The baby is about to start crawling - baby-proofing the living room setup advice

[infiniteposse]

Hi all-

My son is about 6.5 months old and I'd guess he's got 1 month tops before he's highly mobile. We've begun to think through the child-proofing and one aspect of the house that needs to get sorted out is my small living room setup. I love to play in the living room as it's an open space with high ceilings and nice acoustics. It's just comfortable and a place I often end up writing good material.

So far I've narrowed it down to a small board - turbo tuner, strymon el Capistan and ODB fuzz and then my Carr Mercury. I'm planning on buying a cover for the Mercury that comes on and off when I want to play. Guitars are all wall-bound above the reach of the little guy. Cables on the pedal board are zip-tied.

Any tips on further steps to take? Is the idea of having a small setup in the living room that the spud can get close to just insane? Any stories to tell?

Any thoughts, advice, stories appreciated.

[dlmjr2]

My toddler totally destroyed on old tube amp I had that I used to leave in the living room.
I've also had the headstock broken off an acoustic. Get a little crappy setup that you don't have to worry about get broken.

[smolder]

Mine is an adventurous and very strong 11 month old. He hangs on the floor in the amp/guitar room with me a lot. I make sure nothing can tip over on him... No cords to pull on. My guitars stin in a 6x stand... Not individuals. Pedal board stays out... Nothing he can hurt and nothing there that can hurt him. All power strips are well away from his access. Oh, and I don't leave him down there by himself... Ever.

[DGTCrazy]

The electrical stuff HAS to go. Plug caps for everything on the wall. No amp plugged in. I am recently retired for the Fire Service, and can't tell you how many avoidable accidents occurred with toddlers/infants. Somehow the knob on a pedal got pulled off, swallowed and I'll save you the details. They get tangled in cords easily too.

The kid will lick, bite, drool, pull and push on everything within reaching distance. All my gear went into a room that was unaccessible to my kids. Drawer/cabinet locks (the plastic kind) were installed. (They will find the solvents, cleaners and stuff that looks yummy under the sink). Corners on tables, fireplace mantles, any sharp edges were covered in foam.

The worst was when they can figure out how to open a chest of drawers, and begin to climb up. The off-set weight will tilt the drawers causing the whole thing to fall over on top of the kid. I get weepy just thinking of those accidents, and how badly things have turned out.

As they get older, it's the bouncing on beds that are near a window that's open...especially a second story. I hated those calls.

[just_one_more]

I have to kids, 4 and 7. Biggest thing is just make sure he can't pull something on himself, wrap something around his neck, cover the ac outlets, small choking hazards. As far as protecting your gear, keep guitars out of reach or in a case. Stompboxes are totally fascinating to toddlers with the knobs and buttons. More likely to hurt the kid then the box. When they first start crawling it is pretty simple. As the grow you will know what to do as you learn about you kid, they are all different and some need more protection, and protection from. Worst thing that has happened to my stuff is dead batteries from my 4 year old plugging in stompbox in, but I am and was very safety aware. Old enough to know weird/unexpected stuff happens. It is all basic common sense stuff you will figure out as the kid grows the hazards change.

[mrface2112]

There's no such thing as baby "proofing". There's mitigation, but things will never be baby, or toddler, or child, "proof". I've got two boys, ages 2 and 5. I think i've about seen it all at this point, but i know they'll find a way to surprise me yet again.

So here are a few observations...

Observation One: Accidents WILL happen. It's not an if, it's a when. Kids are curious and they'll want to check things out. And the more you tell em "no", the more enticing it is. Soon, the phrase "uh oh" will strike fear in your heart.

Observation Two: Put away anything you don't want broken (or is irreplaceable). Guitars go in cases, cases go under the bed, in the closet, whatever. This goes hand in hand with Observation One. I have a pawnshop chinese epiphone les paul jr that i leave out every now and then. The kids DO play with it, and that's fine. The nicer guitars stay downstairs in the studio, and the 5 year old gets to come down every now and then--in which case, there is always an occurance of Obervation One.

In a living room like yours, i would bring my stuff out only when i wanted to play in that room--otherwise, accept the fact that little fingers will be in your stuff. That's just a fact of life now.

