How to Babyproof Your Yarn Stash in 10 Simple Steps
If you’re expecting a baby, or are about to become a grandma or an aunt, this post on how to babyproof your yarn stash is for you!
Check out this video where I share 10 tips on how to babyproof your yarn, or keep scrolling to read more!
I’m a mom of four littles under 6, and so I have a lot of little hands in and around my yarn hutch, where I stash my yarn.
As knitters, we have a lot of sharp things in or near our soft squishy yarn that can be a problem for little curious people.
Sharp scissors, yarn needles, and pointy knitting needles look like drumsticks to a toddler, or a weird all natural pacifier to a one year old.
Not to mention all the small choking hazards, like stitch markers!
Betcha didn’t realize you wield such dangerous weapons in your yarn stash, did you?
In all seriousness, I just had my fourth baby and also have a 19 month old walking around, so it was time for me to revisit where and how I store my yarn and see how I could better babyproof the goods.
Because I don’t know about you, but keeping my yarn hidden away completely means it’s going to get forgotten about in a hot minute. Mom brain!
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Why I don’t hide away my yarn, and you shouldn’t either
When you tuck your yarn away in closets, that’s really inconvenient.
Not just inconvenient, but hiding away your knitting and letting too much time go by without practicing your skill is awful. Knitting is a skill! A really cool one passed down for generations.
Think of all those times you get a minute to sit and knit. Usually tiny snippets of the day as a mom, right? But they’re out there.
I don’t know about you, but as soon as I get up to look for something and come back to sit down, my toddler comes to check it out and the baby wakes up, all at the same time.
That’s why I keep my yarn tucked in a yarn hutch right in our living room. Keep your friends close, guys!
How can I keep my kids busy while I knit?
My favorite things to keep the kids occupied are play dough and reusable stickers. These are pretty open-ended toys that get their imaginations engaged and they don’t even notice when I slowly fade out of playing with them and into my knitting.
One of my sister’s tricks, which is brilliant, is to introduce the same reusable stickers by the window. Instant window clings!
I don’t have kids. Can’t my friend just tell her kids to stay out of my yarn?
Yes, yes she can. And she should.
But if you want your friend with kids to feel relaxed hanging out with you and come over again, lessening the amount of chasing her toddler through your house will help.
Fact: Moms with little kids prefer going to houses that are at least a little bit babyproofed.
What if you don’t have a hutch or something with doors to babyproof your yarn?
Before we moved to this farmhouse two years ago, I stored my yarn and supplies in IKEA cubes and on shelves up high, so I get it.
Having a door for an “out of sight, out of mind” factor is preferred, but let me let you in on a few secret hacks when you don’t have that option.
11 Steps to Babyproof Your Yarn
1. Don’t underestimate your kids
In our old house, I couldn’t fit my entire stash up high on shelves, which is a whole other yarn decluttering session.
But as a first time mom, I thought, “how much harm can my toddler get into with yarn?” So I left a small box of Sugar and Cream yarn on the floor under the shelf.
I bet you can guess what happened to that poor yarn.
It was all so tangled together that I couldn’t set it free without cutting knots out. My little, innocent one year old is the reason for my much simpler Sugar and Cream yarn stash. RIP, Seabreeze.
Don’t assume your baby won’t get into it, just because she hasn’t…yet!
2. Store yarn in something babies and toddlers can’t open
Even if you don’t have somewhere up high or closed doors for your yarn, there are ways to store your yarn supplies that kids can’t reach.
Plastic storage bins with locking sides take a good couple years until babies have the small motor skills to open them.
I also use an old storage ottoman I got from Target years ago. It’s cheap, and it’s amazing.
You can put current projects you’re working on in the ottoman. Or, make it the knitting project time out spot where your WIPs go to die, like me!
Either way, it’s hidden away where she can’t even see it.
Once a baby becomes a curious toddler or preschooler, you can still prevent easy access by sliding the ottoman underneath a coffee table or chair.
Or, plop a tray or bin on top of the ottoman and she’ll be too set on breaking into that, that she’ll leave the ottoman guts hidden inside.
