Child-Proofing .... ugh

The child is getting into every drawer and cabinet her short little arms and legs can reach .... and our apartment is small so we have lots and lots of drawers and cabinets for storage of lots and lots of stuff.

Anyone child-proof a China apartment yet?  Clues as to where to buy the latches or locks or whatever?

And how does one say "bungee-cord" in Chinese?

  Clues as to where to buy the latches or locks or whatever?....."bungee-cord"...

Latches & locks from Walmart?  Or perhaps a Home Depot?

Bungee cords from a bike shop?

Yokie, I was able to get some of the child-proofing stuff (outlet covers, things to keep cabinets shut, etc.) at Leyou, the big baby chain here in Beijing. There should be something similar where you live. I haven't seen baby gates there yet before they have them at Ikea and I see them for sale a lot on the Beijing expat mailing list/discussion group.

We're pretty lax about the child-proofing as it just doesn't seem to be done here much. My husband thinks most of the child proofing stuff is silly, but he grew up in a village in the 70s and their idea of childproofing was locking the kid in a room while everyone else went out to the fields to work. I try to compromise and have done stuff like cover the sockets and put a lid on the toilet. We don't have bars on our windows so we also glued the screens shut. We don't keep big bookshelves because our son loves pulling books down, and our TV case is really low so that's not an issue. I think in China as parent you sort of compromise between the local relaxed attitudes (seriously, this past new year my husband was lighting sparklers inside our house -- in the bathroom with a wet floor, but still -- with my son!) toward safety and the more rigid Western ones.

Shanghai has this stuff, too. There are a number of surprisingly advanced (and astonishingly expensive ) baby shops along West Nanjing Road. High-quality imported Japanese Pigeon-brand goods seem a specialty.

Suzhou has a full-range baby supply company that works purely from a catalog, delivering all their sales to your door. They were good, with better prices than Shanghai.

These things can be had in China...it just helps to live in areas with a critical mass of foreign parents.
Elsewhere, I think foot-binding solves the problem.

We got some draw/cupboard latches from ikea as well as some corner protectors which were a complete waste of time and money as the kid just made it her mission to take them off again as soon we put them on. The electric mains covers are also a good idea as well.
Ikea had a reasonable amount child safety gear at ok prices.

If I may add something to this; when our kids got to the crawling stage, we tried a different method. Whenever one of the kids started with the opening of doors, drawers and what not, we gave a good stern "NO!"

It took a little while, but eventually we didn't need to put everything 3 feet above the floor. We also made sure there were some things they could play with. We gave them boundries, and it wasn't long before they caught on.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.  I will check the Ikea and Wal-Mart and B&Q ....

We have the table corner bumpers but like Noodles said, she pulls them off as quick as I can tape them down.  I'm assuming any type of taped-on latch will suffer the same fate.

If I may add something to this; when our kids got to the crawling stage, we tried a different method. Whenever one of the kids started with the opening of doors, drawers and what not, we gave a good stern "NO!"

I agree that "NO" is the best option, especially here in China as it will be impossible to child-proof everything.  We have covered all the outlets so that's not a worry.  And most of the truly dangerous stuff (cleavers, hatchets, axes, knives, etc.) are high enough not to worry.

But she has not caught on to "NO" other than realizing that word and interesting stuff are synonymous..... she hears "NO" and says, "wow, I must go in there to see what the fuss is all about".  And reverse psychology has not worked either!

 

My wife put largish rubber bands between the knobs on things, so little miss N couldn't open them. If they had no knobs she put one of those hook sticky things on each draw and then put the rubber bands on them

My wife put largish rubber bands between the knobs on things, so little miss N couldn't open them. If they had no knobs she put one of those hook sticky things on each draw and then put the rubber bands on them

Be careful with this, if the child ever gets strong enough to open it slightly, then little fingers can get snapped stuck like a trap

Chinese gramma stands over the baby 24/7. Child-proofing, doesn't seem to be common as mentioned.

By the time she got strong enough we had her trained not to do it.

Chinese gramma stands over the baby 24/7. Child-proofing, doesn't seem to be common as mentioned.

Yes, I think this is the real explanation. Chinese parents typically have lots of help, and I don't think a small child ever gets a millisecond not under the eagle eye of somebody.

Even Chinese adults  don't get all that much of such time...

Get a Nanny. They are golden for post partum depression and other things. 800-1000 kwai per month full time. Ours doesn't live with us and is there 7.30am to 7,30 pm. great for working couples.

 a bungee chord tied to the nippers leg will prevent them from wandering too far.

After racking up huge frequent flyer points at the emergency room with me, my parents rendered our home the safest in Western Canada for the arrival of my brother.  They tied doors closed with soft rope and simple granny knots; the same should work with drawers, if you tape the rope to the back of the unit.