Back in July of 2008 I wrote this post about Andrew and baby proofing the fireplace area.
Brian and I have been baby proofing our house for months, now that Andrew has mastered walking and climbing low objects. However, we were still struggling with what to do about our brick fireplace hearth.
We considered buying one of those specialty gates that go around it, but they are pricey. In the meantime, we simply blocked off the sitting area by the fireplace with our dining room chairs entwined like a puzzle. (Yeah, that was real attractive.) But our incredibly small Hercules always figured out a way to move the chairs or wiggle his way through them. Finally, I saw a perfect solution in one of those parent magazines sitting in the doctor’s office. A mom suggested using one of those an interlocking foam floor mat such as this one to cover the hearth. Brilliant. We tried it and I’m happy to say, it works! (At least until Andrew discovers how to disconnect it.)
That was almost four years ago, when Andrew looked like this.
Two years later, the baby proofing was done for John-Paul.
Now it is Matthew’s turn.
We needed to replace the floor mat and I wanted to find something that looked a little less “day care center,” trying to keep at least one room in the house free of toy overload.
I found this one in wood tones, which works so much better for us. The color matches the room and they don’t have the letters that the boys can pop out. We are very pleased with the results. They no longer sell the one I bought but Amazon has this one and this one, which are similar.
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Wait…you are supposed to baby proof a house?! Haha…I think the only baby proofing we did was put some kid locks on the bathroom doors and locks on the lower cabinets.
LOL! Well, we did not babyproof like we probably should have but that fireplace scared the heck out of me. It has this jagged brick on the edges that can cut a person open if they were to fall on or near it and the kids like to play there or climb up it. Hence, we needed some kind of cover. Whoever designed it must never have had kids!
What are the dimensions that you were working? Height from floor, width of fp, depth of Fp?
[…] Corners are the worst! There’s nothing worse than a mother’s gasping/lunging adults while their wobbly child falls anywhere near a corner…it’s just no fun, so lets avoid it. These Wood Grain Puzzle Pieces are the PERFECT solution for those sharp brick fireplaces. They pop off when company comes over and look just fine when the kids are around. Check out the original from Revolution of Love. […]
Did you use something to stick it to the fireplace? Glue? Velcro?
Hi Jessica. No, we didn’t use anything to make it stick. It fit perfectly and was snug once the puzzle locks were put together. It is possible that your child could grab the squares and detach them. My kids didn’t but if they had I’d probably use a little super glue in between the locking pieces to keep them in place. My youngest is now 4 but we still keep it up for friends who visit with babies.
awesome, i like this idea