- my iParenting
- quick clicks
- moms today articles
- moms today q&a
- community & groups
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
From Our Sponsors
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Safety in Numbers
Corralling Twins and Keeping Them Safe
By Alexandria Powell
Gail Norris has 19-month-old twins – and a rather bare dining room. "We have no chairs around the table," says Norris, a resident of Gaithersburg, Md. Her dining room had been childproofed, but no one had thought about the chairs.
"One day I was coming from the kids' bedroom after putting some clothes away, and when I turned the corner into the dining room, I found my son standing on the dining room table dancing, and my daughter climbing up via a chair," Norris says. "That was the day that all four dining room chairs were moved into the formal living room, behind the safety gate."
Look both up and down when childproofing, Fierro says. First, get on the floor and see things from the children's eye level. Then, don't overlook the higher areas of the home – areas kids can access by climbing. "Multiples are infamous for climbing!" Fierro says "They'll climb furniture, pillows, toys, even each other."
"I got down on my hands and knees and inspected everything," says Karen Spring, a New Jersey mom of twin boys. "All cleaners and other poisons were put in the laundry room on a high shelf; knives were put into drawers that were unreachable and such. But I still got cabinet locks for all of my kitchen cabinets, except for one, which I stocked with fun kitchen items that the kids could play with and which were safe – wooden spoons, plastic cookie cutters, oven mitts and measuring cups."
Spring used the same principle when childproofing her bathrooms. "I put all the cleaners away on high shelves in the linen closet, and put all of the linens under the sinks, so that if the kids got into those cabinets, they only had towels to play with," she says.
Norris hired a childproofing professional, and highly recommends it. "When I heard other twin moms talk about hiring someone to do this, I thought they were nuts," she says. "But as my kids became more mobile, I realized I just couldn't keep up with identifying and mitigating the risks in our house." She describes the professional childproofing as "a godsend."