Simple Tips for Childproofing Your Home
Your sweet child will start crawling soon, and this means you must prepare your home and deal with the lurking dangers around. As babies and toddlers are naturally curious, they will soon start pulling too and reach every counter or surface in the blink of an eye.
As safe as you may think your home is, a study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, found that first-time moms of toddlers could identify less than half of the potential hazards in a model home.
So we’ve gathered a few tips to help you keep your home baby-friendly! Follow these tips and also crawl around on your hands and knees to make sure you haven’t missed anything.
Prevent falls.
If you have a staircase in your home, be sure to fit a gate at the top and another one three steps from the bottom. Also, never leave anything lying on the stairs that someone can trip over.
Choose rugs that have non-skid backings or place a pad under the rugs you already have.
Lessen injuries by attaching safe corner protectors to any furniture with sharp edges.
Remove choking hazards.
Small toys, coins, and other tiny objects, no matter their shape, are a severe risk. These should be out of reach entirely until the age of 5, at the very least.
You’re probably keeping in your refrigerator some choking hazards like whole grapes, chunks of meat or cheese, raw vegetables and other hazards. Your crawling child will probably start pulling the fridge open soon, so be sure to store those hazards on the high shelves or install a latch.
Childproof electrical outlets & cords.
As little ones love to stick their fingers or small objects into electrical outlets, you must protect and cover them. Use electrical outlet caps that plug into empty outlets, use sliding plate covers or Lectralock covers, or even hide the outlets with furniture.
Roll extra-long cords into a palm size, and use a zip tie to hold it in place. And anyway, don’t cover long cords with rugs because they may overheat and lead to a possible fire.
Any frayed or cut cord should be thrown away.
Protect against shattering.
Coffee tables made of non-tempered glass can shatter easily. If you have one at home, you should put it in a room that isn’t accessible to your toddler or buy a new tempered-glass coffee table.
Framed photos and glass/porcelain objects should be placed out of reach, to protect your child from knocking or dropping them. Another good solution is to replace them with plastic ones.
As toddlers tend to climb on any stand or counter within reach, your TV should be securely mounted to the wall, and the TV stand should be anchored to the wall too.
Protect the fingers.
There are probably plenty of things around the house that can pinch fingers, like slamming doors, ironing boards, and deckchairs. It is highly recommended to buy hinge protectors or door stoppers.
Sharp instruments like scissors, staplers, paper clips and others should be kept in drawers.
Protect against fire.
Keep candles, matches, and cigarettes out of reach. No matter how undeveloped their fine motor skills are, kids playing with matches are in danger of starting a house fire.
Keep the fireplace covered. Fix a heat-resistant gate, and buy pads for the edges to prevent falls. It is important to keep a fire extinguisher nearby. Also, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions and have serviced or checked.
Install smoke detectors in any of your bedrooms and near the kitchen.