Accident prone baby

Jacob's edging round furniture, and is just starting to bridge the gaps between, for example, the chair and the couch (scary... he'll be walking before I know it). Trouble is, he's... well, fearless would be one word you could use... stupid would probably be another. The amount of times he's gone down on the ground and smacked his head on the corner of something is just silly (he has a neat little line of bruises along his forehead to show for it). Until now, I've just sort of being accepting the fact that the odd knock will come with learning to walk - but just before he came a cropper and knocked his front tooth so it bled. He won't let me near it, but I don't think it's wobbly... still, it stikes me that he could do himself some real damage.

What do you do? Remove everything but the squishy lounge chairs from the house? Hover over him every second of the day? Both those don't seem very realistic, but he seems to be able to find a way to damamge himself on anything! I'd love to know what you did, so I can decide if I'm being a bit careless or whether it's not likely he'll actually lose a tooth or knock himself out!

I think you just have to get used to it or you'd go mad. At that age they do have bruises on their bruises especially the forehead.

I used to try and stop him getting up high, to a height that could really hurt him i.e. the dining table/bench. Also make sure that they can't climb up furniture to windows which could be opened (and then climbed/fallen out of).

I moved furniture so that the couch they jump on isn't next to the french doors so they don't jump through the glass. We screwed the bookshelf onto the wall so he didn't pull it down on top of himself while trying to climb it. check they can't pull tv's down on top of themselves.

I know people who taped towels around sharp edges to protect them. I also know a lady in Sweden who made her toddler wear a soft helmet (rugby headgear style).

If there are particular corners that keep on getting him, you can get soft edges for corners from bunnings or similar alongside the cupboard kiddi locks etc. I never got round to getting any and she seems to have mostly got over the stage now. It's very normal to go through a bruised stage, even though it can be terrifying at times!

I had to take her to a plunket check up looking like she'd been soundly beaten up and my PN looked at me a little sideways when she asked the "are you still safe from family violence?" question and I had to tell her that yes we were, we just live with a very mean coffee table

DS was/is the same. He trips and topples all the time and seems to always have a bruise on show. He's had a few whoppers but as others hsve said, he's learned pretty quickly and is now a bit more careful though I do remind him often.. If I got a dollar every time I say 'be careful' each day I'd be rich! I remember having to take him to a Plunket appt with a bit of a black eye.. I was so worried how that looked!