Make your home safe for your baby.
Babies have that special ability to make us feel confident that we’d do anything to protect them. That vow typically gets called into action the second your baby starts moving around on his or her own. Babies are unaccustomed to dangers that have become second nature for adults to steer clear of. Whether your firstborn is getting ready to crawl or you’re moving with your baby to a new home, proper childproofing is a necessity to keep your kid safe. Here are nine musts for baby-proofing your home.
Start early.
Your child is unlikely to be exposed to the dangers of electrical outlets and basement steps until he starts crawling around on his own, but you should be proactive about childproofing long before then. “The key is to put [childproof devices] on before they really need it,” says Hal Norman, president of Home Safe Home Childproofing Inc. in the Chicago area. Most calls for consultation come in when a child is about 6 or 7 months old, he says, but you can baby-proof in stages as the child ages and becomes more mobile.
Focus on most-used rooms first.
The most baby-proofing should take place where your child will spend most of her time — namely, the nursery and living room. Reduce the chance of anything falling on your child, and secure doors so she won’t pinch her fingers, among other safety musts. Pay particular attention to the nursery, Norman says, because “that’s really the only room in the house where you close the door and leave the child alone.” Newborns require other considerations, like a bare crib to avoid suffocation. As your baby becomes more mobile, rooms more likely to have toxic cleaning chemicals behind cabinets, like the kitchen and bathroom, also need attention.
Reinforce railings.
For children who aren’t yet steady on their feet, falls happen often, so it’s important to reduce the chances of a fall causing harm. More than 948,000 nonfatal injuries to children between 0 and 4 years old as a result of falling were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2014, the most recent data set available. Check all railings, especially if they’re open to a lower floor, to ensure they’re stable, tall enough to keep a kid from climbing over and that gaps between vertical bars are too narrow for a little human to squeeze her body or head through.
Put gates up.
Keep kids from tumbling down the stairs with gates at both ends of any steps. Additionally, gates help to keep a crawling or walking baby from entering rooms without your supervision. While plastic, removable baby gates often come to mind, Norman says many clients are most satisfied with wooden gates designed to blend in with their home, like those offered by the Gatekeepers brand. “They blend in with the house, they become part of the house and they’ve become a tremendous selling feature for families that have wanted to [sell] and have sold their home,” he says.
Cover corners, outlets and cords.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends using devices specially designed to keep kids from coming into direct contact with corners and hard edges of furniture and appliances, electrical outlets and cords, as well as the cords that may be attached to window treatments. Bumpers and corner guards often made of foam or rubber soften the hit should a baby lose his balance and are often less than $10 to cover four corners. Outlet covers, power strip covers and electrical cord shorteners also run $10 or less. Move the crib away from windows to reduce access to cords, and secure the cords well above your child’s reach at all times to prevent a strangulation hazard.
Secure doors and cabinets.
For all those dangerous chemicals, sharp objects and breakables you’ve cleverly hidden from sight, you also need to ensure your child won’t be able to open a cabinet or closet door. Baby safety locks come in a variety of styles and can be applied to just about any opening you’d prefer to stay closed around your child, including cabinets, toilet lids and even the fridge or oven. Norman recommends magnetic locks from his experience, noting they’re “far superior to plastic locks” and can easily be disarmed so adults aren’t equally locked out of the fridge when it’s snack time.
Secure top-heavy items.
Televisions, floor lamps and other pieces of furniture can injure your child and be costly to repair should they fall. And with young kids, it’s all too possible for the most seemingly out-of-the-way items to suddenly come crashing to the ground. Keep everyone safe and the room’s furniture intact by anchoring all top-heavy furniture to the wall or another sturdy surface. Most childproof furniture straps cost less than $20 for a pair.
Renovate when necessary.
Not all houses are as kid-friendly as they could be, but most work well with proper childproofing. But in situations where second-story railings are less than 3 feet high or a landing on the stairs opens up to the room below with nothing to block a toddler from the edge, baby-proofing may take more than a few locks on the cabinets. “I may excuse myself from jobs like that, because it really does entail a renovation or the help of a contractor,” Norman says.
Anchor everything.
A gate, lock or safety strap is important, but it’s even more important that these baby-proofing items are properly installed and secured. Norman notes that many clients request as few holes in the walls as possible, and while he avoids going overboard with nails and screws, a surface attachment often doesn’t measure up. “Any device is only as good as how it’s installed, and if you’re relying on pressure or tape, it’s only going to give you that much peace of mind,” he says. Babies grow up fast, but they’ll need some protection while they explore for at least a couple years. Once your child understands boundaries, break out the spackling paste as celebration for another milestone met.
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9 Childproofing Musts for Your House originally appeared on usnews.com
