff does happen. My complaint is the parents who ONLY childproof their child's environment with no teaching or allowing the child to explore under supervision. This leads to more trouble than no childproofing at all. I don't child proof my home, I house train my children. Understand?