Guest Author - Kris Bigalk
As twins transition from crawling to toddling, they get into everything! Here are some "twin-proofing" ideas that have worked for our family.
Pop It Up!
When the twins were smaller, we used small plastic containers for their toys. We used a Rubbermaid plastic hamper for their dirty clothes. Now, these containers have turned into hazards. The twins dump them out, climb on them, throw them, and push them across the floor. What a mess, and a hazard! Our solution to this problem was to buy several pop-up hampers to store toys and dirty clothes in. We use a smaller hamper for small toys, and a large one for dirty clothes. To stop the twins from dumping out the clothes hamper, we fastened it securely to one of their cribs, using straps and velcro. The smaller hamper's flexibility makes it hard for the twins to dump it out entirely, and impossible to climb. Aaah. One less thing to worry about.
Screw It!
Diapers tend to pile up when you have twins. This became a more literal truth when our twins figured out how to dump out the wastebasket in their room. Ick! We don't have time to keep loading and reloading a Diaper Genie. Besides, the kids could roll that around the room. Instead, my husband got out his drill and electric screwdriver and mounted the wastebasket on the wall. We considered screwing it directly into the floor, but vetoed that idea. Now the twins cannot remove the diapers from the garbage pail, which makes for a much healthier, fresh-smelling room.
Tie It!
Our house has a lot of doors. Twins and doors do not mix. One twin will shut the door, potentially injuring their own or the other twin's fingers. Now the twins are at the age where our doorstops had become fun toys to throw around (more about that in the next paragraph). To prevent this type of injury, we used a home-made baby proofing device: a blanket. I rolled the blanket into a long tube shape, and then wrapped it around both knobs, tying it in a knot right where the strike-plate is located. The knot prevents the door from shutting completely, in turn preventing pinched fingers.
Sort It!
Toddler twins are learning all kinds of things. One of these new skills involves launching hard objects into the air, usually directly at their twin. To prevent these types of injuries, separate the twins' toys into soft and hard. If one twin is going through a "pitching" phase, limit the twins' access to the hard, small toys. Be sure to talk to your twins about the behavior, too—even if you think they don't understand what you're saying. Setting limits later will be easier if they know it is not OK to hurt their brother/sister.
