Babies are naturally curious beings. They will crawl under any hole, go to any corners, and poke any crevice they can see. For new parents, it can get overwhelming to constantly worry or follow your baby around, hoping they won’t accidentally touch something dangerous.
But for every major change in our life comes major adjustments. As if a baby isn’t enough of an adjustment, you need to adjust your house as well. You have your baby room and crib already, but have you ever considered making your house safe for a growing child? If you’re wondering how important childproofing your house is, consider the statistics: 75 to 90 percent of accidents can be prevented through awareness and preparation. While there’s no need to go overboard and pad every wall, floor, and surface with soft material, knowing measures that can make your home safer for your child is a must.
Common Sense Above Everything
As adults, we have the common sense the natural world has taught us. Our children, not so much. Because of this, what may be obvious to us is definitely not obvious to our kids. This guide might sound patronizing, but you better believe that adults tend to overlook simple solutions because we have the common sense to avoid them in the first place. These tips are for you to apply, but for your children to be protected.
1. Use Childlocks on Doors and Drawers
Cabinets, kitchen drawers, dressers, these all have openings that your child might open and enter. They can hide inside these enclosed spaces, sending the family into a worried hunt to find where the child may be. However, these can be easily preventable by installing child locks to stop prying hands from forcing them open.
2. Shelf Your Items
Items on shelves at least three feet in height are in danger of being knocked over. Tower shelves look like ladders to children, and they will try to climb them. To avoid this, use high wall shelves. You don’t have to place your shelves so high that you need to buy an order picker to get your things; they just need to be high enough that your child can’t reach them.
3. Stair Gates
The moment babies learn to walk, they love to explore every area they can. This includes climbing up shelves, chairs, and stairs. Stairs pose an obvious danger, as your child will see people going up and down and might want to emulate them. To prevent this, install safety gates at the top and bottom of the stairs to make sure your child is stopped before they begin their adventurous climb.
4. Cover Your Sockets
It’s every parent’s nightmare to catch their child trying to poke their finger on the wall socket. This fear isn’t exactly unfounded as two-thirds of electrocution happens at home. Before your child even has the idea to poke something on the socket, use socket covers to prevent this from happening. They might make plugging something on the wall a bit of a hassle, but for your child’s safety, it’s a million times worth it.
5. Childproof Your Pool
A swimming pool is great to have. It’s also a great way to instill athletics and swimming skills to younger children. But for babies and toddlers who can’t swim, it’s a major hazard. They might wander too close and drown when left unattended, or even when you’re there, they might slip on the poolside. But don’t fill your pool with soil just yet; instead, use an anti-slip rubber mat on the poolside to prevent slippage. Use a pool fence around it when not in use as well.
6. Child Fence for the Curious Baby
Babies are curious; that’s a fact. And we need to cultivate this curiosity for them to grow up smart and clever. To satisfy their curiosity and keep them safe, it’s best to have a baby fence for them to stay in during the moments you can’t give your 100% attention to them. This lets them wander around in a relatively safe space- just make sure you put rubber mats around so they won’t hurt when they fall. However, they will try to climb the fence, so it’s best to use fences with less surface area to cling on.
7. Check the Choking Hazards
Another fear parents have is their children’s habits of popping things into their mouths. Our houses naturally have a lot of small choking hazards, from coins to keys, to USB sticks to toys—it’s almost impossible to keep track of all of them. But you can help prevent them from being a choking hazard by keeping things in their containers and putting things back to where they belong. This ensures that the living area is clean and free of small items that can pose a danger to your baby.
