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Safety of lo when under your feet whilst cooking! Tips pleas

I keep meaning to ask this but I was just wondering how you all manage cooking with a toddler under your feet, I just don't know what to do with zachariah as he refuses to go and play on his own and I'm petrified of him reaching up to the hobs/pans or pulling at the oven door! I am standing by the oven so it's not like I let him wander on his own but I am well aware it would take a split second for something to go wrong............ Thanks
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  • Well we don't have the oven problem cause its high up but when cole drives me mad I take his trousers and socks off and sit him by the sink with his feet in it and turn the cold tap on. He loves it - i'm guaranteed at least 10 minutes of peace while his feet get dripped on. Or I've been known to put him on the side (depending on what i'm doing) and give him a cloth to 'wipe the side'. Keeps him occupied for a few mins.

    Not sure if thats what you were after as an answer though image

    SEriously though you can get some kind of glass thingy on an angle that you can put on your hob to keep lo's away
  • oh yes it drives me mad when i'm trying to do stuff in the kitchen and noah is clinging on to my legs. even when the oven isn't on if you're trying to move around carrying plates, knives, hot pans its a nightmare trying not to trip over a child. my answer is i go to work every day at 3 and when i get back at 6 my hubbys cooked tea and fed them. ha ha. seriously it depends on your kitchen - could you put a baby gate across the door of your kitchen or is your place open plan? if its open plan do you have a playpen? we used to use our travel cot for that reason and bung a load of toys in it. my hubby normally puts noah up on a chair or in his high chair so he is out of the way and can see whats going on. it makes noah happy because he thinks he's that much closer to getting his tea! i sometimes open the back door so noah can potter in the garden - he's always a lot calmer when outside.
  • Thanks Kia, I wouldn't dream of putting zachariah in the sink as I can guarantee he'd end up on the floor within seconds heehee
    Julesy LOL thanks loadsa help haha, the only time oh cooks is when we have guests and he's showing off and he's blooming useless at entertaining zachariah whilst I get on with it.
    Garden does work quite well but playpen or gate would be a disaster as he'd just scream the place down ( is that too much of a pushover reason?) ....... Hmmmmmmmm
  • lol - noah screams at everything at the moment - he kicks up a right fuss if he doesn't get his own way! he was funny today though he had a tantrum and threw himself on the floor but because he was outside he made sure he lay his head down gently which must be a first! it was quite funny as it completely ruined the image of him losing his temper!
  • LOL that must have been hard to be mad at, no question that he knows what he's doing though haha! Thankfully we're not at the throwing self on floor dramatics yet but do get a lot of screams and tears at the thought if not being the centre of attention or being left alone for oooooh at least a minute!
    Came to the realization that baby 2 is due pretty much just in time for zachariah being 2- I reeeeeeeally hope terrible twos doesn't happen in my house or I may well have to pack the whole thing in LOLimage
  • I have taught Floyd that the oven is hot and he wont go near it he just points at it and says hot he's the same with radiators and the gas fire (I dont do safety lol never had stair gates or fire guards have just taught him that not everything is safe) i do have a gate to the kitchen tho so if he is being reall clingy then i can shut him out although if i put the music channel on the tv or give him a toy that usually sorts it as he loves music and dancing. A bowl of water on floor often works wonders but trying to get him to do something else is an entirely different matter!!!

    For the last week or so we have been having tantrums about almost everything, this morning i asked floyd if he would like breakfast and he chucked him self on the floor and screamed, after breakfast i asked if he would like to play with his cars and again on the floor rolling around screaming ??????????????? so have decided im not going to ask him anything from now on as i would rather have some peace lol he has also started grunting when he wants something and its a really ridiculous sound that drives me mad ARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH

    Haha Oh well such is life eh???

    xxx
  • im gonna have this problem more when we move as our living room & kitchen is open plan. Im planning to get a playpen/come room divider. That way, you can put the room divider across a whole wall and hopefully he wont feel too trapped. At the moment i often put Elijah in his chair seat and give him some paper and pens, or make bubbles with washing up liquid and put some toys and bubbles on his tray-kills 5 minutes x
  • I have a safety gate up, Bren does sometimes kick up a fuss and have a screaming fit but to be honest I just ignore him and he usually stops pretty quickly! He has his toy box near the kitchen doorway in the living room so he normally ends up playing with his toys while I cook dinner and chat away to him. I now have to have Jacob in his bouncy chair in the kitchen with me as Brendans enthusiastic kisses can get a bit rough!!!

    I have in the past stood Brendan on a chair and put some luke warm water in the sink with spoons etc for him to play with and as Kia says it keeps him entertained for quite a while! I only do this when I am standing next to him chopping veg or something though. xx
  • oh bless - bren's quite pleased with his new baby brother then! zach can still be a bit overenthusiastic even now and his hugs are more like strangling!
  • Liz, my Alfie was nearly always in the kitchen in his bouncer as a baby. Loved it, warmth, foody smells and high up out of Charlie's reach!

