Preparing the house..

[elliellie]

Hi, I'm just wondering what people do to their houses to prepare them. I've got plug socket covers, stair gates, padded bits on the corners of the coffee table & cupboard locks but that's it at the moment. How fussy are Ofsted?! Are plants ok on the floor? My TV is free standing, I haven't got a wall I can put it on & there are a lot of wires behind it but its quite hard to get to them. What have other people done to prepare? I have a crawling baby & have moved small objects & things I really don't want him to get but really I just have to watch him all the time as everything is a potential hazard at the moment! Do I need to lock windows? Any tips much appreciated!

[cathtee]

Hi, have you got a fire with or without a hearth, if you have I was told that it needed guarded even if not on as the corners were a
hazard if fallen on, my tv is freestanding only comment was about the wires from socket they needed to be tied together to stop
them being pulled out of socket. Hope this helps:thumbsup:

[Tinkerbell1979]

Hi,

All I did was put a gate on the kitchen as I have said cm kids are not allowed into the kitchen, now cupboards/drawers have locks on it there and they were find with that.

I already had a stair gate top and bottom as have a 2 year old. I put socket covers on and tbh just had a major tidy up and put away all my crap, lol, you know that 'pile' we all have lol. My tv is free standing, don't have a fire place and just informed them that radiators had a thermostate could control on each one.

My inspector for pre-reg was lovely. Yet to have the proper inspection (dreading).

Good luck

[rickysmiths]

I have never used socket covers, there is a thread on here about how dangerous they are and Ofsted no longer expect to see them but you need to RA why you don't use them. There is a Policy in the Free Downloads.

I have a large kitchen diner with double doors from the dining room into the playroom. I had a new kitchen two years ago and vowed I would not put door locks on any of the new cupboards and I haven't. I am lucky and I have a separate Utility room where all the cleaning stuff is kept and I have a little self adhesive door alarm in that door. If I had to keep cleaning stuff in the under sink cupboard I would use one on those doors. The children are never in the kitchen area unsupervised anyway. Ofsted were fine about it all when I was inspected last Sept.

I have a free standing TV and as long as they can't get at the wires at the back there shouldn't be a problem, remember it is only relatively recently that you can have wall mounted TVs.

You should have stair gates on the stairs. Fire guard around any hearth. A generally uncluttered floor space with nothing that would be hazardous of babies or toddlers.

[dawn100]

Others have mentioned about needing a fire guard, I have a woodburning stove which I didn't want to have hidden behind a fire guard as it is the main feature of our living room and is not practical when in use as you need to keep topping it up with wood, I explained how it would not be in use when minding and when it's cold it is harmless to kids, the hearth however is a risk but I bought clevamamma bump cushion and they blend in and look like part of the hearth, lady from ofsted was very impressed and even made a personal note about them in her diary.

[angeldelight]

Others have mentioned about needing a fire guard, I have a woodburning stove which I didn't want to have hidden behind a fire guard as it is the main feature of our living room and is not practical when in use as you need to keep topping it up with wood, I explained how it would not be in use when minding and when it's cold it is harmless to kids, the hearth however is a risk but I bought clevamamma bump cushion and they blend in and look like part of the hearth, lady from ofsted was very impressed and even made a personal note about them in her diary.

Ive also never used a fireguard ever.

Look at the dangers in your home ,ra them and be ready to say you are aware of any dangers and how you will deal with them,explain children will be fully supervised and if you don't have gates ...which I dont either,or fire guard or anything else you think you might need....explain how you deal with any dangers snd how you deal without those things in place

Good luck

Angel xx

[SarahJellybean]

Others have mentioned about needing a fire guard, I have a woodburning stove which I didn't want to have hidden behind a fire guard as it is the main feature of our living room and is not practical when in use as you need to keep topping it up with wood, I explained how it would not be in use when minding and when it's cold it is harmless to kids, the hearth however is a risk but I bought clevamamma bump cushion and they blend in and look like part of the hearth, lady from ofsted was very impressed and even made a personal note about them in her diary.

Wow I have never heard of these fireplace edge cushions but am very interested! Have looked on ebay and at £20 seems better than a fireguard to me! Can you tell me more about it please?

I do have a fireguard but it's in the garage, I have an electric fire which is unplugged and never used, the hearth thingy is wooden though with quite sharp corners. Just would like to know a little more about the cushions and then will probably buy them! Thanks :-)

[silvermist]

Hi, I have a fireguard as there is a small gas fire in the playroom. I do use socket covers in the playroom although I have read the thread about them. The large windows and doors in the playroom are toughened glass and I have stair gates to stop los getting into kitchen. Hth xxx

[dawn100]

The clevamamma bump cushions are made from thick foam about 1cm thick and my 7 yr old ds has kindly tested them out by tripping up and falling head first onto the corner and not a mark on him! (He's rather accident prone if you could hurt yourself he will, he ran into a glass door on the weekend at a party and made a full length crack in the door and a massive egg on his head!) my only advise is make sure you use plenty of the sticky tape when fixing them. I got mine from argos in a beige colour but think you can get them in a dark brown from other places.

[LauraS]

I don't have socket covers either. Don't forget things like securing front door, garden gates, dangerous stuff in shed, tall bookcases etc which might topple if climbed. Windows should be safe - that depends on what furniture you have in front of them, the nature of the opening mechanism etc. Mine aren't locked downstairs but couldn't be opened from the outside by an intruder or from the inside by a child younger than about ten. Plants - the floor standing plants might well be chewed or have the mud messed about with. I have two one year olds and would.definitely move them! I would also look up the type of plant to find out if it was toxic and, if so, get rid entirely.

[elliellie]

Thanks for all the help, it's been really useful. My little one has just started crawling so that is helping me to see what needs moving too! I had no idea about the socket thing either! I just assumed socket covers were a baby proofing must!