Kitchen Sink, Lifestyle

Child Safety Tips for the Home

Keeping your home safe and secure is one thing, but add children into the mix and you’ve got a whole new area of safety to be concerned about. Beyond locking the doors, checking the smoke detectors and having a security system in place, you also need to make sure dangling cords are out of reach, cupboards are locked and so much more where babies are concerned.

Newborn Stage

When you bring your newborn baby home for the first time, you want to do everything possible to give her a safe and healthy life. This all starts with your home environment. At the newborn stage, it’s not quite necessary to baby proof your home, as far as locking cabinets or keeping dangerous chemicals out of reach. However, you will still want to “proof” your home to keep your baby well.

  • Wash all of her new clothing, sheets, pajamas and bath towels in a sensitive skin formula of laundry detergent before you bring her home.
  • You may also want to make sure your house has been deep cleaned, to get rid of any dirt or stains that may have been building up.

Not only will this keep baby’s new skin safe, but you’ll feel better about bring her home to a pristine house.

Crawling Stage

Once your baby starts to be mobile, it’s not time to make sure your home is safe from little hands and mouths. At this point, you want to make sure all cords, small objects or other things that can easily be reached by little hands are out of the way.

  • Get on their level. You’ll want to crawl around on the floor to see things from your baby’s level. This will help you to better see potential dangers.
  • Protect sharp corners. Walls and furniture can be dangerous for little ones crawling around. Add a piece of foam or soft fabric to corners to protect heads.
  • Don’t forget the stairs. Even in the crawling stage, babies can get down stairs pretty quickly. Be sure to put up child gates to keep your child from rolling or tumbling down a flight of stairs.
  • Cover electrical outlets. The electrical outlets are at just the right height for little fingers. Put plastic plugs in your outlets to keep fingers out.

Walking Stage

When you baby turns into a toddler, it’s time to put the house safety into full swing. Now, your child can get to every place in the house – and often faster than you can run after them.

  • Keep chemicals out of reach. Many people keep household cleaning items under the kitchen or bathroom sinks. This is the perfect level for little hands to get to. Instead of keeping chemicals under the sink, try putting them on a higher shelf where only you can reach.
  • Lock cabinets. All of your cabinets are now a prime opportunity for your child. Put child proof locks on the cabinets to keep your toddler from taking all the pots and pans or dish towels out of the cabinets. You can buy inexpensive and easy to install plastic locks to go right over the knobs.
  • Don’t forget the door. Those door knobs are at just the right height now. Be sure to put a child proof knob or a high lock on the front door so your child can disappear outside without you knowing.

Children can be so much fun, but they are also a lot of responsibility. Make sure you keep your home safe for all the stages of childhood to keep your child healthy and happy.

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