It doesn’t pay to be lax when it comes to child proofing your home. The earlier you start, preferably before you bring your baby home from hospital, the better it is for you and your child’s safety. If you delay it there is a great possibility that you may keep on postponing and repent later. Child proofing is an essential part of bringing up children and keeping them away from danger. You may not be aware of them but there are dangers lurking at every corner in your house.

Step # 1

Keep all hazardous stuff in safe places and away from the reach of the child. This includes not medicines, cleaning supplies and working tools but also small objects and toys. What most parents tend to do is to keep cleaners on the kitchen sink and ledge of the tub where they are easily accessible to the child. Your child can choke on small toys, batteries and coins. In fact, choking is one of the common causes why children have to be taken to hospitals. Put all such stuff in drawers and cabinets that are high where the child cannot reach.

Step # 2

Stairs in a two-storey setting are a veritable danger for a crawling child. Make sure that you have safety gates installed at the bottom as well as top of the staircase. You need to take extra precaution with the safety gates that you get for the top of the staircase. Your child will probably lean on it and put all his weight on the gate. Pressure gates at the top landing are not recommended because they will give way. Pressure gates are okay for the bottom but use only wall mounted gates for top of the staircase.

Step # 3

Most of child proofing is plain common sense. Fact is that there is so much stuff lying around that house that you are used but not aware that they pose a potential hazard for your child. The small toys you buy for your bundle of joy can choke if the baby puts them in the mouth and that he will. Keep small things of daily use such as buttons, coins and batteries and any other stuff you think is a choking hazard away from the reach of your child.

Step # 4

Now pay some attention to the windows. Window screens do not provide adequate protection from falls. Make sure that you install locks and/or window guards so that they do not open far enough and prevent the baby from falling off.

Step # 5

Check if there are any electrical outlets that they baby can reach while crawling or when he is able to stand on his own. Buy outlet covers to prevent the baby from poking fingers into the holes. Make sure that you buy ones that fit tightly because your child will soon be gaining enough strength to pull them off.

Child proofing is not a substitute to parental care. Regardless of how efficient you are in protecting your baby, there is no substitute to monitoring your child’s movements

Also check our safety tips for crawling babies