Before Baby A started crawling, I was dying for him to! Silly me, I now know why it is so wonderful to have your little one in one place, he's everywhere!!! Before I lost my sanity I sat down and thought about what I could personally do to have Baby A entertained and able to crawl around as much as he wanted, and still know that he's safe and I don't have to fret about him being all over the house. Follow these 6 easy steps and you won't have to fret either.
Step 1: Baby Proof. Seems like a no brainer doesn't it? Well you really have no idea until they start exploring. Put safety plugs in every single outlet in your home. No exceptions!!! Cover the phone jacks with many layers of tape (unless there is such a think as a phone jack cover, someone please enlighten me!) and make sure there are no spare cords hanging out. Now that last one I will admit I am guilty of. There are a few things in the house with cords visible but I just make sure they're barricaded while Baby A is roaming. Also put child proof locks on your front door handle and your cabinets that contain dangerous cleaners and chemicals in them (ie; bathroom and kitchen sinks). Teach your child what is okay to touch and what is not okay to touch. Yes, they may be young, but they are very intelligent little sponges and eventually your message of "no" will get across. For example, we leave our shoes by the front door. Obviously shoes are dirty and your little one shouldn't play with them. To teach Baby A not to touch, when he would pick up the shoe I would gasp and say "No! Yuck!", take the shoe from him, pick him up and take him to his toys and play with him using his toys to create positive reinforcement. After about four times of "gasp, no, yuck, lift, toys", Baby A now leaves the shoes alone.
Step 2: Invest in some baby gates. Not to block off sections of the house because in my opinion, unless it's screwed into the wall, baby gates to block rooms off are pointless. They fall all of the time! At least mine do. But nevertheless invest in baby gates, I put mine in front of the TV stand to avoid Baby A pulling out all of the DVDs, I keep one blocking the garbage cabs and one blocking the book shelf. Honestly, it makes life so much easier having these things blocked off.
Step 3: Close all of the doors in the house that you don't want your little one exploring. I close all of the doors aside from his room, only leaving open the living room, front room, kitchen, hallway and his room open for exploring. That's plenty!
Step 4: Keep toys in every room in the house, including both ends of the hallway. Think of it like this, your baby is a little pirate searching for the treasure. If you reward them by having a few toys in each room then exploring becomes fun and encourages them to engage in quiet play time and eventually (when they're older of course) use their imaginations. "But my house will be a complete disaster!!!!" who cares? It's not like the toys are hard to pick up during nap time or bedtime. It'll take you 5 minutes to pick up at the end of the day, and give you so much more sanity throughout the day.
Step 5: Play with your child. Get on the ground, crawl around with them, chase them, let them chase you. The more you play and interact with your child the happier they'll be, the more it'll tire them out and prepare them for nap or bedtime and the happier and more sane you will be!
Step 6: Invest in an exersaucer or a play pen. Trust me, there will be times when you want them corralled and safe! Whether you need to vacuum the house, run out to your mailbox, or if you're using the oven, having something to put them in that's safe and can provide them entertainment will be a life saver.
I hope these six easy steps help you moms or expectant moms out there! Since I sat down and thought about them things have helped a ton with keeping me sane during the day and keeping Baby A entertained!
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