3. Make your yarn part of their environment
The plant. The spice cabinet. The vent on the floor. The dog’s water dish. What do these all have in common?
They’re things in my house that my toddler got into relentlessly for about two weeks.
I seriously spent my mornings following her back and forth from the spice rack in the kitchen, to the other side of the house where the plant was.
It was exhausting, and temporary. Welcome to parenthood!
But then, a couple of weeks after this, just when I was ready to lose my mind, she stopped.
Babies need to learn that some things are part of your house and just have to be there. You can’t hide away the dog’s dish forever.
Even though there’s an initial exhausting period of teaching your baby not to touch certain things in your house, there’s a light at the other end of the tunnel.
She learned that her efforts got her nowhere, and she stopped trying to get into what was off-limits.
And she’ll do that with your yarn, too!
All you have to do is stay consistent in saying no. It will lose its luster, and fade into the background of her everyday life.
4. Get them involved
Instead of fighting every yarn battle, share the yarn love with your kids!
Whenever I have yarn leftover, I save it for my older girls to craft with or to wrap gifts inside.
I also like to cut small strips to add to my toddler’s sensory bin.
This helps them feel like part of mommy’s hobby, instead of thinking it’s totally off-limits.
I hope to someday to have knit nights with my kids when they fly the nest, and I think sharing a little bit of it now helps leave that door open.
5. Teach your kids to knit
Teach them young!
Depending on the personality of your kids, they might be ready to start finger knitting or finger crocheting.
Find a good tutorial on YouTube, like this one that has kids pretending to catch fish.
Again, this totally depends on your kids. Some are ready earlier, like my three year old, and some aren’t ready until they’re a bit older, like my five year old.
Just be clear what yarn is okay for kids by keeping it in a sensory bin or a basket near their other craft supplies so they don’t get confused!
6. Check the furniture
Kids get crafty pretty young.
As soon as they get it in their mind, those kids are going to move furniture around to get to things they see up high.
If your yarn supplies are up high on a shelf, but there’s a big chair underneath it, your yarn isn’t really babyproofed.
If moving furniture is out of the question, you can use zipped project bags or pillows to visually block off climbing for little toddlers.
7. Have special “knitting time” toys
Store a few toys with your knitting project bags that only come out when you’re sitting down to knit.
Even if you cycle through them every few weeks, it becomes new again.
I really love Melissa and Doug reusable stickers, wooden puzzles, and water coloring books.
You’ve bought yourself a few minutes of uninterrupted knitting time!
8. Lock the doors or pull out the baby gates
If your toddler is just relentless about climbing and getting into stuff, head to the garage and bring back the baby swings, pack and plays, and gates.
As long as your toddler still fits height and weight limits, you can plop them in right next to you with something to do for a few minutes of quiet time for everyone.
My 19 month old is just a little too big for baby swings now, but I buckle her into her high chair with a snack, craft, or toy if I need to feed the baby or just have a few minutes to knit with her.
I’ve done the same with the pack and play while filming my knitting podcast!
9. Watch the tiny, sharp supplies
It’s so easy to set down your project and think that you’ll be back in five minutes.
But your kids might get there in three!
And little kids always grab first and ask second.
Zip up the scissors and stitch markers, put them up high, and feel a sense of peace walking away.
10. Pretend knitting
Sensory bins with pieces of yarn are great for little hands that don’t have a lot of dexterity yet.
Let them make a mess!
But for kids a little bit older, not quite knitting yet, you can buy or DIY your own yarn lacing cards.
Different shapes, from jungle animals to mermaids, offer a lot of fun.
This helps them feel like they’re doing what mommy is doing, but on a much easier level that they can handle.
11. Remember that mommy needs a hobby, too
Moms put a lot into their kids. But our generation puts our kids way above ourselves sometimes.
We live in a culture of mom guilt because so much of our time, energy, and money goes into our kids.
But you can’t knit from an empty yarn bowl!
Knitting time to yourself is investing in your family.
Plus, knitting is an art, and you deserve to practice and use your skill during these crazy motherhood days.
Pin It For Later
Knitting is a more hazardous hobby than we thought, right?!
For more knitting mom talk, head to the Facebook community at Knitting Millennial Moms.
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