Observation Three: They want to be just like you. This should really be Observation One. You enjoy playing guitar and making music, and they will want to do that too. And since you do it with your guitar, that's what they'll reach for too. The sooner you can get them a guitar of their own, the better. My boys each have cheap Rogue ukes (got em for $10 each on their stupid deal of the day) and they love em. They call them their "guitars" and they both play them across their laps, strumming and singing.

Observation Four: Play music with them. Involve them. My boys LOVE having "band practice" (as the 5 year old calls it) with me. He's the band leader and singer. We have lots of percussion (shakers, bongos, tambourines), drums, harmonicas, piano, you name it. We'll strike up a little beat and a melody and the 5 year old will make up lyrics on the spot and sing something totally improvised that always has us in stitches.

Observation Five: They climb. They're little freaking spider monkeys. And they're frickin smart, too. The 2 year old is worse than the 5 year old, i think. There's no such thing as "out of reach". Your boy will learn to stack things to make a ladder soon enough. See Observations Two and Three.

Observation Five: Enjoy this time. Congrats, dad. There's nothing like it.


cheers,
wade

[lamenlovinit]

As a veteran of children, aka a parent, you just can't leave stuff out like you used to. Not just musical stuff either. When they get mobile things get complicated fast. As someone said pulling stuff onto themselves, or wrapping cables, but later on falling onto edges of amps, cases, stomp boxes. Heck the corner of an old school EHX box is sharp!

Seriously. Go to someplace like musician's friend. Get whatever line6 style computer interface box with decent modeling software thrown in (usually they have at least one under $120) and a decent set of headphones if you don't already have one. It's a lot easier to plug into that setup than to haul stuff out for short sessions.

Congrats by the way. You're on your way to a new adventure. It's a lot of fun as they get more and more mobile!

[itgoesto11]

Originally Posted by mrface2112

There's no such thing as baby "proofing". There's mitigation, but things will never be baby, or toddler, or child, "proof". I've got two boys, ages 2 and 5. I think i've about seen it all at this point, but i know they'll find a way to surprise me yet again.

So here are a few observations...

Observation One: Accidents WILL happen. It's not an if, it's a when. Kids are curious and they'll want to check things out. And the more you tell em "no", the more enticing it is. Soon, the phrase "uh oh" will strike fear in your heart.

Observation Two: Put away anything you don't want broken (or is irreplaceable). Guitars go in cases, cases go under the bed, in the closet, whatever. This goes hand in hand with Observation One. I have a pawnshop chinese epiphone les paul jr that i leave out every now and then. The kids DO play with it, and that's fine. The nicer guitars stay downstairs in the studio, and the 5 year old gets to come down every now and then--in which case, there is always an occurance of Obervation One.

In a living room like yours, i would bring my stuff out only when i wanted to play in that room--otherwise, accept the fact that little fingers will be in your stuff. That's just a fact of life now.

Observation Three: They want to be just like you. This should really be Observation One. You enjoy playing guitar and making music, and they will want to do that too. And since you do it with your guitar, that's what they'll reach for too. The sooner you can get them a guitar of their own, the better. My boys each have cheap Rogue ukes (got em for $10 each on their stupid deal of the day) and they love em. They call them their "guitars" and they both play them across their laps, strumming and singing.

Observation Four: Play music with them. Involve them. My boys LOVE having "band practice" (as the 5 year old calls it) with me. He's the band leader and singer. We have lots of percussion (shakers, bongos, tambourines), drums, harmonicas, piano, you name it. We'll strike up a little beat and a melody and the 5 year old will make up lyrics on the spot and sing something totally improvised that always has us in stitches.

Observation Five: They climb. They're little freaking spider monkeys. And they're frickin smart, too. The 2 year old is worse than the 5 year old, i think. There's no such thing as "out of reach". Your boy will learn to stack things to make a ladder soon enough. See Observations Two and Three.

Observation Five: Enjoy this time. Congrats, dad. There's nothing like it.


cheers,
wade

Wade- that is a great post! We have a 9 week old boy and are in the process of moving to Austin. My wife and I read your words of wisdom and took copious notes. Thanks for the insight!

[paulscape]

Buy a playpen

[Demioblue]

Originally Posted by mrface2112

There's no such thing as baby "proofing". There's mitigation, but things will never be baby, or toddler, or child, "proof". I've got two boys, ages 2 and 5. I think i've about seen it all at this point, but i know they'll find a way to surprise me yet again.

