A sitting, standing, crawling, walking baby is a joy – each day is a new trick; a new discovery; a fresh feat! What this also means of course is a brand new set of problems and headaches for mommy. Baby jamming his fingers in an electrical socket or a drawer, baby getting the freezer door open, baby getting the toilet lid open, trying to get down the stairs – all of these open up nightmarish possibilities.
So here are some tips for childproofing your home, which would be best to incorporate before your baby starts to crawl:
1. Elevate everything possible
All your gadgets, cosmetics, books can all go up where baby cannot reach. Tip: review the situation when baby learns to climb on to furniture!
2. Keep out of reach
Make sure that some areas of the home are simply out of bounds for baby. Shut bathroom doors properly; prevent access to the kitchen or the home office. Often you may not even envisage the kinds of trouble your little one can get into!
3. Be vigilant
While constant supervision is great, it is not always possible. But be vigilant especially if someone is visiting you. Tip: don’t let your little one get at grandma’s bag – you can’t tell what it contains! Furthermore, it is important to make sure that your home itself — the structure of your home — is adequately safe for the new addition to the family. Outlets, roofing, windows, stairs, and floors ought to be inspected by professional organizations.
4. Playpen can be helpful
A sturdy playpen that meets all safety criteria can be a great way to keep baby contentedly playing and out of trouble for a significant amount of time each day.
5. Safety gate for stairs
A safety gate to prevent your baby getting to the stairs is a good idea. Make sure you have them at the top and at the bottom of the stairs.
6. Pool fence is a must
If you have a pool, a pool fence is a good idea, because kids find water fascinating.
7. Go for child proof locks
Bathroom doors, cabinets doors, accessible drawers, toilet seats should all be secured in a way that inquisitive fingers don’t get to them open.
8. Pay special attention to toxins
Be especially careful about where you store cleaning materials, detergents, chemicals, pesticides. Make sure they are in an area that is itself inaccessible to baby and then should be further secure in cabinet or enclosure that baby has no chance of accessing.
9. Use outlet covers
Use outlet covers for the low plug sockets first. Then when baby starts cruising and climbing, secure all plug sockets and outlets in the home; high or low.
10. Bumpers for sharp edges
Sharp furniture edges cause many injuries. So minimize chances of your baby injuring himself or herself by using bumpers on all sharp edges, corners and projections.