Children are curious by nature and want to touch and explore everything; however, it can also cause them severe injuries. Here are useful tips to ensure their safety at home.
For a child, every room in the house is their playground – and that includes corners, doors, stairs, wires and electric plugs. Here is an extensive childproofing checklist that will ensure that your child will be safer at home.
When to Childproof Your Home
You don’t need to childproof your home immediately when the baby arrives. However, once your baby starts showing signs of readiness for rolling over and pushing up to crawl, you need to be sure your home is safe for the child.
Remember that babies learn those new skills fast. So, it’s better to get started before you really need those safety products.
How to Start Childproofing
The easiest way to begin childproofing your home is to take several walk-throughs and think about your baby’s perspective. Walk through your home once as you normally would, noting any sharp corners, doors that should be gated, dangling electric cords, poisonous plants, choking hazards, things that could be pulled over on top of baby, cabinets with hazardous contents or containers that are or could be filled with water.
Then, take a second tour of the house on your hands and knees. You may spot additional hazards when you check from baby’s perspective.
Childproofing Cabinets
Cabinet locks are one of the most common childproofing products and they come in several different styles.
- Some cabinet locks thread through the outer handles, and while they are effective, they are not terribly attractive.
- Plastic push-latches that go inside the cabinets won’t detract from the look of your kitchen, but they can be hard to use and may hurt your fingers.
- Magnet latches go inside the cabinets as well, and are simple to use, but they are the most expensive option.
- You also could simply move dangerous products up high, leaving lower cabinets for things baby can play with safely.
Baby Proofing Cabinet Strap Locks
Your little one’s adventures can lead them to cabinets, knife drawers, toilet seat and other things. This baby proofing kit can protect baby and pets from getting injured while they explore your home. These cupboard safety locks can be installed in the bathroom, kitchen, under the sink, on drawers, laundry room cabinet doors, almost anywhere.
Childproofing Electric Outlets
Make sure the baby is unable to insert things into the electric outlets at home.
- Simple plastic outlet covers are the cheapest option, since they can be found in bulk packages for just a few dollars. These can be difficult to remove from the outlets, even for adults, though. If a baby does manage to remove one, the size makes it a choking hazard.
- Some larger outlet covers are available to mitigate that risk. Another option is a new outlet plate that has built-in covers that slide away from the openings when they are needed, and close automatically when the plug is removed.
Child Proof Electrical Safety Plug Covers
These outlet covers protect your children from accidents and prevent electrocution; these outlet plugs make sure that your little one cannot reach into your home’s electric sockets.
Childproofing Electric Cords
Cords for electric devices are dangerous in several ways. Shock and strangulation are common risks, but baby also could pull heavy or hot appliances over by the cord.
Make sure cords don’t cross the floor or doorways, use zip-ties or cord winders to take up as much extra cord as possible, and don’t leave large loops of cord accessible to baby.
Power Strip Cover Box
You can place your power strip inside this box (dimensions 13.3″L x 4.7″W x 5.2″H) and effectively baby proof power strip on the floor or the wall. The cords and cables come out of the small openings in the box, thereby keeping little fingers and hands locked out and safe.
Childproofing Sharp Corners
Babies fall down a lot as they learn to pull up and walk. Somehow, they always seem to fall towards the sharpest surface in the room. Think about things your baby could fall against, such as coffee tables, fireplace surrounds, window seats, railings, or other furniture.
You may need to purchase or make padded edge covers for those areas. Foam or fabric edge covers for tables or fireplaces are readily available at baby products stores.
Corner Guard & Edge Safety Bumpers
These sharp corner protectors are designed to protect your family, especially kids, from sharp corners of furniture (various table corners). These are transparent and easy to stick and do not fall off easily.
Childproofing the Bathroom
Before you start locking down everything in your bathroom, go to your home’s water heater and turn the temperature down to 120 degrees F or less to prevent scalds.
You may want to consider a toilet lock to prevent baby from playing in, or falling into, the toilet.
Remember to do the same childproofing on the bathroom cabinets and closets as you did in the kitchen.
Childproofing Tall Furniture
Bookshelves, armoires and dressers can all be pulled over onto your baby if he or she tries to climb them.
Furniture brackets can be used to prevent those accidents. The L-shaped brackets are screwed into the furniture and then into a wall stud to keep the furniture from tipping. You can also be sure that heavier items are on lower shelves to make the furniture less likely to tip.
Anti Tip Furniture Anchors for Baby Proofing
These furniture anchors will help secure your furniture in place so you can be assured that your baby (or pet) won’t be hurt due to furniture tip-overs at home. These are perfect for preventing top-heavy and unsteady furniture from dumping.
Childproofing Doors and Closets
Remember that a closed door will not keep baby out for very long. Be sure you’ve removed unsafe products from closet floors and low shelves.
- You can get doorknob covers to prevent baby from opening some doors, but these can also make it difficult for some adults to get in or out.
- Placing a lock on the top of the door where only adults can reach is also a good solution, particularly for exterior doors.
- For doors that can remain open, consider a pinch-proof doorknob attachment that prevents the door from slamming on tiny fingers.
Childproofing Stairs and Other Areas (Baby Safety Gates)
Baby gates are the final step in childproofing your home. Gates can be used to keep baby away from stairs, or to keep baby contained in one play area. They can also be used to prevent access to areas that cannot be childproofed well enough by other means.
A Baby Safety Gate іs quick and eаsy to set up as it can be positioned on inside doors, stairs positions, on wall structure, front door, staircase openings, and more.
Kitchen and stairs are definitely two areas where you should consider setting up safety gates in order to keep your little one safe.
Baby gates are available in traditional styles as well as in many modern styles to fit in almost any space. You can even find gate segments that can be linked together to secure open floor-plan homes or to create a safe space for baby to play in the middle of any room.
Related: Tips to ensure safe outdoor play for children
Best Baby Safety Gates
Here are some of the best retractable safety gates for kids.
Baby safety barriers come with unique locking mechanism that makes handling them easy and hassle free, plus you have the option to manually open and lock the gate.
With а streamlined, ergonomic design, modern design, net dօor for safety, this retracting child safety gates is best to keep kids safe in any house.
The gate has an automated securing unit for better protection, operability, as well as added body weight protection.
It can be instаlled at any angle, the patented net panel can take loads up to 115kǥs, and also comes with one-handed function for easy unlocking. See price on Amazon.
Funtoyworld is a family-managed website with me (Ben), and my wife doing most of the work. We are proud parents of two wonderful kids and love reviewing toys. We have a firm but friendly “democratic parenting” style and offer several practical suggestions backed by extensive research. Our own experience with raising two children prompted us to share our knowledge. Read more.
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