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HomeLifestyleThe Importance of Baby-proofing your Home and How to Do it

The Importance of Baby-proofing your Home and How to Do it

When babies start to crawl, exploring a house that’s not babyproofed is dangerous. Babyproofing the house keeps your baby safe and your mind at ease. So, it’s not a bad idea to start babyproofing your home before the baby is born and continue after birth. However, if you decide to do it will work; what matters is finishing it before it starts crawling and exploring the surroundings. Keep reading to learn more about the importance of baby-proofing your home and how to do it.

One of the first things you should do is lower the temperature of your water heater so your little one can’t scald themselves. Also, you should keep the bathrooms locked or out of reach. You should be cautious with the crib as your baby grows. Of course, you should mind the electricity and outlets. If you have stairs in your house, you should definitely install gates around the stairs to prevent falls.

Moreover, you should also pay attention to blinds as they can be a hazard too. What you should also do is move cleaning and laundry detergents up. Your baby should have a safe spot for playing while you do chores. Additionally, you should soften sharp corners to prevent cuts and bruises. What’s more, you should skip using tablecloths, keep windows secured and lock the appliances.

Lower the temperature of your water heater

As babies begin to crawl and pull themselves up on their feet, they can reach so many things they couldn’t before. And many of these things are dangerous. We must adjust several things around our home to prevent them from hurting themselves. One of the first things you can and should do is lower the temperature of your water heater. In that way, you can prevent your baby from scalding itself with hot water. Touching everything they can and turning knobs is amusing to babies when they start crawling and being aware of the world around them. Lowering the temperature on your water heater is a simple thing you can do, but it is often overlooked.

Keep the bathrooms locked or out of reach

The bathroom as a room is full of dangerous things, so you should always keep the bathrooms locked or at least out of your baby’s reach. First of all, babies can drown even in a bit of water. Second, babies and toddlers love playing with bathroom cabinets, often full of cleaning products and medicines. According to statistics, almost 100 kids drown in their homes in America each year. So, locking the bathroom as well as toilet seat covers is of quintessential importance when it comes to protecting your kids’ lives. When your baby grows enough to reach the knob and open it, you should put door knob covers on such knobs to prevent them from entering.

Be cautious with the crib

The crib is also quite a dangerous thing. Cribs and crib mattresses are one of the primary causes of severe injuries for kids under 5. They are also responsible for a certain number of infant deaths. To prevent this, you should be aware of the appropriate crib rail height. You can set your crib to the highest setting when you have a newborn. However, as your baby grows, you should lower the mattress so that the rail is high enough. If the fence is not high enough, the baby can fall over it and injure itself. Also, you should be mindful of pillows and blankets as they are a potential hazard too.

Mind the electricity

Electricity and outlets are other crucial aspects of babyproofing your home. Around 15 months of age, babies become fascinated with putting things into things. In this phase, they often try to stick an object into an electrical socket, which can cause electrocution. To prevent that, you can place tight-fitting outlet covers to prevent kids from opening them. Even though it takes more time to do it this way with all the outlets within your child’s reach, it is a much better and safer option than using individual plug-in covers, as they can be removed easily. Plus, they are a choking hazard.

Install gates around the stairs

If you have stairs in your home, that’s another aspect to consider. Stairways are dangerous for babies as they can injure themselves by falling down the stairs. The best way to prevent that is by installing gates around the stairs or locking the doors leading to stairways. The best time to start considering installing these gates is around the 6th month. You don’t have to hurry with that as soon as your baby is born. But as soon as it starts moving and rolling, it’s definitely time. Various types of semi-permanent gates can be screwed in and screwed out when not necessary.

Pay attention to blinds

You probably noticed how kids like putting things around their necks, even though you warned them multiple times not to do that. That’s how we come to dangerous Venetian blinds and their cords. If you have these or any other blinds that have hanging cords around your time, make sure to put them away so your baby or toddler can’t reach them. These cords are dangerous as children entangle in them. Probably the best solution would be replacing these blinds with cordless ones. However, until you do that, keep the cords that hang out of kids’ reach.

Move cleaning and laundry detergents up

According to statistics, plenty of children poison themselves by consuming cleaning products or laundry detergents. One of the top products associated with pediatric poisoning accidents is laundry pods. You can lock the cabinets where you store these things or move them somewhere high on shelves or in cabinets. Moving dangerous things up won’t work when your kid starts climbing. So, the safest alternative is to lock these cabinets. Another thing to be cautious about is storing pills and medication in bags, as kids can mistake them for candy. You need to view things from your baby’s point of view to be able to make all the necessary safety adjustments.

Designate a safe spot for the baby to play

As doing chores around the house doesn’t stop with the baby’s arrival – what’s more, it doubles, you should also consider creating a safe spot for your baby or toddler to play. In that way, you can do your chores while glancing at your kid occasionally. If you have a baby, you need something to contain it, keep busy and entertained. You can put up a baby fence, similarly to an early learning centre would do. You can place colorful toys with lights and sound to occupy your little one.

Soften the corners

Sharp corners and furniture edges are other crucial things to consider. It becomes your first concern when your baby starts rolling, pulling, and crawling. The best way to check which items are a hazard is to get on the floor and try to see things at your baby’s eye level. In that way, you will be able to look at your home from a different angle, and also, it is easier to spot things that your baby will find attractive but that is dangerous at the same time. It can sometimes seem that babies are a magnet for sharp edges. You can purchase corner guards for tables and other furniture with sharp edges.

Skip using tablecloths

With a small baby around, it would be wise to stop using tablecloths for a while. They can be a big problem as kids love pulling them down. They also use them to pull themselves up. This can cause contents from the table to fall and hurt the baby or scald it with hot beverages. So, it would be better if you stopped using tablecloths for some time and instead moved to placemats. You can find quality ones that don’t slide around, which are elegant and can easily be wiped down.

Keep windows secured

We shouldn’t forget about windows and keeping them secure. Fortunately, in the past year, the number of kids falling from windows has decreased. Nevertheless, this is still a relevant concern. The same is true for balcony doors and windows. The windows should be secured so a kid can’t open them for more than 4 inches. There are window stop screws you can buy and install on the windows around your home. If you don’t own the house and you don’t want to screw this in, you can consider stops that use suction. You can also opt for releasable window guards with bars across the windows.

Lock appliances

And finally, when it comes to appliances, to prevent your kids from accidentally turning them on, you should lock them, including the stove. There are various methods of locking, including appliance locking straps. You should secure the stove, the oven, the dishwasher and the refrigerator as well.

As you can see, you should do plenty of things to create a safe environment for your baby. It will seem manageable if you start implementing these safety measures in time.

Disclaimer: The information in this article is provided for general education and informational purposes only, without any express or implied warranty of any kind, including warranties of accuracy, completeness or fitness for any particular purpose. It is not intended to be and does not constitute financial, legal, tax or any other advice specific to you the user or anyone else. TurtleVerse does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information and shall not be held responsible for any action taken based on the published information.

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