RE: kitchen cabinet questions
When DD became mobile, I reorganized all of my kitchen cabinets. I have half cabinets that she is allowed in and half cabinets that she is not. I don't let her in the cabinets with: heavy cookware that could hurt her, expensive things that would break my heart if they were damaged, glass dishes and Corning ware, small appliances, chemicals of all sorts.
The rest is fair game for her: Rubbermaid, Tupperware, aluminum pans, bowls of all sorts, etc. She will spend ages emptying "her" cabinets. Do the things get dirty (yes), is it annoying (sometimes), but it is also cheap entertainment (priceless).
I am fortunate to not need appliance locks. I have a double wall oven and my solution is that I just never use the bottom oven. She can't reach the upper oven, so I just only use the upper oven. Just FYI, my DD can definitely open the lower oven door and has on occasion. But if you expect to bake when your child is awake, then you will have to find a lock or NEVER leave the oven unattended.
We have the Totloks in our kitchen and I think they are the best locks. They are invisible from the outside and really work.
HTH,
Beth, mom to older DD (8/01) and younger DD (10/06) and always missing Leah (4/22 - 5/1/05)