Baby Proofing in a Montessori Home

We seem to live in a culture obsessed with safety, or at least I do. There seems to be a million different rules for how to keep babies and young children safe in our dangerous world. And, incidentally, a product you can buy to make your world a safer, better place. Baby proofing has become a whole industry of toilet locks, bumper pads, locks, and covers.

This can be sort of a challenge for Montessori families. Montessori emphasizes the freedom of movement, the need for young children to explore and manipulate their environment, and generally just trusts kids with "dangerous" objects {like knives, or working tools} from a much younger age than most mainstream parents. In Montessori, it is the adult's job the prepare the space to make it safe and accessible to children, not our job to place roadblocks to exploration in our home.

But, this doesn't mean that Montessori homes don't take precautions to keep babies safe. But, it has to be balanced with these other Montessori needs. So, how do we baby proof in our Montessori home?

For us, the answer is balance. We both want to keep our children safe, but give them freedoms. I have become aware of what I call "the commercialization of safety." And, therefore approach many baby proofing products with a skeptical eye. There are so many places trying to sell us something to prevent some "hazard." I really evaluate whether the risk is something I need to prevent, or if it is just meant to help avoid an adult inconvenience.

Must-Haves 

With that in mind, I have some must-haves in our home. These include:

• Accessible electrical covers - we have changed as many of our electrical outlets to include built in covers. These outlets keep a baby from getting electrocuted if something was stuck inside the outlet, BUT allow a toddler or older child to plug an electronic in without needing assistance or removing a bulky cover. 
• Furniture anchors - anchoring tall furniture to the walls so that it wont tip if climbed. 
• Baby Gate (kind of) - we have one set of tall, steep stairs which we gate, our other smaller stairs are not blocked off. 

You can also see some specific safety steps we take to baby proof with our Montessori floor bed. 

Things We Skip

Now, everyone will have to make specific decisions for their own family, but we choose to skip:

• Cabinet locks - instead we opt to move dangerous chemicals/medicines up high or in locked boxes. And, yes, that sometimes causes a mess, but for us it's more important that our children have access to practical tools and the ability to explore than to lock things up. We simply remove anything we don't want touched. 
• Bumpers - we skip things meant to keep our kids from bumping their heads or bodies. 
• Toilet Locks/Fridge Locks - basically any lock that keeps your kids from using every-day objects 
• Door Covers - I don't find them necessary, again I see it as my job to just remove anything I don't want explored and to set my kids free in our home 

Once again, specifically what you need to do to baby proof will depend on your comfort level and your home. It will depend on balancing freedom and safety. But, instead of placing the burden on your child to avoid things, shift that burden to yourself to prepare your environment in a way that allows your child's natural development to unfold!

What baby proofing items are must-haves for you? 

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