Baby proofing: make your house child safe

Once you have a baby, who’s about to crawl, you start looking at your house from a completely different baby proofing angle. You notice so many things that may potentially harm your little one if he gets into them. Stairs, cabinets with heavy appliances and sharp knives, electric outlets, windows, fireplaces, heavy furniture, lampshades and blinds that might fall on your climbing and pulling child…

Oh, there’s just too much to be able to think about everything at once. That’s why it’s really important to start baby proofing your home in advance in order to cover all areas of danger and make sure that once your baby decides to be mobile, you won’t have to constantly follow him around till he’s about 4 or 5 years old and understands what might cause him trouble.

Use these essential child proofing tips to get your house all set and safe for your little explorer.

Ultimate baby proofing tips

1. Install baby gates to make sure that you baby doesn’t have direct and uncontrolled access to the stairs (baby gates at the top and bottom of the staircase, at the kitchen area, etc.).
2. Inspect your kitchen. Install baby locks not only on your cabinets, but also on the fridge, dishwasher and pantry doors. Don’t cover your dining table with tablecloths to prevent your baby from pulling onto its edge and getting smashed by the dishes and sharp utensils.
3. Get your stove’s knobs closed with clear baby proofing stove knob covers, which don’t allow your child to turn the stove on or/and let the gas leak. Install a stove guard to keep your toddler from touching hot things on the stovetop.
4. How many times did you catch your child trying to open the window or leaning onto the window screen? If you don’t want your child to fall out of the window and hurt himself badly, call a window contractor and ask him to install window guards on the windows in your house (except of the first-floor ones).
5. Spend some extra time on organizing your cleaning supplies, medicine, makeup and skincare products, tools and crafting supplies the way that your baby can’t reach them whatsoever.
6. Move onto baby proofing your living room. Get rid of the floor-standing lamps, install a baby safety fence around your fireplace, make sure that your baby can’t reach various fragile decorations (like vases or pots with house plants)
7. Take a second look at your furniture and anchor those pieces your child might make to tilt over while climbing or pulling on them (like dressers and bookshelves). Corner protectors will save your baby’s head from numerous bruises and more serious injuries.
8. Wall-mount your TV and hide the cords to make sure that your child doesn’t have a chance to bring the TV down and hurt himself.
9. Did you know that at least 7 American children per day get injured as they stick different objects (like small toys, jewelry, keys, hair pins, etc.) into the outlets?
   Go to HireRush.com and post a baby proofing task for an electrician to get your ordinary outlets replaced with special child proof ones, as well as your electric cords hidden and inaccessible for your little one’s hands.
   It’s important to get this baby proofing task done by a licensed pro, as you may choose improper outlets that present either choking or fire hazard.
   Leave your request here
10. Once your baby gets active during the bath time, make sure to get a non-slip mat to cover the bottom of the bathtub and prevent your baby from falling, as well as soft covers for the bath faucet and taps. Get the toilet and medicine/makeup cabinet locks as well.
11. Hiring a plumber to install the anti-scald device, which regulates water temperature and keeps hot water at a safe temperature level, will help you and your child avoid water burns. Not too necessary, but quite useful.
12. If you have a pool in your backyard, guard it with a fence and install baby gates to be able to let your child play outside without being afraid that he might fall into the water.
13. Have you ever smashed your fingers in a door? It’s sooo painful, especially when a giant door hits the tiny baby’s or toddler’s fingers. Install baby proofing doorway finger guards to prevent that.
14. Make sure to keep your floors clean on a regular basis to prevent your child from choking on coins, tiny toy parts, pieces of paper, etc.
15. Keep the curtain/blinds cords out of the baby’s reach with the help of the cord keepers. Alternatively, you may trim the cords so that your child isn’t able to pull on them.

Once you make sure your home is absolutely safe for you kid, you can leave him all alone in the room to play for some time and do not worry about the possible hazards anymore. Let your kid be safe and sound at his castle!