So you have a little crawler and it’s time to babyproof your home. You clip your cabinets, remove the choking hazards, and plug the outlets.
This is a great start!
Baby proofing is as much about your peace of mind as a parent as it is about your child’s safety.
Here are 6 additional techniques that will help you make your home a safe and fun place of exploration for your little belly-bound adventurer.
1 - Fasten your TVs
Tipping televisions are a proven and serious hazard to young children. In 2011, 41 children died from a television that tipped over.
A little child is no match for a heavy TV. Ensure that your TV is properly fastened into a wall in accordance with instructions that come along with the wall mount.
We recommend that if you have an old tube-style TV (basically everything before a flat screen) mounted on a shelf or a table that you simply remove it or take it down. These TVs are extremely weighty and unbalanced.
2 - Bolt your Bookshelves
High, top-heavy bookshelves also need to be fastened to the wall. You can purchase bookshelf fasteners at your local hardware store.
Every child hits a climbing stage. And those bookshelves are the home equivalent of Mount Everest. They are enticing, irresistible, adventurous and extremely dangerous.
Remove them or fasten them.
3 - Install Door Alarms
You can buy a door alarm for as little as $7.00 from Home Depot. Install these alarms on doors that can lead to areas that require supervision. Do you have a pool? If so, install these on all of the doors that lead out to the pool. It’s also a good idea to install an alarm on your front door; especially if your house sits on a busy street.
You can set these alarms to active and inactive. When set to active, they will alert you if the door is opened.
It’s one extra layer of safety in case your industrious child unlocks the secrets of the door handle child proof contraption.
4 - Educate your older children
Do you have older children who have lots of toys that your baby could choke on? If so, you should begin teaching and educating your older child.
Take a pitcher or jar and fill it will all the chokable items around the house. Have your older children help and participate in this activity so they feel like they are part of the process.
While it may be difficult, explain to them that for a a few months, they need to help keep their younger sibling safe by storing the chokeable toys up and out of reach.
5 - Lock your refrigerator
Refrigerators seem to be an irresistible magnet to the young, inquisitive mind. And who can blame them? They light up and are full of delicious food.
We recommend that you invest in a lock for your refrigerator.
Here is a link to a $5.00 refrigerator door lock on Amazon.
6 - Check for loose items on shaky tables
Always ensure that loose items such as flower pots and heavy picture frames are either removed or fastened to the table. If a child can crawl up to a table and shake it or move it, then you will need to carefully consider what is sitting on top of that table.
It only takes a split second for a flower pot to topple and come crashing down.
The goal of babyproofing your home is to provide a safe place for your little crawler to explore.
So take the time, think it through, and don’t take shortcuts. Babyproof your home so that the next time you set your intrepid adventurer down, you can have peace of mind. And that’s a beautiful thing.