The first time we considered actually child-proofing our home, our daughter had already reached the age of 19 months old. We lived in a charming cottage that was 500 years old, complete with slate floors, tiles, lots of sharp edges and a rickety staircase. It wasn’t until she nearly fell down those rickety stairs that we invested in a stair gate.

Our plug sockets were uncovered, our coffee table remained a hazard, in all its modern, sharp-cornered glory and don’t even mention the lack of a fire guard on the huge log-burner.

Looking back, it was a mixture of luck, constant vigilance and much “No, no, no! Hot, hot, hot!” that kept our bouncing baby safe in her first few years of life. Continue reading »