Because December is Safe Toys and Gifts Month, we thought we’d offer some advice for keeping your home safe for the holidays and into the New Year! Whether you already have kids, are looking forward to your first or are hosting family members with children for the holidays, baby proofing your home is an important step in the journey for all to-be parents. Here are some tips, room by room:
Your Nursery
- Crib: Avoid bedding so soft it might suffocate your baby. Pick a crib manufactured after 1992, and make sure the slats are no more than 2 and 3/8 inches apart. Remove mobiles once your child can begin to reach them.
- Changing Table: Find something sturdy with a safety strap and short guardrails on each side. Always keep changing supplies within reach.
- Toys: Use chests without lids or ones that hold themselves open. Keep balls, balloons or other small toys away from the crib to avoid choking risk.
Your Bathroom
- Bathtub: Never leave your baby unattended or leave standing water in a tub. Install no-slip strips in the bottom of the tub. Set your heater to a maximum of 120 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent scalding.
- Toilet: Install lid locks on the toilets to prevent drowning and to keep the lid from landing on your baby’s head or hands.
- Medicine and Electrical Appliances: Keep all medications out of the reach of children and make use of safety caps on medicine bottles. Unplug hair dryers, razors and other devices when they are not in use. Store them out of reach.
Your Kitchen
- Cleaning Products and Other Toxic Materials: Store these in a high cabinet, or use child locks if you store them below the sink. Don’t forget to keep alcohol out of reach, too.
- High Chairs: Always use safety straps around your child’s legs and waist to keep him from slipping out.
- Microwaves: Avoid using the microwave to heat bottles because it heats unevenly. Pockets of milk could get hot enough to scald your baby.
- Stove: Cook on the back burners or move pan or pot handles away from the edge of the stove. And keep a fire extinguisher conspicuously on hand but out of your child’s reach.
- Drawers: Be sure all your drawers have stops so that your child can’t pull it on himself. Keep sharp things in a latched drawer separate from safe utensils.
Your Basement and Garage
- Garage Doors: Install automatic garage door openers that automatically reverse upon contact with an object. Motion sensors are also a good investment.
- Tools and Chemicals: Store out of reach. Unplug all power tools after use. Keep all paints, varnishes, fertilizers, etc. out of reach. Be sure that storage areas lock.
General
- Windows: Make sure they’re locked. Cut loose cords or tie them up out of your baby’s reach to prevent choking or strangulation. Place decals on glass so that your child won’t walk into them.
- Electrical Cords: Tie them up or tape them down. Put safety plugs in all unused electrical outlets.
- Floors: Carpeted stairs prevent slipping. Check floors for small objects that might choke a baby (i.e. coins, buttons, pins, screws, beads, small batteries, etc.). Use baby gates to keep your child out of rooms that are not baby-proofed or away from staircases.
- Furniture: Cushion hard edges or sharp corners. Move sharped-edged pieces from high traffic areas. Anchor unsteady pieces of furniture, such as bookcases.
- Plastic Bags: From the store or dry cleaner, these can suffocate your child and should be thrown out or stored out of reach.
- Electronics: Be sure that TVs and stereos are secured and cannot be pulled down by a child. Use good judgment with an electronic’s electrical cords. Keep fans and space heaters out of reach.
- Doors: Use doorknob covers or locks to keep children out of certain rooms. Make sure door stops can’t be removed or swallowed. Place decals on glass so that your child won’t walk into them.
- Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors: These should be in every home but are especially important for those with children.
- Decks and Balconies: Safety netting can keep your child from falling through.
According to the CDC, most accidents in the home happen around water, heat or flames, toxic substances or any place where a child could potentially fall. Be sure to consider these especially when baby proofing your home. And of course, research the safest cribs, playpens, toys and car seats.
If it seems like a lot to learn, you’re right. But baby proofing is an important part of preparing to bring home baby (or to host little ones during the holidays!). And it becomes second-nature once your child arrives, and you see what they reach, how quickly they get around and the sort of trouble they get into. Proofing your home helps ensure you and your baby will have a happy and healthy life together.
