10 Essential Things You Must Do To Make Your Home Safe For Your Baby

As parents, many would wish there was a manual that teaches how to raise a child. But, the sad truth is, there’s not. We have to try our best to ensure we teach them valuable lessons and while they are too young to understand certain things, guide them. We are also charged with the task of ensuring that they are safe from danger, especially at the baby stage when they don’t understand the concept. A part of this is making sure your home is completely baby proof. While there is no manual to instruct parents on how to do this, there are certain accessories available that helps to make life easier for you including, baby monitors, smart magnetic baby locks, outlet covers and so on.

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If you have young children, you have to be a bit more vigilant around the home to ensure that they are not exposed to any sort of hazard that can choke or hurt them in any way. Here, we will share with you 10 tips on how to ensure that your tiny tots are safe at home.

1. Use Safe Cribs And Cradles

Since 2011, the guidelines for baby cribs have been altered specifically to ensure complete safety for babies by the US government. Parents are expected to seek good quality cribs that fit all the requirements according to the ruling. Approved by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, these guidelines stipulate that none of the sides should be able to fall and the slats should be no more than 2.375 inches apart. Additionally, the slats, mattress and overall hardware of the crib should be strong, sturdy and durable.

2. Use A Baby Monitor

With baby monitors, you can keep an eye on your child from a distance up to as much as 350 feet. This is perfect for when your baby is asleep and you have to be in another room. Many baby monitors allow you to hear every peep out of your tiny tot too so you can know if he or she becomes uncomfortable. And, as soon as they’re awake, you can tell. These allow you a little freedom to do laundry, whip up a snack or even take a quick nap without having to check in every second to see if your child is alright.

3. Remove Potentially Dangerous Objects From Reach Of Baby’s Crib

It is nice to have cute baby blankets, stuffed toys and pillows for your baby but when it comes to leaving them in the crib with your child, that is a complete No-No! This is dangerous as these can suffocate your child. So, allow them to sleep peacefully without any such health hazard.

Also, as your baby gets old enough to pull themselves up, make sure you remove all dangling items from above the crib. And, if the crib is near to blinds or curtains with dangling cords, remove the crib as these can somehow get caught around your child’s arms, legs or neck. If you use a wired baby monitor, ensure that the cord is well bound and kept out of your child’s reach.

4. Use Edge And Corner Guards

When your child gets to the crawling stage, you will need to cover all edges and corners with a cushion to lessen the risk of them hurting themselves. As they explore, you want to be careful not to let them bump into the edges of tables and other furniture around the house. And, there are a whole range of soft materials and cushions that you can use with foam and silicone being the top choice. Whatever you decide choose, ensure that it does not fall off easily as this can end up in your child’s mouth.

5. Cover All Power Outlets

As your tiny tot explores, he or she will definitely be intrigued by exposed power outlets. So, covering these is a must! You want to ensure that these are covered properly so that your child does not stick a finger or toy in it.  It is recommended that you use covers that are not easy to fall off or be yanked off by a child, because they are usually small enough to be a choking hazard to your child.

6. Use Magnetic Baby Locks

At some stage your curious tot will begin to crawl faster than you imagine. This makes it much harder for you to keep up with them and prevent them from opening doors and drawers that might contain items that can potentially harm them. Magnetic baby locks help to make your job much easier in this regard. These are locks that can be used to secure the doors of cabinets, drawers and so on. These are pretty cool because the magnetic force makes it hard for the baby to pry the door or drawer open and access what you’ve locked away. So, as much as possible it is recommended to secure the doors and drawers in every room that your child has access to in your house.

Image Source – Baby On-Off on Amazon

7. Remove Breakables And Small Items From Baby’s Reach

Even though you might have a chest full of toys for your child, somehow, they tend to find your valuable display items more intriguing. At this stage, as they explore the world, make sure that your remove your figurines and other small items and breakables from center table tops, counters, dresser and so on, even if you think they can’t possibly reach them. It is always safe than sorry.

8. Use Furniture Straps And Anchors

Unlike with small items, you can’t really remove certain fixtures around the house and unlike with doors and drawers, you can’t exactly use magnetic baby locks to secure them. For these fixtures and furniture around your house you will need to use straps and anchor. These straps and anchors help to secure your television, home theater system, dressers and other furniture especially when your child starts to try climbing up on everything.

9. Monitor Baby Around Pets

Once you have pets, you will need to monitor the interaction between your child and your pet. Young children are very vulnerable. They have weak immune systems that are susceptible to being affected by bacteria and viruses. Even if your pet isn’t allowed outdoors, your child can still develop infections from interactions with it. For some reason, they like to go for the animal’s tail. That’s where a great percentage of the danger lies as this is close to the rear-end. So, it’s fine to have Fido around with your precious child, but you have to ensure that you monitor their interaction.

10. Use A Baby Gate

If you have a staircase, ensure that you install a sturdy gate at the top and bottom of the staircase and to ensure that babies do not have access to the stairs as they can fall and break a limb.

Baby-proofing accessories are very handy when it comes to keeping your child safe while at home. Sometimes we get a totally comfortable feeling knowing that we’ve installed a few magnetic baby locks here and there and have furniture straps and anchors and so on, but we must never get too dependent on these accessories and neglect supervision. No matter how well you think you have baby-proofed your home, never think for a second that it is okay to leave them unsupervised.