Terri Ramsey Beavers On average, a baby will crawl adeptly around 9 months of age, but they’ll start trying around the 6-month mark. This means that if you’ve just given birth, you have around half a year to get on babyproofing your home.
Of course, the sooner you start, the better. Life as new parents is not easy, and you’ll probably have even less free time than you thought you would have.
So whether you’re currently pregnant or have a crawling toddler on your hands, you’ll want to know how to make your home a safer place for them so they can explore with fewer chances of getting hurt.
To help you out, here’s an easy guide for babyproofing your house.
Make Sure the Sleeping Situation Is Safe
Every year, around 2,300 babies die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). While the exact cause of death isn’t exactly known, what experts do know is the sleeping situation is often unsafe for the infants who succumb to SIDS.
Naturally, all parents mean the best when they prepare their home for their babies. But what many don’t know is that a lot of the things they put in cribs are not only pointless, but also potentially harmful to their infants.
For example, you might want to decorate your child’s crib with stuffed animals, blankets, and pillows. But for newborns, all these things are choking and suffocation hazards. Make sure the crib is as plain as can be, at least until they’re around 1 year old and can roll and sit up if needed.
You should also make sure the crib is away from windows, as they usually have blinds or other types of shading device with cords. These cords can hang over into the crib and become a choking hazard.
Secure All Furnishings
When your toddler is exploring their surroundings, they’ll like to put their hands on everything. Not only will they touch things, but they’ll also pull, push, and do whatever they can to these items.
Before your baby can start crawling and walking, you should take the time to go around and see things from their perspective. Get down to the floor and see what the interesting things they’d touch are. Make sure things like your sofa, entertainment center, TV, and other things are secured to the wall so if your child touches it, it won’t fall over easily.
Put Outlet Covers On
Unfortunately, most electrical outlets are located very low on the ground. All your infant has to do is crawl along the floor, see the outlet, and stick a finger in.
The best thing you can do to prevent any tragedies is to put outlet covers on. These are very easy to install and you should opt for the ones that self-close instead of plug in. That way, you can avoid choking hazards for your infant.
Put on Baby Cabinet Locks
When your baby is crawling around, they’ll want to open up any cabinets they get their hands on. While most items in these cabinets are harmless, there may be the odd bottle of chemicals, such as in the bathroom. All it takes is a split second for your toddler to get into that bottle and swallow its contents.
To avoid this happening, you can put on simple baby locks to baby proof your cabinets. You can put them on easily, as they use 3M adhesives. This means you don’t need to do any drilling whatsoever.
Once these baby cabinet locks are on, your child won’t be able to pry any cabinets open. However, that doesn’t mean it’ll make things harder for you. They’re specially designed so that adults can quickly learn how to open and close them safely.
Put Any Harmful Chemicals Higher Up
On that note, you should take any harmful chemicals (such as bleach) in a higher up area. This ensures that if your infant somehow gets past the precautions you’ve put in, that they won’t be able to access these harmful chemicals.
If you aren’t able to put these chemicals higher up, at least make sure that these cabinets are locked up at all times. This will put an extra barrier in between your child and any harm.
Use Baby Gates
Once your child is crawling and walking, they’ll really start to get into trouble. Whether you spend the majority of your time with them downstairs or upstairs, they’re bound to make their way to the stairs and try to navigate them. Or they’ll try to walk into a room with dangerous objects, such as the kitchen.
Of course, you’ll have your eyes on your child as much as you can, but you’re only human. All it takes is a blink of an eye for them to get into some mischief.
The easiest way to keep them away from an area they’re not supposed to be in is to put up baby gates. Make sure you read the instructions thoroughly to ensure that you’ve put them up right. If done correctly, the gates shouldn’t collapse, even if your kid pulls and pushes at it.
Start on Babyproofing ASAP
Babyproofing your house is important, so don’t put it off. Even if you haven’t even given birth yet, you should already be giving this subject some thought. Once you’ve had your baby, time flies by quicker than you think.
Of course, if you’ve already had your baby and they’re starting to get into things, it’s never too late to get on babyproofing. So use your article as a great reference for the major areas you need to hit. Then, you can adjust the babyproofing for your house through some trial and error.
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