When the baby is on the way, baby proofing shouldn’t be far behind!
The new member in your family brings with him/her a lot of happiness and love, but also a manifold increase in the responsibility of the parents to keep the baby safe. Remember the safest place- the home can become a dangerous place for the baby who out of curiosity may find himself/herself exploring the risky spots in the house. Thus, childproofing the house is the very first duty of the parents which must be given top priority.
Undermining the hidden risks around your house can be a mistake that might prove to be fatal for your baby boy/girl. You must do your bit by ensuring that you have got the baby proofing essentials ready well in time to welcome your baby in the safe haven of your home.
What and Why Should I Baby Proof?
As a first-time parent, when you sit down with your partner to discuss and research on baby proofing hacks, it is highly possible that you will view every corner of your house as a potential threat and that can get overwhelming. However, to avoid this you must follow your common sense because you know your house the best. Not only the living room, balcony, kitchen etc. but household items like tables, cabinets, drawers and doors can turn out to be risky- so your diy baby proofing plan must give special attention to all of these.
Since your child is going to spend most of his/her growing years in and around the house, childproofing the house becomes an essential task for the parents. The whole idea behind baby proofing is providing the freedom to your baby to move around the house, explore and learn without being at risk of accidents or injuries.
What are the risks that get reduced by childproofing the house?
You should baby proof the house to avoid risks such as your baby falling from a certain height; your baby burning himself/herself with a hot pan in the kitchen; your baby consuming a poisonous item stored in some cabinet; your baby tampering with open electronic outlets and so on. Sounds dangerous right?
Childproofing the house will help avoid all the risks and accidents mentioned above and much more, if done rightly and smartly. You obviously want to see your child grow happily and move about freely inside the house with limited supervision. You can do just that by utilizing the right baby proofing products, techniques and ideas as we have put forth for your consideration.
18 Baby Proofing Ideas To Ensure There Are No Accidents
Accidents in the house occur at the most unexpected times causing minor injuries to permanent disabilities in babies. But remember, accidents are ‘preventable’ if you employ the correct baby proofing methods inside your house. We would like to provide you with some relevant baby proofing ideas on a budget to assure you the peace of mind.
1. Baby proofing ideas related to electrical appliances/outlets
Babies seem extremely fascinated with electrical appliances like television, lamps, etc. so they might get entangled in the wires; the uncovered electrical outlets might cause electrocution or the appliance may fall on the baby hurting him/her. So what you can do is store these appliances safely; tie up the wires and chords carefully; put electrical outlet covers and appliance strap can also be used to secure them safely.
2. Install safety gates wherever necessary
Out of all baby proofing products, gates especially the retractable and adjustable ones available nowadays can be installed at the entrances of rooms like the kitchen, balcony, bathroom etc. Gates can be installed wherever there are staircases as well to restrict the movement of the baby and avoid falls.
3. Keep a check for sharp corners
Sometimes parents are so engrossed in childproofing the house that they miss out small details like the sharp corners around the house which have the potential to hurt your baby fatally. You can invest in some corner guards which act as bumpers protecting the baby from sharp corners of any furniture.
4. Baby proof your doors
Doors can become gateways to rooms which are not suitable for the baby to enter especially without supervision. To tackle this, you can utilize door knob covers so that your baby cannot access the doors to other rooms. Apart from that, door stops can be used so that your baby’s fingers do not get caught between the doors. Door alarms are another excellent addition.
5. House windows also need protection
One of the baby proofing hacks that you must remember is protecting the windows with use of window stops, safety nets and window guards because your baby might be smart enough to approach the windows instead of the doors.
6. Childproofing your living room
One of the busiest rooms in the house is the living room so taking extra measures to baby proof it is necessary. Get rid of unstable furniture pieces; ensure the television is anchored and electrical cords are out of reach; carpet the area to provide safety to your baby in case of a fall; assure that paintings, sculptures and other home décor are safely secured and so on.
7. Watching out for dangers in the kitchen
First of all install a safety gate in the kitchen. Apart from that baby proofing kitchen also includes: storing of toxic cleaning materials and sharp objects like knives and other cutlery high above or in locked cabinets; removal of knobs of the stove when not in use and keeping appliances like toasters, microwave etc. out of reach.
8. Pay attention to unsafe balcony
Getting stuck in between the railings to falling from the gaps between the railings- the balcony is unsafe for babies. So the baby proofing essentials for your balcony are: modifying the height and the gap between the railings; safety nets and balcony shield can be utilized; removal of any furniture and keeping the doors of the balcony closed.
9. Drawers, cabinet and almirah safety options
All of these storage spaces have a hidden mystery for the babies. Thus baby proofing drawers, cabinets and almirahs is a must. Locks including the magnetic ones can be used but in case you are interested in baby proofing cabinets without locks then you can use conventional items like zip tie, hair tie, rubber band, ribbon etc. to fasten the cabinet, drawers or almirah handles.
10. Get rid of wobbly or unwanted tables and stools
Along with covering the edges of the tables and stools with corner guards, you can get the wobbly tables and stools repaired or use furniture glides to fix the problem. In case of unwanted tables and stools, you can get rid of them.
11. Smoke alarms are a good addition
Installing smoke detectors would be a good addition for childproofing the house because fires can take place due to a mistake of not only your baby but also because of a mistake you commit. So it is better to be safe than sorry.
12. Ideas for bathroom safety
Non-skid rugs and mats must be used on the bathroom floor; toilet lid must be kept closed when not in use; electrical equipments must not be kept in the washroom and bath gate inside the bath tub can be installed for the safety of your baby.
13. Childproofing the baby room/nursery
The baby room must have a baby monitor installed; the crib has to be fastened and secured appropriately; placement of the crib inside the room has to be done carefully and avoid too much decorations in the room as well as heavy furniture pieces.
14. Safety tips associated with chairs
While childproofing the house, you can remove expensive chairs to your storage; clamp the other chairs to the wall or table; use gliding chairs instead of rocking chairs and strap on your child on the chair as and when required.
15. Keep a first aid kit handy
Instead of waiting for a doctor to come to the rescue, you must keep a first aid kit prepared and store it at a convenient place in your house. Learn a few first aid techniques to save your child.
16. Check the plants around the house
Some plants can turn out to be harmful for your kid in case they have poisonous leaves or thorns. So check those plants and keep them either at a higher place or outside the house.
17. Take measures to prevent poisoning
Lock up any chemicals, cleaning agents, detergents, medicines etc. which might be harmful for your baby. Mark/label the containers which store dangerous items to avoid risks.
18. Precautions to be taken with toys
Keep sanitizing the toys your baby plays with. Invest in a toy trunk for storage which is safe to be accessed by a child. To avoid choking hazards ensure there are no toys with lose small parts. Very heavy toys must also be not given to the child.
The above ideas are not all-exhaustive because the more the efforts you put in childproofing the house, the more peacefully you will be able to enjoy your parenthood. We encourage you to keep experimenting and innovating with diy baby proofing ideas and share them with other parents-to-be as well. Happy Parenting to all of you!