Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
Baby Gates That Let Me Work From Home Without My Toddler Destroying Everything
30
items Working from home with a toddler means your keyboard is a piano, your power strip is a toy, and every Zoom call is a gamble. I spent a year testing gates, desk solutions, and kid-proofing tricks so my office stays functional and my kid stays safe on ...
Sections
6
Baby Gates for Office Doorways That Actually Stay Put
Cord and Cable Covers to Stop Little Hands From Unplugging Everything
Desk Organizers That Survive a Work From Home Setup With Kids
Outlet and Furniture Safety Proofing for a Home Office
Noise and Distraction Blockers for Parents on Calls
Quick Distractions to Buy Yourself 30 Minutes of Focus
Baby Gates for Office Doorways That Actually Stay Put
My first gate popped off the frame twice in one week. The dog knocked it once and my toddler body-slammed it the other time. These are the ones that survived both.
Grab this if your office door is a standard width and you need something up in ten minutes. I installed it during a nap and it hasn't budged in six months. The walk-through door means you're not hurdling it with coffee in your hand.
Regalo, Extra Tall Metal Walk-Through Baby Gate
Switch to this one if your kid is a climber. My son figured out how to swing a leg over the shorter gates by 18 months. This extra tall version stopped that immediately. He just stands there staring at me now, which is honestly kind of sweet.
Summer Infant Extra Tall Walk-Thru Gate
Use this for renters who can't drill into doorframes. Pressure mount holds firm and leaves zero marks. I moved apartments last spring and took it with me, no spackle needed.
Evenflo Position & Lock Tall & Wide Baby/Pet Adjustable
Keep this around as a backup or second-room option. It's cheap, it works, and it folds flat behind a door when you don't need it. Bought two and put one at the kitchen too.
Customer reviews for Toddleroo by North States 26
Try this if your office is at the top of the stairs and you need hardware-mounted security. Bolts right into the wall studs. My wife tested it by leaning her full weight on it. Rock solid, and the swing door locks with one hand.
Top of Stairs Baby Gate
Cord and Cable Covers to Stop Little Hands From Unplugging Everything
My daughter unplugged my monitor during a client call. I watched my screen go black while she giggled. Never again. These keep every cable locked down.
Toss this along your baseboards and every cord disappears behind a snap-on cover. Took me about 20 minutes to run it from my desk to the outlet. My kid doesn't even know the cords exist now.
D Line Cable Raceway for Wire Management
Wrap all those loose cords behind your desk into one neat tube. Before this, my setup looked like spaghetti back there. Now it's clean and there's nothing for tiny fingers to grab or yank.
JOTO 4 Pack Cable Management Sleeve 19-20 Inches
Use this for longer runs across a wall, like from your router to your desk. Sticks on with adhesive and paints over if you want it to blend in. Saved me from running a cord across the floor where everyone trips.
Legrand Wiremold CordMate II Cord Cover 5 ft. Channel
Snap this over your power strip and suddenly your kid can't pull a single plug. I put one under my desk and one in the living room. Cheap peace of mind. Should have bought it the day we brought the baby home.
Mommys Helper Power Strip Safety Cover - 2 Count
Pair this with the plug cover for outlets your kid can reach. The cord shortener winds up excess slack so there's nothing dangling. For anyone whose toddler treats loose cords like a tug-of-war rope.
Safety 1st Outlet Cover with Cord Shortener, White, Toddler
Desk Organizers That Survive a Work From Home Setup With Kids
Papers everywhere, pens rolling off the desk, sticky notes stuck to my elbow. I finally organized my desk so I could actually find things during calls instead of shuffling papers while a client waited.
Grab this if your desk is covered in random sticky notes and pens you haven't used since 2019. The sliding drawer hides the ugly stuff. I keep snacks in mine. No shame.
SimpleHouseware Mesh Desk Organizer with Sliding Drawer
Roll it under your desk and suddenly you have a filing system that doesn't involve a pile on the floor. Locks too, which matters when your three-year-old discovers how fun it is to shred paper.
DEVAISE 3 Drawer File Cabinet on Wheels
For the person whose desk has six different piles that all mean something. Five compartments keep mail, notebooks, and folders upright. My Monday mornings got 50% less chaotic after setting this up.
Lorell Mesh Desktop Organizer, 1 Each
Toss your keyboard underneath when you're done for the day, and your desk actually looks clean. Raises your monitor to eye level too, so your neck stops hurting. Two problems solved with one piece of furniture.
