Childproofing Tips that Really Work

When you childproof your home, you are protecting your child from injury. You should get down onto floor level to see how the child sees things and take notes about things that need changing. Look at the sharp corners of coffee tables and other furniture. These need covering so that when baby is walking, he or she won’t fall into them.

Cover Electrical Outlets so that there are No Electrocution Injuries

You can use outlet plugs on all outlets that aren’t being used. They also make outlet plates that have sliders on them that protect baby from getting in an unused outlet. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t protect your baby by watching him or her at all times. You can also put outlets behind furniture so baby doesn’t even see them.

Make sure to utilize child safety gates so that baby can stay out of stairwells and can stay out of areas of the house that might be dangerous. You can use a hardware-attached childproofing gate or a pressure release gate, depending on the area you are protecting. Stairwells, for example, need hardware-attached gates because they are sturdier than pressurized gates. Use a window screen gate that is safe, yet removable whenever you need them to be removed.

ChildProofing the Kitchen
When keeping small appliances, put them at the back of the tops of cabinets and secure their cords so baby cannot pull them down off the cabinet. Make sure that the buttons on stoves and large appliances are kept away from baby’s reach. If an appliance is large, you should attach it to the wall so it doesn’t fall down on baby.

Pay attention to hazardous liquids like cleaning products and other toxic substances that can poison your child if he or she touches or ingests them. Place these things high in the kitchen or put them in the garage on a high shelf. Use latches to protect cupboards from the baby getting into them. Sometimes it’s a good idea to have a pot and pan cupboard that is open for the baby to play with when he or she is in the kitchen for you. Check to make sure there are no dangerous items in these cupboards.

Water Safety Hazards
Don’t forget that it takes as little as two inches of liquid to drown a child so you need to protect all sources of standing water—and that includes toilets. Set the temperature of your hot water heater to something less than 120 degrees. Even so, you need to check the temperature of the bathwater you put the child in each time you run a bath.

Make sure you have a brightly lit home so that the baby doesn’t stumble in the dark. Keep obstructions out of baby’s way so that your toddler doesn’t trip over things. Make sure you use night lights to keep hallways lit and to keep the baby’s room lit a bit at night.

Childproofing is not perfect and doesn’t replace constantly watching your child so that he or she is safe in your home when playing or just hanging out.