You have a new baby now. You’ve been waiting for this day for so long, and you don’t know if you can handle all the happiness. But there’s something significant missing – your precious little one needs to be protected from any possible dangers in your house.
For example, what if she starts crawling? It would be too easy for her to get into trouble then – she could reach the stairs, grab a sharp kitchen knife or touch a hot stove. Don’t let your baby suffer!
Of course, you already promised yourself that you’ll always be with her, but it is impossible to keep an eye on her at every moment. And what about when you need to do something around the house – take out the trash, put away groceries, or cook?
You cannot let your baby play alone in another room without supervision. That’s why you have to take precautions before she starts crawling, walking, or even standing up on her own.
Household Dangers for Babies
It is not just about the stairs and sharp objects around the house, but many other less-obvious threats can seriously hurt a child. A quick walkthrough of most homes will reveal several things that could injure an infant if left unchecked.
Some of these include chemicals under the sink, cleaners with poisonous ingredients, electrical wires, outlets with exposed wiring, heavy furniture items like dressers and bureaus, which might tip over onto your baby if he plays nearby. Hot water heaters; poisons both indoors and outdoors; sharp edges on furniture, tables, and countertops. Make sure your home is safe for an infant before she becomes mobile enough to get into things.
Checklist for Baby-Proofing Your House
Here’s a checklist of what you need to do and keep in mind in baby proofing your home:
Below you will find a list of the rooms in your house and all the dangers that exist within each one. The chapters ahead provide detailed instructions about how to baby proofing your home.
Living Room
- Buy or create corner bumpers on any sharp corners that babies might hit themselves on while crawling around.
- Put outlet covers over outlets to avoid curious little hands from inserting foreign objects into them.
- Remove small items that could potentially be choked upon by removing them from tables and bookshelves where the baby will have access too. If necessary, make some childproof covers to place over outlets.
- Place any heavy breakables, such as vases, on the top shelves of bookcases or side tables.
- Get a coffee table with no sharp corners or legs that stick out too far. A plastic one would be the best option since it can be disinfected if the baby spits upon it. If you’d rather not have a coffee table at all, opt for ottomans instead. These can be used to put feet up and relax, or they can serve as temporary playpens for babies until they are old enough to crawl around independently.
- Remove throw blankets that could cause suffocation if placed over an infant’s face while sleeping, unsupervised.
- Ensure all cords are out of the baby’s reach to avoid them being pulled on or chewed on.
- If the walls are painted with lead paint, have them re-painted before the baby arrives. Lead poisoning is very harmful to children and can cause brain damage if left untreated.
Bedroom
- Closet doors should have doorstops installed to prevent the door from slamming into the baby’s face when opened quickly.
- Remove any items that could be used as weapons against your children, such as knives in nightstands or sharp dressers near where they sleep.
- Make any dressers taller by placing large, heavy books on the top two drawers. This will prevent the baby from being able to open or pull them out themselves.
- Place all dangerous chemicals, prescription medications, knives, and other sharp objects up high where the baby cannot reach them. Also, make sure you have a first aid kit handy if needed.
- Purchase a rail for the crib so that parents can rest easy knowing their infant is safe while they are away or sleeping. You can also place it on the side of any playpen your child may sleep in, not attached to the crib itself. If neither of these options works for you, purchase cord clips that self-tighten around cords when pulled on rather than choking an infant to death if left alone in their room for a few minutes.
Kitchen
- Clear off countertops completely since babies will attempt to climb up onto them once they start crawling around.
- Doors should be knobless to avoid trapping the baby’s hand inside, leading to serious injury.
- Purchase an old-fashioned oven lock (the kind you have to slide into place) so that the oven cannot be opened by your child when you are cooking.
- If you are using a hook on your backsplash or wall for pot handles, attach it at least five feet off the floor so the baby cannot reach it while standing on a chair or countertop. If this is not possible, purchase magnetic hooks instead of ones with actual holes in them. These will release their grip if enough force is applied, preventing any other issues from arising because of this issue.
Bathroom
- Make sure all sharp objects are removed from the bathroom and placed high on closed cabinets, even if you have nothing of interest stored on them currently. This includes razor blades, safety razors, scissors, pins stuck into crafts or sewing projects that haven’t been discarded yet, or anything else that could be deemed as dangerous by an adult’s standards.
- Purchase a lock for your medicine cabinet to keep children out of it at all costs. If this is not possible, adjust accordingly and make sure items such as prescription medications or other similar products with childproof caps are stored high where they cannot reach them.