[GoddessDanu]

I have a very brief list (mostly just childproofing the house) of things my agency will be looking for during the home visit. But other than childproofing, what else would they be looking for? Should I have a bed ready in the room? Should I have bought some clothes? Should we have toys and books in the room?

What has been your experience?

[sheababy]

We needed to have a fire extinguisher, first aid kit, and emergency numbers posted by the phone. Per my SW, they were just looking to see the house was safe-no torn up carpet you could trip on while carrying the baby etc. We have a large fairly deep pond in our back yard and she asked how we would keep the child safe and we said we would fence it off if necessary.

If you are going for an infant, no childproofing needed to be done but you may be asked what your plan is for the stairs etc.

We did not have to have anything for the baby. Our spare room was to become the baby room and we had started clearing some stuff out but did not have a crib or anything.

Don't sweat it -it's a piece of cake.

[meghann]

They're really just looking to make sure your home is safe.

As far as having anything "ready" - we were in the process of renovating the room that will be the baby's room (we live in a fixer-upper & decided to do that room while we were waiting to be approved so it would be ready if we were chosen quickly or for a short-notice placement) - literally, no floor covering, spackled walls doors off the hinges & on sawhorses being sanded. Our caseworker told us it was a beautiful room - because of the light that comes in from the windows.

It's nerve-racking for sure, but it really is a piece of cake. We showed her that we had fire extinguishers on every floor, no uncovered outlets (we actually fixed that the day of her visit - like I say, it's a fixer-upper, and we hadn't finished those details in a few rooms, lol), that sort of thing. She actually had to phone us later on because she forgot to check for smoke detectors & she wanted to make sure we had them.

They might also give you some tips on things you might not think of that you may need to childproof. She asked us about our double staircase & how we planned to work the childproofing there. There may be things you never thought about that they'll point out so you can address them.

[devildogwife]

We didn't need to really have anything child-proofed. Quoting our SW, she said she just wanted to be sure "we weren't running a meth lab." We weren't. She checked to see that our fire extinguisher was mounted, had smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, meds were in a lock box and that cleaning products were up high, out of a child's reach (which also meant they were out of my reach!). We had absolutely nothing purchased for our son.

[leenie71]

Our SW did a fairly quick walk-through the house...she said she was basically just checking that there was enough room for a child, running water (?), and that there were no health or safety issues. No white glove test. I wish she did, because the house was as clean as it ever was and ever will be! She didn't even look for smoke alarms or fire extinguishers (although we were asked on our questionnaire). Our 2nd bedroom was basically a storage area for us and we told her that's where the nursery would be. She was totally fine with it.

Don't worry about it too much...the home study is supposed to be more about education of the adoptive parents-to-be. I don't think most home study people are out to get you and not approve you, unless there is good reason. Good luck!