Amazon Basics Adjustable Monitor Stand Riser
Keep this at arm's reach for when your brain dumps ten things at once during a meeting. Sticky notes, tabs, and a pen holder all in one spot. Stopped me from writing reminders on my hand like a college student.
Post-it Desktop Organizers in Desk
Outlet and Furniture Safety Proofing for a Home Office
Once my son could walk, every sharp corner and open outlet became a target. I baby-proofed the living room but completely forgot my office until he crawled in and grabbed a surge protector.
Stick these on your desk corners before your kid face-plants into one. I learned this lesson the hard way. Clear so they don't make your furniture look like a daycare, but they absorb impact like a champ.
Corner Protectors for Baby Safety Proofing
Toss these into every open outlet in your office. Buy the big pack because you'll use them in every room eventually. My son used to try to stick crayons in outlets. Problem solved for about two dollars.
Safety 1st Press Tab Plug Protectors (36pk), White, Toddler
Strap your bookshelf and filing cabinet to the wall immediately. Not eventually, now. A coworker's kid pulled a shelf over last year. It takes five minutes and an anchor bolt. Just do it this weekend.
Jool Baby Multi-Use Strap Lock, 8 Pack
Use these if your office has outlets behind furniture where you can't easily reach. The cord holder keeps plugs snug against the wall so nothing dangles. For anyone who's tired of finding their phone charger yanked out and on the floor.
Dreambaby Outlet Plugs Baby Safety Protector Child Proof
Snap these inside any cabinet in your office that has supplies you don't want eaten, spilled, or thrown. Invisible from outside, opens with a magnet key. My kid still hasn't figured them out and it's been a year.
Magnetic Lock Cabinets for Baby Safety and Childproofing
Noise and Distraction Blockers for Parents on Calls
Nothing says professionalism like your toddler screaming ‘DADDYYYYY’ during a quarterly review. These saved my reputation and my sanity on back-to-back meeting days.
Put these on and the screaming in the next room just vanishes. I wore them through an entire tantrum and my client had no idea. Worth every penny if you take more than two calls a week from home.
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Noise Canceling Over-Ear
Swap your laptop mic for this and suddenly you sound like a podcast host instead of someone calling from a tunnel. The cardioid mode only picks up your voice, not the Cocomelon blasting ten feet away.
Logitech Blue Yeti USB Microphone - Silver Edition
Set this outside your office door facing the hallway. White noise covers your meeting chatter so the baby doesn't hear your voice and start crying for you. My wife suggested this and it was honestly brilliant.
Hatch Rest Go Baby Sleep Sound Machine & Soother
Keep one inside your office for the days when the house is extra loud. Masks the chaos without being distracting. Smaller than a coffee mug and runs all day without overheating.
Adaptive Sound Technologies LectroFan EVO White Noise
Bring this as a budget backup headset. Under forty bucks, decent mic, and comfortable enough for three-hour meeting marathons. I keep it charged in my desk drawer for when my main headphones die mid-call.
JLab Go Work Wireless On-Ear Headset
Quick Distractions to Buy Yourself 30 Minutes of Focus
Sometimes you just need your kid occupied long enough to finish one email without someone tugging your sleeve. These buy me real stretches of quiet, not just 90 seconds.
Hand this to your kid right before a big call. Thirty minutes of quiet peeling and sticking, every single time. No mess, no cleanup, and they can reuse it tomorrow. I've bought four of these because they work that well.
Melissa & Doug Reusable Sticker Pads Set: Adventure
Toss two cans and a plastic knife on the kitchen table and you just bought yourself a solid chunk of focus time. My daughter makes ‘birthday cakes’ for an hour straight. Vacuum the crumbs later, it's worth it.
Play-Doh, Party Pack Clay, 10 mini cans, 10 oz total
For anyone whose kid has drawn on a wall, couch, or laptop screen. The markers only show up on the special paper. I gave these to my son and didn't check on him for 40 minutes. Zero damage anywhere.
Crayola Color Wonder Books Mess Free Coloring
Dump these on the floor near the gate and your kid builds towers while you build spreadsheets. They click together with magnets so even a two-year-old can do it. Lasted way longer than any battery-operated toy we've tried.
MAGNA-TILES 32-Piece Clear Colors Magnetic Building
Fill the pen with water and they ‘paint’ without any actual paint. Dries and resets in minutes. Perfect for the parent who needs silence but also needs to not clean up a disaster afterward. Saved me on a Friday afternoon more than once.
Melissa and Doug Water Reveal Pads Toys