Product recommendation: hearth pad

[Jackson's Dad]

We are in the process of baby proofing the house. One of the things the kid is drawn to like a magnet is our fireplace. It's a raised brick hearth, and goes through the wall between two rooms, so twice the fun. He makes for it every time he crawls -- something about its rough surface just screams out "climb on me".

We spent some time looking for something that could cover it, to give him a little protection. The best we found is the Kid's Edge Hearth Pad. Most hearth pads stick the brick with some double-sided tape. We've heard that these don't stick well, and pull off very easy. Then when it is time to remove them, you need to spend a lot of elbow grease removing the sticky stuff from your brick.

The pad we found actually attached to a metal brace that tightens around the hearth -- a simple screw on one end pulls the two pieces together. No muss, no fuss. Went in fast, sits tight, and is easy to remove. And it doesn't look too bad either. It is 2-3x more expensive that the regular stuff, but it actually works, so I felt it was worth the extra money.

Kid's Edge Hearth Pad (http://store.yahoo.com/kid-smartliving/kiedheguprpa.html)

[Don-Dad]

I have the gate, http://www.kidsmartliving.com/kidhearbabsa.html It's more expensive but does the job :)

[Jackson's Dad]

The gates do look nice, but the sizes just didn't fit well for us.

Louis, you win points for ingenuity, for sure! I thought of doing something hand made, but our fireplace is so central to our family room and kitchen, and he crawls to it so much, I decided to go the easy route and pay someone else to fix it.

[tt3]

"remember, if they can't find you handsome, at least they find you handy."
-Red Green

[Awwc]

ducttape is the best in a pinch.

I have probably 3 used rolls lying around the house in various rooms. One time my friend (no kids) came over and through the course of the evening finally piped up

"Sooo ...What's with the ducttape?"

"Babyproofing."

He just laughed.