So here are a few observations...

Observation One: Accidents WILL happen. It's not an if, it's a when. Kids are curious and they'll want to check things out. And the more you tell em "no", the more enticing it is. Soon, the phrase "uh oh" will strike fear in your heart.

Observation Two: Put away anything you don't want broken (or is irreplaceable). Guitars go in cases, cases go under the bed, in the closet, whatever. This goes hand in hand with Observation One. I have a pawnshop chinese epiphone les paul jr that i leave out every now and then. The kids DO play with it, and that's fine. The nicer guitars stay downstairs in the studio, and the 5 year old gets to come down every now and then--in which case, there is always an occurance of Obervation One.

In a living room like yours, i would bring my stuff out only when i wanted to play in that room--otherwise, accept the fact that little fingers will be in your stuff. That's just a fact of life now.

Observation Three: They want to be just like you. This should really be Observation One. You enjoy playing guitar and making music, and they will want to do that too. And since you do it with your guitar, that's what they'll reach for too. The sooner you can get them a guitar of their own, the better. My boys each have cheap Rogue ukes (got em for $10 each on their stupid deal of the day) and they love em. They call them their "guitars" and they both play them across their laps, strumming and singing.

Observation Four: Play music with them. Involve them. My boys LOVE having "band practice" (as the 5 year old calls it) with me. He's the band leader and singer. We have lots of percussion (shakers, bongos, tambourines), drums, harmonicas, piano, you name it. We'll strike up a little beat and a melody and the 5 year old will make up lyrics on the spot and sing something totally improvised that always has us in stitches.

Observation Five: They climb. They're little freaking spider monkeys. And they're frickin smart, too. The 2 year old is worse than the 5 year old, i think. There's no such thing as "out of reach". Your boy will learn to stack things to make a ladder soon enough. See Observations Two and Three.

Observation Five: Enjoy this time. Congrats, dad. There's nothing like it.


cheers,
wade

+1! My experiences mirror these points.

Kids will be extremely curious about the cables, and the pedal switches. I would strongly advise for the board to be covered when not using, all cables kept securely, and the amp disconnected. Also, remember to get those power point covers. They stick their fingers into everything! It's worse when it's covered with drool.

Also, here's a tip: Before turning on your amp each time, check your knob settings. My son had a habit of turning all the knobs, so once I plugged in without checking, and almost deafened the entire household.

[mtndog]

You'll have to live with whether or not you allow him to access your amp and such - good luck - but you might find it valuable to go around the whole house with a video camera at his current eye level ( when he crawls). You'll probably see things you hadn't considered yet. This is best done before they start crawling, but could still be useful now.

[JimmyR]

My advice would be - just don't keep any gear in the lounge. It's only for a few years. You know those sharp bits of string at the headstock? They hurt! And it's unrealistic to expect a littl'un to NOT play with your lovely expensive pedals. I don't think pedals and drool go together. I'm not a believer in totally changing your house to protect the baby, as they should have some things to experiment with and find they hurt. But not my guitar gear!

[CyberFerret]

Don't leave anything less than 3 foot off the floor. Repeat - don't leave anything less that 3 foot of the floor if you value it. Children are extremely resourceful, not to mention quick, to get anything that looks interesting that is within their eye level, or above.

They will use drawers, shelves, boxes, anything at all as steps to get up to what they deem interesting. I have two boys who are grown up now, but we sure as hell were not prepared for when our first one started walking.

Things we thought were safely tucked away in cupboards - weren't.

[buddastrat]

I put all that stuff away. Can't take any chances, they will be curious. It only takes one time, to forget and leave a guitar chord out or something bad.. Or forget an outlet plug that's open. Baby proof everything and anything! I don't even use an amp at home for electric they still hear it and sing and bounce along, don't need to be blowin' out their ears either, even acoustically an electric is plenty loud for their little ears. When the baby's away, then you can go pull out all your stuff, and then put it all away. It's just like you're gonna teach them, put your toys away! So you gotta set a good example.

[michael patrick]

It's not only about keeping your gear safe, it's about keeping the baby safe. Amps and guitars can fall over on top of the kid.

And as others have mentioned, anything that is plugged in is a hazard.

Put the rig in another room and keep the door closed.