Yesterday, I spent the day with some dear friends of mine who just had their first kid.  He's was born Friday and as we were hanging out we got to talking about baby-proofing.  I haven't done a lot of it, though I have installed some of these devices for a long-term care facility so I'm familiar with some of the hardware.

One of the problems with baby-proofing is that there is a lot of bad info out there and a lot of it is coming from companies that compete with each other for market share.  I've tried to wade through some of it and come up with a few things I've used or things that just made sense to me.

The main concern of most parents seems to be electrical outlets and there's a dizzying array of ways to child-proof them.  From my childhood, I think we just learned that sticking metal into outlets was bad by doing it a few times.  (Ouch!  That hurts.....Maybe it was just a fluke....OUCH!  Nope.  Maybe if I hold it differently...OUCH!  Maybe I should try finding something to drink under the sink instead.)  I think the plastic covers were around as well and they seem to work, though a few sites I read said that babies will pull the plastic covers off and choke on them and then stick their fingers in the exposed outlet while they are choking and now your baby is dead because you're a bad parent who wouldn't spend a few dollars more for a superior product.  (As a strange side note, there aren't that many companies out there making this stuff, so you'll see a product that won't kill a baby like a lower cost item put out by the same company that also sells the lower cost item.  Either their ads are lying or they are really heartless.)  For the money, I'm going with the plastic plug covers on this.

The other big one is baby-proofing the kitchen drawers and cabinets.  I think my mom's way of baby proofing the kitchen was to keep us out until we were two and then put us to work when we did come in.  (Just kidding, Mom.)  The product I like here are the magnetic releases where you move a magnet over the surface to unlock the drawers (check out Tot Locks).  They are simple, easy to use and require both special knowledge and a special tool.  The plastic catches work well too, though the small gap they provide might seem like a raccoon trap to some people.  If anyone here has something they've really liked or hated, lemme know in the comments.

Another way to solve the low cabinet problem is just to empty the out for a few years or fill them with stuff that won't hurt a kid, though after reading the list of hazards, you'd basically have to coat them in Nerf, pump fresh air into them with the exact oxygen ratio they require and find some way to take out the gravity.

As for all of you, what's the best piece of advice you can give, baby-proofing or otherwise, for a couple of new parents?

One of my recent projects was replacing all of the 100 year old double hung windows in a house with new windows.  During the project, I also had to rebuild a pass though, which was also single hung.  I love these old windows because the mechanics are so simple yet so over the top compared to most things we see in homes today and the last literally for a century.

For those of you who aren't familiar, a single hung window is a window that sides up and down and has the ropes or chains on the sides that run over a pulley and to a counter weight inside the window trim.  A double hung window is the same type of window but where both the top and bottom panes move.  They cause problems in homes these day for one of a few of reasons.

The first main complaint is that they are drafty, which makes since most of them were installed before the advent of rubber, so sealing them just meant wood on wood.  100 years of paint jobs and the house moving around tends to make those seems a little less tight.  You can get weatherstripping for them which will solve most draft issues.

The second problem is the windows get stuck.  The main cause of this I've found is just exterior paint.  Use a utility knife to cut the seam and your window should be able to move again.  Occasionally, you'll also have trouble with the rope that holds the weights.  The ropes are easily replaced with a couple of quick steps.

You'll need to remove the interior window guide, that piece of trim that rests against the interior face of the window.  I like to remove both sides, but sometime you only need to remove one.  Next, the window should come out towards the inside.  The ropes will still be holding it and you'll need to remove the rope from it's track on the side of the window.  The knot on the end should keep the rope from falling back into the wall which makes life easier, though if it does, all is not lost.

Now that your window is free, there will be a small panel on each side of the window frame in the track where the window runs.  It should be held by one or two screws.  You can open this and access your counterweights.  If it's not there (or you've lost your rope inside the wall cavity) you can also access the weights by pulling off the trim.

At this point if you haven't already, pick up some rope to match the size of the rope that was in your walls.  Some hardware stores will actually have rope just for this purpose.  If not, anything smooth without a lot of spring will do nicely.

Now you're ready to run the new rope.  I like to tape my new rope to my old rope and pull it through that way.  If you've lost the rope in your wall, you can try feeding it through though most likely you'll need something more rigid like a coat hanger to snake it.  Make sure you tie the new rope off securely to the counterweight so that when the weight is touching the bottom of the cavity, your rope is just poking out the top.  Tie the second knot and slip that back into the sides of your sash and put the sash back in the window.  Put all your trim back up and you're all set.