This is a sponsored guest post.
Welcoming a new baby is always an overwhelming and life changing experience. As your baby is still young, they almost entirely depend on you as most of their cognitive, social and even physical functions are still not developed. Baby proofing is an important process to incorporate as part of the change to ensure your kid is safe at all times. To help your baby be safe at all times, below is a list of top 5 baby proofing tips and tricks to employ in your home.
Remove Falling Hazards
Similar to the elderly, you must always ensure that your baby doesn’t fall. Because of their delicate and prematurely developed bodies, a fall can be quite serious. Unbeknownst to you, when your home is not baby proofed yet, this poses significant falling hazards to your child.
Whether it is the staircase, the bed or even your baby’s new changing table. Thus, you must ensure all these items are baby proof. Although there are common processes to follow, the actual items to baby proof entirely depend on their design and your household. A changing table, for example, can pose a significant falling risk.
When you leave your child on the table, they can roll over and risk falling. Make sure your changing table is fitted with safety straps so you can secure your baby. Do so, when you are around but never leave your child unattended on the changing table even with the straps on.
Baby Proof The Crib
Especially when they are still very young during infancy or even during the early stages of being toddlers, babies will also spend a lot of time in their crib. So you must ensure that the crib is always safe. It has to be safe enough that you are comfortable with leaving your child alone in there. Get a new crib for your child. Buying a used one poses risks such as worn-out and frail hardware.
Unless it is a hand me down from their older siblings. Around your child’s crib, avoid setting any items or décor. These include pictures and shelves. You don’t want to risk them falling over your child. Attach a baby crib railing around the crib or changing table if they don’t have one. But ensure that they are designed for baby cribs or changing tables.
You should also ensure that the baby’s crib is fitted with a mattress of a reasonable height. If the mattress is higher, it makes it easier for you to get access to your baby and lift them. However, when your child grows to at least 6-7 months, they may be able to lift themselves. This puts them at risk of falling off the crib, thus, you should then decrease the height of the mattress.
Whether they are playing, napping or sleeping, never bundle your child, especially infants, with other items such as blankets or comforters. This is because, with simple maneuvers or movements, they can easily get entangled or cover themselves up thus, resulting in suffocation.
You should also avoid unnecessary items such as pillows, quilts, stuffed animals and other toys, especially during sleep and when they are alone. To also reduce the risk of sudden infant death, avoid sleeping your baby on their stomach and rather sleep them on their backs. You should also make their sleeping area according to the recommended arrangement, use sheets designed for a crib in a crib and those designed for a bassinet in bassinets.
Take Care Of The Electrical connection
When your baby begins to crawl, their curiosity will take them anywhere inside the house they can get to. Thus, you must prepare by babyproofing areas that may put your baby at risk. This includes electrical sockets. You don’t want your baby to stick their hands in the electrical sockets and risk being electrocuted.
So, you should install outlet covers on electric sockets. You should also cover all electric cables and wiring with insulated plastic pipes. To ensure safety, go for products that are labeled childproof to ensure that your child will be protected. When choosing these covers, don’t only think about their insulating elements but also how they protect your child from accessing the outlets or wires.
So, you should choose covers that require reasonable adult force and two hands to remove. To complement this effort, try to also arrange the furniture in your household so that they are covering the electrical outlets and any lingering wirings.
Use Stair Gates
You should also limit your child’s movement to prevent accidents. However, this may sometimes be impossible, unless you want to spend the whole day chasing your baby around. In addition, crawling and walking around forms an important milestone in their growing process as they quench their curiosity. Thus, it is a good idea to invest in stair gates.
A stair gate is a great investment as it helps to limit access especially in areas that may be unsafe. These include the actual staircase or even entering rooms such as the kitchen or laundry room unsupervised. To complete the stairgate, also install safety locking latches on cabinets around and avoid leaving any potentially dangerous items lying around. These include things such as cleaning products.
Cover Furniture
As your child is crawling or walking around the house, just limiting access alone is not enough. So, in addition to installing stairs and baby gates, you must also ensure the environment they are limited to is also safe. Try to cover all sharp furniture edges and corners with bumpers. You can also add safety padding which helps to enhance their experience.
So even if they bump into the furniture edge, they will be met with comfortable cushioning. Avoid using long curtains or blinds, as your baby can easily pull at them. This can increase the risk of both the curtains and even the poles that are supporting them to fall over your child. Instead, use shorter curtains or install safety tassels or cords to hold the curtains in these areas.
