dont feel ashamed for asking!!! i have a tip that i use as i only have one low kitchen cupboard the rest are where lil hands cant get them and if urs are door/door handles i tie a tea towel through them and they cant be opened easy by lil hands, also plug outlets safty plugs can be bought for really cheap in the supermarket if u want to be sure nothing gets poked inside them!! i dont know what to say about the door gates for a idea other than the real thing as u dont want them climbimg on something u have put in the way, i know big w sells a wooden one very cheaply, other than that just make sure u keep things out of there reach and tie up cupboards that u dont want opened and keep toilet and bathroom doors closed while bubs is awake, and check the corners of your coffee table to see if they could cause a prob if bub falls and bumps his head on one, u can buy table corners or im sure u could make ur own just buy getting an idea at looking at the ones in the shop, also taking a look arounds the kids safty items might give u some ideas of things you can do at home with the things u have!! hope this helped

~ Proud mum to my girls

~ Whitney

Hi, instead of the expensive door locks, I use double sided velcro. Its heaps cheaper and you can do plenty of doors with it. As your bubs gets a bit older, they might learn to pull the velcro off, but my little one knows that if the door doesn't open straight away, its not worth the effort. You just cut two little bits of velcro and stick one on the door and the other one directly opposite, then cut one long bit of tape (leave the backing on) and stick it to the two bits on the door. Hope that helps! - i also use rubber bands/hair ties on the bathroom and bedroom door handles.

~ Naomi

One thing I've found useful is EBAY. If you do want to buy a doorway barrier or gate try getting it second hand. They are usually in pretty good condition and at least 1/2 the price - especially if you can pick one up in your local area instead of post/delivery. Another thing instead of barrier/gates is long cardboard boxes, keep them together and fold in 1/2 over the doorway and put a chair or something behind to keep in place - at my place we bought one barrier and keep the other doors closed! Cheapest option Our bub doesn't have the option of being in the kitchen very often which made things easier too.!! We also put things onto higher shelves - re-arranged furnishings a little so things were 'out of reach'. We still found little fingers kept changing our T.V. so my hubby swears by the the thick black electrical tape to cover it up and stop this - I was trying to teach bub 'no, don't touch' but there is only so much of that you can take in one tv program!!

Have other things around that bub KNOWS that they can play with. Mum alwayslet us use her tupperware and pots/pans cupboards for us to play (nothing could get broken or could really hurt us) but all other cupboards were known as  NO-GO. Enjoy the crawling stage .... things get more 'fun' when they can stand and walk!!! (If you know of another toddler who can walk, 'borrow' them for an hour or so.... you'll soon find out just how baby proof your house is/isnt and what needs to be done!! It'll give you a heads up and time to get there before your own bub is up to that stage) Hope these ideas help a little

~ Lyndal

hi, as for the doors and gate i use to use a piece of ply wood it always worked for me. if all else fails i use to go to the op shop and buy the old wooden fold up cots. which by the way is illegal theses day. well i use to cut the sides dwn to fit in my door ways and them put them in and they worked to hope this helps u. as for power points i have things in front of mine that my kids cant move its always worked for me. i put my cleanin products in the top of my linen cardboards and my corkery up in a high cardboard.when cookin a roast i used one of thos old fire place gates in front of my stove that puts a stop to them. just look at op shops u would be amazed wat u can find for very little money. I hope this helps u

~ Beck

Hi, the most budget baby proofing hint I can give you based on my own personal experience is that you just teach your baby not to touch things that they shouldnt touch. Now, when my 'Now 2 Year Old' started crawling my house by no means did my house look like a display home with all sorts of vases and things out on display....but there were things she shouldnt touch and were potentially dangerous. 

The only thing we did was take the knobs off our tv unit drawers and wine cabinet etc so she didnt pull the drawers out (her dad was insistent on this and wasnt gonna budge!!).  If there was ever anything she shouldnt touch - we would just tell her that she couldnt.  This is a very good thing to do because then when you visit other peoples houses and there are no kids, they are not going to run around and put all their 'untouchables' away and safety lock all their cupboard etc.  So, at these houses, we say just tell her 'No' or we might push something out of her reach and after a few visits she knew not to touch it.  You cant get any cheaper than that ;-) My 2nd girl is almost crawling and Im looking forward to the fun all over again and I might have to use some of these hints too because its not one size fits all so good luck with your baby!!

~ Another day in paradise