Bringing home a newborn is one of the most exciting days in a parent’s life. But a strange phenomenon happens when you walk in the door with your baby for the first time: you suddenly realize all the dangerous objects in your house! From electrical outlets to the corners of your end table, it seems as if everything in your house could hurt your new precious bundle.
Many parents “baby-proof” their house so it is a safe environment for their growing little one. But when do you need to baby-proof your house, and how do you know the job is done?
When to Start Babyproofing Your House
Some excited or anxious parents begin to baby-proof their house as soon as the pregnancy strip turns pink. This isn’t necessarily wrong, especially if you have many valuable or fragile items, or have a very busy life and need to take baby-proofing at a slower pace.
However, it’s generally not necessary to begin baby-proofing until your baby shows signs of being mobile. By the time your baby can roll belly to back (or back to belly), you should have everything up to about 12 inches off the floor checked for safety. Once your baby can roll, you will start finding them anywhere but where you set them down! They can roll over to your end table and pull books or knick-knacks off the lowest shelves.
A parent’s job is never done when it comes to baby-proofing! For a few months, the lowest shelves and outlets will be your primary concern, but then your baby starts to crawl, and then pull to standing, and then to toddling! Every delightful new stage comes with a new set of baby-proofing. Every few months, take stock of what might need to be relocated to ensure your child’s safety.
How Do I Baby-Proof My House?
Baby proofing isn’t something to skim through; your baby’s life is potentially at risk if you skip over an area of the house. Take your time!
Each room in the house has its own unique baby-proofing needs. So while this isn’t an exhaustive list for every room in the house, you should check these safety items off for each room.
- Electrical Outlets: Cover any unused electrical outlets with a plastic covers
- Electrical Cords: Conceal or secure any electrical cords, as these can cause strangulation or electrocution
- Furniture: Secure all furniture that could fall over on the child. This would include but is not limited to dressers, bookshelves, TVs, cabinets, and lamps.
- Choking hazards: This is a broad category, so take your time evaluating all choking hazards. Generally, if an object can fit down a toilet paper tube, it is a choking hazard. All small items should be removed from the child’s reach! However, items like potted plants, pencils (the child can bite off the eraser), magnets, and more, could also be choking hazards.
- Door latches: Closed cabinets are like a present waiting to be opened for a baby–except they often conceal things like toxic cleaning supplies and heavy appliances that are dangerous. Door latches keep cabinet doors from opening so a baby can’t get what’s inside.
- Safety gate: Baby gates are an excellent way to promote your baby’s safety by blocking off certain areas of the house. That way, you don’t have to rearrange your whole home office or laundry room.
- Batteries: Ensure all batteries are put high out of reach in a baby-proof container.
- Alarms: Ensure your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms have new batteries and are in good working order.
“House Proof the Baby”
You can’t move everything out of your child’s reach, especially as they grow into climbing toddlers. Outlets, TVs and consoles, and other appliances often can’t be moved–or at least, not easily. In this case, you need to “house-proof the baby” instead of baby-proofing the house.
While parents are responsible for making their living space as safe as possible, children also should learn how to avoid potential dangers around them. Someone else’s house might not have outlet covers or might have their fragile possessions temptingly on the edge of a table. Parents must be equally diligent in baby-proofing the house and teaching their children not to touch dangerous objects.
House-proofing the baby can start as soon as the baby is mobile. As they reach for something you don’t want them to touch, say a firm but gentle “no” and pull your baby away from the object. Then cheerfully give them a toy they can have with encouraging words like “This is what you can play with!” Further reinforce these concepts by praising your baby for playing with their own toys.
Training your baby early to respond to your directions can save you some major apologies from broken items, or even save your baby’s life!
Take Baby Proofing Seriously
Baby-proofing your house is a big job, but it’s vital to your baby’s safety and your peace of mind. Take your time to wiggle each piece of furniture to see if it can be pulled over, check the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, crawl down to your baby’s level and see your house through their eyes, and be diligent in keeping locks and gates closed at all times.