Before your baby can crawl or walk, it’s a good idea to safety proof your home in order to create a safe environment and avoid them getting into sticky situations. To help you safety proof your home, we’ve made a list of some of the things you’ll need to check so you can easily work through your home and tweak as your little one grows.
What Is Baby Proofing?
Baby proofing is the measures you take to make your home as safe as it can be for your little one. Some common precautions you might take are:
- Covering plug sockets with covers to ensure little fingers can’t get stuck
- Covering sharp corners on furniture such as the dining and coffee tables
- Checking smoke detector batteries regularly and ensuring carbon monoxide monitors are working
- Adding baby gates to stairs or the fireplace
- Fitting safety catches to cupboard doors
- Locking household chemicals such as bleach and cleaning products securely away
- Securing heavy furniture to the wall to prevent them toppling over
- Checking the temperature of your radiators
When Should You Baby Proof Your Home?
It’s completely up to you when you start child proofing your home, but we recommend beginning to think about it before your baby’s arrival. Your second trimester is a great time to start thinking about baby proofing as you’re less tired and morning sickness has often gone.
No matter when you decide to baby proof your home, it’s important to ensure that baby proofing is done by the time your baby starts crawling, around 6-8 months’ old. Curious babies can quickly get into sticky situations causing themselves a serious injury, so ensuring your house is safe is incredibly important.
Baby proofing tasks to consider
Although some baby proofing is specific to a particular room – for example you’ll need to baby proof the hallway with baby safety gates – there are some safety issues that will apply to multiple rooms, including:
Cover plug sockets
Baby proof plug sockets with a cover. Experts recommend using a lockable cover that fits over the power outlet rather than the blank plug style that can be pushed into the socket.
Tie up electrical cords
Baby proof all electrical cords, including things like phone chargers, extension cables, and household appliances. Your baby could get into serious trouble if they chew or get tangled in a cable so ensure these are securely covered and out of reach.
Remove objects that are in reach
Babies love pulling down objects and putting things in their mouths so you should ensure that anything that could cause harm is out of reach. Things like hot drinks, plastic bags, and small objects can all be a risk to your little one, so take a good look around and ensure that nothing in reach could be dangerous.
Fit child proof locks to windows
The outdoors is fascinating to little ones so it’s important that you fit child proof locks to your windows to ensure your baby doesn’t accidentally open them and fall out.
Fit safety catches to cupboard doors and drawers
To keep small children away from cupboards and drawers you should consider adding safety catches to doors as they prevent them from getting inside and potentially ingesting harmful chemicals or medications.
Fit corner protectors to sharp edges of furniture
Sharp edges on furniture such as the coffee table should be covered to prevent injuries in case your toddler walks into them. Place corner guards on lower level furniture such as TV stands and dining tables to stop little ones walking into them.
Block doors with safety gates
If you don’t want your little explorer to move out of the room they’re in then it’s a good idea to block access with a baby gate. Baby gates ensure that your little explorer can’t get out without your assistance so they can’t get themselves into trouble! Experts advise keeping the baby gates up until your child is at least 2 years old.
Baby proof your doors
There are a few ways you can baby proof the doors in your home including with door knob covers that fit over the door knob and need to be pressed or squeezed from both sides to be opened.
Beyond the general tips above, you should ensure your baby’s nursery is also fully baby proofed too, some things you can do include:
- Ensuring your baby’s crib or cot meet safety standards – if you’re purchasing a new cot, check that it’s certified to British Standard BS EN 716-1 and if you’re planning on purchasing a second hand one, make sure it’s sturdy and the distance between the bars is lower than 6cm
- Keep your baby’s cot empty – as tempting as it can be to put stuffed animals into your baby’s cot to soothe them, they should be kept in the toy box until they are at least 12 months old. This helps to reduce the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome)
- Securing the changing table to the wall – changing tables should be secured to the wall to prevent it from toppling over whilst your baby is on it
- Check on your baby regularly – use a baby monitor to check on your baby to give you peace of mind they are safe in their bedroom
What else should I baby proof?
It can be daunting being new parents, but it shouldn’t have to be. As a rule of thumb, if it’s within your baby’s reach and they can pull it down, or if you baby can fall from it or walk into it then you should consider baby proofing it.
Always ensure any hazardous items such as cleaning products and medication are locked away securely, and anything that could pose a suffocation risk like plastic bags are well out of reach of small hands.
Once you’ve baby proofed your home, you’ll love the peace of mind it brings knowing that your little one can safely explore every corner of your home under your supervision.
