When you welcome your new baby home for the first time, it’s an exhilarating experience full of joy and nerves. But it should also be a time when you think clearly and rationally about how you’re going to keep your little one safe. Childproofing is more than baby gates and covers for electrical outlets. It’s a lifestyle. Every single thing in your home, from the cabinets to the hallway furniture and window treatments, should be up for reassessment. Do they increase the risk of harm to your little one? Or do they promote safety? Below, we list several practical, effective childproofing tips to help you childproof your home.
1. Assessing Potential Hazards
The first step in childproofing your home is to undertake a thorough hazard assessment. Explore your home the way a young child would do – crawling, climbing, opening – and look for anything that could pose a risk: sharp corners, small objects, places where babies or toddlers might get stuck or fall.
High-Risk Areas to Examine
- Furniture: Look out for sharp corners that could cause accidents. For instance, tables and dressers may have several corners you should smoothen using corner protectors to stop you from getting hurt.
- Windows: Lock all windows and have all safety locks for windows out of the reach of children.
- Stairways: Be sure to install strong baby gates at the top and bottom of the stairways to avoid falls.
2. Securing Furniture and Appliances
Tiny children just want to climb or pull themselves up with furniture, making it very important for you to anchor heavy furniture and appliances to the wall to stop them from tipping.
Tips for Securing Furniture
- Anchor Large Furniture: Use wall straps or anchors to secure dressers, bookshelves, and cabinets.
- Secure appliances: Make sure large appliances, such as refrigerators and stoves, are securely attached or have anti-tip brackets.
3. Outlets and Cords
Having electric outlets and cords is a safety issue. Most toddlers learn about the world through inquisitiveness, such as to touch and put into outlets. The safe usage of outlets and cords requires careful management.
Outlet Safety
- Outlet Covers: Put in outlet covers or safety plugs if you have unused outlets. If these outlets are frequently used, I would put in sliding outlet covers so they do not bother you.
- Outlet Plates: Use outlet plates that are tamper-resistant to prevent children from inserting objects.
Cord Management
- Cord Shorteners: Use cord shorteners or wraps to keep electrical cords out of reach.
- Cord Covers: Cords running along the floor or walls: covers driveway edging.
4. Cabinet and Drawer Locks
Kids like to explore cabinets and drawers. But sometimes they might find chemicals inside, pills from the medicine cabinet, or sharp objects like scissors or sewing needles. Cabinet and drawer locks can help prevent access to these potentially dangerous things.
Types of Locks
- Latch Locks For cabinets and drawers that you need to access frequently but want to keep childproofed, try latch locks.
- Magnetic locks: We use these for external high cabinets (eg: cleaning supplies) as they are harder for little ones to circumvent.
5. Kitchen Safety
The kitchen is the most frequent location of accidents such as cutting fingers, burning, or pouring chemicals. Overheating objects cause accidents also. To maintain kitchen safety, fe services needed to be followed upplies.
Key Kitchen Safety Measures
- Stove Knob Covers: Install stove knob covers to prevent children from turning on burners.
- Drawer Locks: Secure drawers that contain sharp utensils or cleaning products.
- Cabinet Safety: Pans, pots, cleaning supplies, and food products like cookies and corn chips should be stored safely under child-safe locking devices.
6. Bathroom Precautions
However, the bathroom may be more dangerous still, with the risk of slips, falls, and potential exposure to harmful substances. Prevention of bathroom mishaps is important for your child’s safety.
Essential Bathroom Safety Tips
- Toilet Locks: Install toilet locks to prevent drowning accidents.
- Non-Slip Mats: Place non-slip mats in the bathtub and on the floor to avoid slipping.
- Medications: Store medications and toiletries in high cabinets with secure locks.
7. Bedroom Safety
The bedroom should be a safe place for your child, one which minimizes anything that could result in an injury. Concentrate on making the sleeping space and the surrounding areas safe.
Bedroom Safety Checklist
- Crib Safety: All you need to hear about cribs is to make certain it is under the current standards, that the mattress isn’t too soft and there isn’t any loose bedding or toys.
- Window Blinds: Use cordless blinds or secure cords to prevent strangulation risks.
- Furniture Placement: Keep furniture away from the crib to prevent climbing or falling accidents.
8. Safety in the Living Areas
When it comes to living areas, these are significant family spaces and they need to be childproofed as well – when a child is mobile the kitchen surfaces must be spotless, decorative items need to be immobilized, every cord needs to be organized, and the entire room should be free of potential choking hazards.
Living Area Tips
Secure heavy objects: Anchor TVs and other heavy miscellaneous objects to the wall to avoid tipping.
Shoe Shopping: Always observe the fit of your child’s shoes and ensure they are not tight and uncomfortable. See your pediatrician if your child walks with their toes turned in. This could be a sign of metatarsus adducts. Such adaptive deformities can be altered with physical therapy and bracing if detected early in life. Tongue Thrust: Look out for the presence of a tongue thrust when the upper jaw grows uneven as a consequence of incorrect oral habits.
Install safety gates for open staircases and other potentially hazardous areas.
9. Outdoor Safety
One can’t be too careful: in addition to spotting hazards inside the home, an agent will direct clients to survey the exterior – the rear and front yards included – for any potential discrepancies that could result in childproofing (or crisis-provoking) lawsuits.
Outdoor Safety Measures
- Fencing: Install a secure fence around your yard to prevent your children from accessing streets or pools.
- Playground Equipment: Ensure that any outdoor play equipment is properly installed and maintained.
- Away From Outdoor Chemicals: Store garden tools, fertilizers, and other chemicals in locked sheds or high cabinets.
10. Ongoing Safety Checks
Since childproofing is not a one-time task, you need to keep up with it if your child gets more mobile. Re-evaluate your home regularly.
Tips for Ongoing Safety
- Routine checks: Inspect occasionally for any new hazards deterioration or overloading in safety devices and make any required corrections.
- Update Safety Measures: As your child develops new skills, update safety measures accordingly.
How will you accomplish creating a haven for your child? Your goal in designing the material environment of your child’s home is to ensure that your baby has a secure and inviting space in which to grow and develop, to explore safely. In other words, your goal is to childproof well. Given that you have chosen to design a material environment of safety for your new baby, how will you accomplish this goal for your child? Let’s begin by focusing on the imperative of safety and then, subsequently, on the goal of childproofing so that your child can thrive within that contented space.
And there you have it – a handy checklist for childproofing your home so you can breathe a bit easier knowing your child is having a blast while still being as safe as possible! As with all things parenting-related, make sure you are continually on the lookout for safety hazards, and if you have a specific question or concern, consult with a safety professional or childproofing company.
