Becoming a parent for the first time is exciting and terrifying at the same time. Once your baby grows up enough to start exploring the house, it can get dangerous. With that in mind, the Fantastic Services team has created this list of things that you can do to ensure the safety of the newest member of your family. The sooner you can upgrade your home with these safety measures, the better.
Keep the bed away from the window. Toddlers are very curious and adventurous, so they will most certainly crawl out of their beds. Don’t give them a reason to climb on the window sill. Keep the bed on the opposite wall from the window.
Install safety locks on windows. Despite being away from the window, an additional safety measure would be making sure the toddler can’t open the window by themselves. Don’t underestimate a baby’s brain. A lot of people are surprised at how easily they learn to achieve their goals.
Use safety gates. These can help if you wish to limit the baby’s access to dangerous places like stairs, basements, attics, the fireplace etc. Safety gates are easy to install and they will give you peace of mind if you need a moment to look away from the child.
Keep the bedside table empty. We could tell you to install safety latches on cabinets and drawers, especially the bedside tables which are on a lower level and can easily be opened by a toddler. But, instead, we advise that you simply keep them empty of any choking hazards and other dangerous items.
Protect electrical outlets. And of course, don’t forget to cover every single electrical outlet, not just in the bedroom, but in the whole house. You can find plastic covers that are really easy to attach to every home improvement store.
Use cordless blinds. Blind cords have been known to cause dangerous accidents to toddlers. So, invest in cordless blinds to reduce the possibility of your child getting tangled with them.
These are the standard safety measures for a bedroom. But if you don’t want to miss anything, go down on all fours and check each room from a child’s viewpoint. Look for what seems most impressive and curious from this angle and you’ll find other things you can babyproof.
How to babyproof the kitchen
Just use a safety gate. The kitchen contains a lot of dangerous items and you can’t just keep them locked away. So, the fastest solution is to simply not let your toddler wander inside. That’s why installing a safety gate is your best bet. At some point, however, the kids will get in the kitchen. So, it won’t hurt to spend some time on safety there as well.
Keep drawers and cabinet doors closed. Childproof latches are a little hard to get used to, but they can help a lot if you want to keep the most dangerous kitchenware out of reach. The childproof latches are installed on the inside of the cabinets. They require you to open the door just a tiny bit and then press down on a plastic clip in order to allow the door to open the rest of the way. Perfectly safe.
Inspect the fire alarm regularly. You should always have a working fire alarm in the kitchen. You need to eliminate all chances of a fire from starting and carbon monoxide poisoning. And just to be on the safe side, we recommend having fire alarms in every single room in your property.
Keep breakable items out of reach. Sometimes we leave empty glasses on the kitchen table, instead of putting them away in the dishwasher. And toddlers often like to knock things off surfaces or shake the table’s legs until everything on top drops on the floor. That said, don’t leave anything on the table, especially if it’s breakable.
Barricade the stove. Attach large window decals to glass doors so the little ones will be less likely to walk right into them. Additionally, invest in a burner lid that will keep those little, curious fingers away from the heat.
Lock the waste bin. This is a part of the kitchen that gets ignored quite easily when it comes to toddler safety. Install locks on the waste bin lid so it cannot be opened.
Safety latches on cabinet doors. Just like in the kitchen, it’s important to put baby proof locks on your bathroom cabinets. The bathroom cabinets contain dangerous items like razors, medicine, and sometimes household cleaners. So, make sure your toddler can’t open them.
Eliminate standing water. It’s easy to forget about the water in the toilet and how your toddler could easily open the lid and fall inside. With that being said a lock on the toilet lid will save you a lot of worries. Also, don’t forget to drain the water from the bathtub after each use.
Buy slip-proof mats. If you don’t have those already, now is the time to invest in some, not only for your child’s safety but for yours as well. Baths can be very slippery, and slip-proof mats could save you an accident or two.
How to babyproof the living room
Keep all choking hazards out of reach. The first thing you have to do is to remove anything that can be picked up and swallowed by your toddler. All tiny figurines or collectable items that you’ve proudly displayed need to go. Babies go through a phase where they put everything in their mouths. If you’re not certain whether an item is a choking hazard or not, then it most probably is. If it could pass through the middle of a toilet paper roll, you need to put it away. Store the items in a plastic bag and lock them away.
Secure furniture and TV’s to the wall. Securing the furniture to the wall or the floor (or both) is important, especially if we’re talking about tall and heavy pieces that aren’t that hard to topple over. Keeping everything secured is the way to go.
Cover the furniture edges. The furniture base is often hard and the pointy edges could easily cause injury. Cover them with foam so you don’t have to worry about your child hurting itself.
Forget about lighters and matches. Most of us are used to keeping matches or lighters in easy places. Small children shouldn’t have access to these items. Keep all matches and lighters (and candles for that matter) safely stored away in a cabinet with a child lock.
How to baby proof the rest of the house
Block off stairs. There isn’t a better way to keep kids away from the stairs than with a safety gate. Purchase a few of them and your parenting days will be a little easier.
Use pool covers. If you own a swimming pool, now is the time to buy a cover in order to prevent your child from falling into the pool.
Remove the plants. If you love indoor plants, this will be a tough one for you, but children just can’t resist shoving their little hands in the soil. And where else do those little hands go? That’s right – in their mouths. Potted plants can be very harmful to a child’s health, so our best advice is to keep them out of the house altogether.
Consider corner cushions. Just like with the living room furniture, pointy wall corners can present a lot of danger. To avoid any sort of unwanted injuries, you can try installing corner cushions. You can choose from many colours, so don’t worry about how it’s going to tie in with the room.
Declutter. Decluttering is the best way to ensure there are no small items lying around the house that can cause a choking hazard. However, decluttering is not just a one-time thing. It’s best to create a habit of keeping things away and to remove what you don’t need.
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Check each room from a child’s level and you’ll know where to focus when you baby-proof your house;
Protect your child from electrocution, carbon monoxide poisoning and pointy furniture edges;
Sometimes restricting access is the best choice, so make use of safety gates.
Your home needs to be made safe for your new member(s) of the family. Babyproofing includes not just good equipment of the house, but also better item organisation and establishing a habit of keeping things put away. Knowing how to declutter properly will help you a lot with childproofing your home. If you need to make some additional installations for extra security, you can rely on Fantastic Services and their professional handymen.
