Baby Proofing Your Kitchen

Before you buy any product, decide whether the kitchen is open to your child during cooking or closed off. Both setups can be safe, but they need different equipment. An open kitchen needs comprehensive cabinet locks, stove knob covers, oven door locks, and a habit of pot handles always turned in. A closed kitchen needs a reliable doorway gate and consistent enforcement so no one props it open during a quick trip in and out.

Many families discover the closed-kitchen approach works better when both parents are cooking or when an active toddler makes counter-level supervision difficult. The gate is a single, reliable barrier rather than a dozen small interventions.

Not every cabinet needs the same level of protection. The under-sink cabinet — typically home to dish soap, dishwasher pods, and cleaners — is the highest-stakes cabinet in the room. It deserves a strong magnetic lock or a lockable storage box for the contents. Cabinets with knives, glassware, or sharp tools come next.

Lower-stakes cabinets can sometimes be left unlocked deliberately. A pots-and-pans drawer or a tupperware cabinet keeps a toddler busy while you cook, and the contents are heavy but not dangerous. Choosing one safe cabinet to be the kid cabinet often reduces interest in the locked ones.

Front-control gas and electric ranges put burner knobs at toddler height. Knob covers add friction that prevents accidental ignition or heating. Pair them with the consistent habit of turning pot handles inward toward the back of the stove, and never walking out of the kitchen with a burner on.

Oven door locks become useful once your child is tall enough to interact with the door. They prevent a curious toddler from opening the oven during preheating, when the door itself is hot enough to cause burns. Built-in oven controls usually have a child-lock setting on the touchpad — check the manual and enable it.