Coffee Tables?

[glensgirl]

I am on the verge of buying a new coffee table and end table set for our family room. Right now we have a leather bench/ottoman that we got from Overstock, but one of the cats scratched it up within the first few days we had it. She wasn't clawing at it or anything, but she slid off and tried to stay on with her claws. Anyway, I digress. My friends/family think I am crazy for wanting tables with a little one who will be crawling/walking in few short months. But I need something to fill up our family room and it would be nice to rest a drink or snacks on something too.
Do a lot of moms go without any kind of table or do you just babyproof the sharp edges?
Thanks!

[emschwar]

We have a coffee table. We just put one of these around it:
http://www.safety1st.com/product.asp?productID=186

[glensgirl]

Thanks! That's exactly what I was thinking. I guess the table won't look pretty for a while but our visitors know we have a baby. :)

[pgbg]

I was going to post the same table cover. Yes it's ugly, but only temporary. DS LOVES to walk around the table, and now that he's walking without holding on, I'm glad that bumper is there in case he crash lands.

[Jenyfer9]

The only thing that I don't recommend would be a GLASS coffee table. Other than that, no worries!

[BusyBee]

I did not like the bumper pads and returned them, my DD would definitely be pulling them off. We have end-tables and a sofa table, and I put these edge cushions on them: http://www.totsafe.com/proddetail.asp?prod=1090.

I got the brown ones for my cherry furniture (our guests sometimes don't even realize it's baby-proofing material), and used double-side mounting tape to attach them very securely.
I know the tape will ruin the finish, so I put it on kind of upside down, and put tape only on the bottom of the table-top, so the bottom and side edge are covered. DD climbs under the tables, so she hits the bottom edge instead of the top edge.

I'm so glad our tables are round, too, and I don't worry about corners. (I got a couple of stitches in my head as a kid when I crashed into the corner of a nightstand.)

I also put it on her toybox, the normal way and with the corner cushions, because it's low and I'm not worried about the finish.

[emschwar]

When we got our bumper pad for the table, I read a lot of reviews. One thing that was suggested was to buy a smaller size than they recommend, or cut the pad and sew it back together so it's really tight. It's a pain in the butt to get on the table that way, but there's really no way for the kid to pull it off.

We went with that method, rather than the tape on variety, because we didn't want to ruin the finish of our table, even if it was from ikea.

We got the tape on ones for our basement coffee table (it's a really old target POS) and Noah could pull the cushions right off. The tape doesn't hold very securely. He was able to pull the tape on ones off easier than the bumper one. (Our tape on ones were the prince lionheart brand, if that makes any difference)

[Traciann]

Our coffee table is from pottery barn, and I haven't put anything on it to protect DD. She has bumped her head on it, but she has also fell against the moulding around our door frames which gave her a huge goose egg. Now that I think about it, she has hit her head on lots of things that I wouldn't have thought to protect, so I say get the coffee table if thats what you want.

[Brink]

We have glass coffee tables in both our LR and FR. One has sharp corners but that one is in the LR and so she isn't around it that often. The one in the FR is round and so she just runs around it. She has fallen a few times, but it's really not that big of a deal. Like Traciann said, they are going to bump their heads on all kinds of things. My philosophy is that I keep her from the things that will really hurt her and the other things I think she will figure out (but everyone is different).

Enjoy your new coffee table. But, be warned that anything on it within reach will end up on your floor!

[Daniel's Kitty]

I wouldn't recomend putting drinks anywhere near a cffee table with a mobile child. Your carpet will be pretty much ruined.
I stuck the coffee table in a corner for now so ds would have more room to play. Though now he climbs on top of it.

[glensgirl]

Thanks! I just ordered my tables today.
And i won't be putting anything on the tables while he is around. We are already very familiar with how much he likes to grab EVERYTHING in sight. It will be nice to have a place to rest a glass of wine after he goes to bed though. ;)

[Sophia]

I moved the coffee table out of the room when my older kids were learning to walk. It gave them more room to use the push walker and we avoided injuries.

[scubasam]

We gave up our coffee table and bought 2 of these wood storage cubes (although got ours at Target vs. this pic from PB):

http://a451.g.akamai.net/7/451/1713/0001/image2.styleinamerica.com/pbecimgs/images/products/200633/0004/img36l.jpg

They serve as storage for DS' toys and as tables for us when needed (we use them as tv trays when we're eating!) and we can easily move them to the side of the room when DS is playing so he doesn't hurt himself.