    Most of the time now, Gracie plays with Alfs n Charlie while I cook tea, but if she's in with me, it is a nightmare. She empties the tin cupboard (smashed a jar of coffee the other week) and takes the plastic plates oput of the cupboard and outs them in the sink. helpful, but not!
  • lol-Elijah gets everything out of cupboard too its really annoying. He carried round this plastic tub of honey and is obsessed with oxo cubes lol!
  • well we had a door gate on when fin started todderling but we took it away as he is good and knows the oven is hot and same as heaters etc... he picked it up as everytime he went near it i would very dramaytically gasp and go ooo hot owch and now he can tell if hot and goes near and puts hand out to say owch but doesnt touch! i can get away with putting cbeebies or thomas and he'll sit and watch could you not try that it's a godsend!!!
    the other thing is give him a pot and pan and spoon etc and let him bacng and play on floor or highchair - the crayon thing is quite good at mo and some paper!!!

  • Well I tell zachariah things are 'hot' and he just doesn't seem to get it, even with coffee I've brought his hand to the mug and said hot, he pulls away only to want another feel!
    Is zachariah the only one that can't cope any length of time on his own? I know it might be sight related or maybe me pandering to his every need but I don't get a seconds peace from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to sleep, am actually really struggling with it ATM!

    Liz that's so cute that bren is loving his little brother. image
  • No, you're not the only one with a clingy baby! Gracie more often than not wants to be with me, not the boys. Esp now as she's poorly, can't get anything done.
  • oh no believe me your not alone with clingy child........... fin can play a bit on own sometimes or watch telly but he is obsessed with me at the mo and litrally climbs all over me and actually hurts me in the process so then i get annoyed!!!

    x
  • You mean there are people that don't have clingy children?! The reason I discovered the sink keeps cole quiet was desperation when i was trying to pack stuff to go to a bbq and he wouldn't stop clinging to my knees!! Usually he just wants to be with me in the same room - can't even leave him in his bedroom long enough to have a shower otherwise he screams his head off.
  • i've mastered the shower thing - our bathroom is downstairs very annoying usually but actually quite handy at mo... i put on a thomas dvd and shut stair gate and then shower with door open sometimes he'll wonder in and peep around bath or winge a bit but other times i get out and hes still stood basically in the telly watching thomas!!!! god i sound like bad mummy all this telly (i promise i'm not that bad he is out playing etc more than watching it but i'm the bad example i'm obsessed with telly so always on!!!!

  • I'm quite lucky in that Brendan is not clingy although sometimes it would be nice if he was! I took him to nursery on Friday as a kind of introduction meeting with them and to let him play there for an hour or so to see if he is ok as he is due to start there for two days a week in August. I put him down and he went straight off with the nursery assistant and other children and was totally happy even when I went and had a look around the nursery and had a good chat with the supervisor. In fact when I went to find him he did not want to come with me and made a real fuss kicking and screaming!!! Don't think I will have any problems when he starts in August!!!
  • Coles clingy in that he wants to be with someone but he'll go quite happily off with my parents/friend/ to nursery etc - even had a paddy a couple of times when it was time to leave nursery! I think he's just more sociable than me and likes to be around people at all times lol.

    If Ig ot off my slack backside and got a tall stairgate for the top fo the stairs I could probably manage cole in his room with the gate open and let him come in and out of the bathroom while i shower - I tend to bring him in, give him his toothbrush and just shower quickly and hope he doesn't pull the shower screen back too many times lol.

    Cole's handy hint for other lo's to occupy themselves in the kitchen while mummy is washing up - take top off, put in washing machine,s hut door, open door, take top out, cry at mummy to put the top back on, repeat a further 2 times, take top off, whimper till mummy puts it back on, repeat, stand right between mummy and the cupboard so she can't reach the washing up bowl, steal the pan scrubber, shove mummy further out from the cupboard, fuss to be picked up to go on the side, trash the hob (no it wasn't on), whimper to go in the sink while mummy rinses bottles, pour water all over self, make big puddle on floor as water drains off when lifted down.

    Cole also likes to empty the cupboards - he's a big fan of pulling out the washing liquid and fabric softener bottles nad trying to set off the washer, and he likes to empty out his plates and bowls. Drives me nuts picking them up again
  • I don't really have an answer, but i also have the same problem.

    My older girls, Erin 6 & Hayley 4 can sometimes listen and leave the kitchen but i hate cooking with Paige around.

    I'm paranoid when i'm boiling potatoes or cooking pasta or rice and i make sure David has Paige in the lounge when i'm moving about the kitchen.

    Shell
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