Childproofing Stairs and Cabinet Doors Without Drilling

My husband and I refuse to drill anything. Our daughter is 14 now but we do have 3 dogs that I limit in areas of the house.

We use a pressure mounted baby gate we got from Toys R Us. Also, Petco sells some gold gates that you can connect for a run outside but we use them in areas of the house as well. They fold kind of accordion like and fit in doorwarys, etc.

As for cabinets, I never proofed them. I had 1 cabinet in my kitchen that was "hers". She learned early on that this was her spot. It was filled with plastic bowls, spoons, usual noisemaker pots and pans things. This worked well for us.

On a couple of cabinets I needed her to stay our of, I used the plastic links (toys) to link them and she never messed with them.

I'm with your hubby...don't drill.

A pressure mounted gate is fine for the bottom of the stairs - but there is none that are suitable for the top. Why will your husband not drill?

There are some cabinet locks that loop around the handles, but my favorite are Tot Locks - which do require drilling.

We've got the pressure mounted baby gate and it works fine. We also found some magnetic cabinet latches that just stick on - no screwing - I think they're made by kidco - I bought them at Babies R Us. We've only had them a week but so far they're awesome - and so much easier to install. Good luck!

Leave your husband at home alone with daughter for a whole entire weekend. Tell him you will come at the end of the weekend and not a minute earlier unless he has a drill in his hands! :) Let him follow her around for a while.

You can keep lower cabinets shut by wrapping a hair tie or rubberband around 2 cabinet knobs that face eachother. I don't think anything is safe for the top of the stairs besides something drilled into the wall. For the bottom of the stairs you can buy a tall baby gate if you have a door frame to pressure it into. This will at least keep her from going up the stairs without you.

Remove any dangerous items from under the counters until she is older. You can put a doorknob cover over doorknobs to keep her out of the bathroom, but, guests and inlaws may not shut the door behind themselves so just put the stuff out of reach for now.
They have cabinet locks that hook on the handles if your handles are not too far apart. If one happens to be, make it a cabinet she can get into. Pressure mounted gates can be put in doorways and I put one between my bar and cabinet leading into the kitchen. I wanted to make sure when I was cooking something that my dd couldn't wander in there when I wasn't looking. You are just going to have to drill in for the top of the stairs, no way around that one unless you move. As for your husband and not wanting to drill, let him watch your toddler from the moment he gets home and see if he changes his mind.
btw, I haven't ruined anything that I have drilled into. They make wood filler to fill any holes that will show and you can stain or paint it.

another thought...is there a way to make a form around the posts at the top of the stairs and then drill into those?

We have a extra tall pressure mounted gate at the bottom of our stairs. No gate at the top because it is only a bonus room and baby doesn't go up there. We have never had any problems even though they say to use the ones that bolt to the wall, but I would use this type at the top if I had to have one there, too. We have the type of cabinet locks that stick to the inside doors of our cabinets. They work great until your toddler learns how to open them. If your child is above a year don't even waste your time with cabinet locks, just move everything dangerous up higher and clean up the mess for a while. It doesn't last forever. Trust me, I'm going through it for the second time as we speak.

website: www.kidco.com preasure mounted gates for the bottom of the stairs only b/c they may give and you don't want your little one to fall down the flight of stairs...
At the top just block of a baby safe room while you are up there with a gate in a doorway for just enough time to get what you need to do done.
store in frisco might also carry them to see them and not pay shipping: in Frisco: lone star baby and kids: www.shoplonestarbaby.com
babies r us may carry the kidco gates as well. They are a little pricey but i just used the special one for the stairs... and bought a baby trend mesh gate for another room... good luck!

They have, or at least they used to have, gates for across a door way that are spring-loaded so no drilling is involved. Also, for your lower cabinets and drawers, they have several Safety First items to choose from that you can get from either Babies-r-Us or www.safetyfirst.com...if nothing else, only keep plastics, cookie cutters, measuring cups, etc., in the lower areas so there is nothing that will hurt the child, but gives her lots of safe fun...