The idea of child proofing your house can be overwhelming.
All of a sudden our babies are able to get into things they couldn’t before. One of my favorite tips for child proofing is simply to get down to your child’s height. Then look around to see what they might find interesting and then take it from there. I find this especially helpful if we are traveling and staying in a different place that’s not baby proofed so we can address anything that might be a major danger.
Baby proofing is important once our babies get more mobile. It is especially important for their bedrooms when they are no longer in their cribs and have the freedom to move about their room.
This post was originally written for the My Sweet Sleeper blog. You can see the original post here.
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My child proofing must haves:
Gates at top/bottom of stairs
Gates can be great to have wherever you want to keep your baby out. There are so many different kinds of safety gates available. For stairs, though, you want to have a gate that is not just pressure mounted. We liked this Munchkin gate for our stairs and it includes hardware installation.
Outlet protectors
Outlet protectors are pretty common and most people are familiar with them. There are also newer outlets that have built in child proof features. If you are in a newer house, it’s worth it to see if you have those.
Locks for cabinets and drawers
I only lock the cabinets where we keep cleaning products and medication. We tried these magnetic locks but I had a few challenges with them. One was that I couldn’t find a good place to keep the key. The other issue was that I forgot the lock was on the cabinet and ripped it open, breaking the lock. I do love the Safety 1st Cabinet Lock . We use it on the gate for our gas fireplace and it is perfect. We use these strap locks for our cabinets. They are simple so I could see some curious little ones figuring out how they work. Something we’ve always done in our kitchen is that we have a cabinet just for our daughter. When she was a baby, we had a cabinet with just tupperware in it and that was hers to explore. Now that she’s older, her cabinet holds all her dishes and utensils. Having access to her own cabinet seems to have been enough to prevent her from wanting to explore other cabinets.
Door knob covers
These are great to have on doors leading outside, to bathrooms, or to basements. We use these Safety 1st covers, and they have worked well for us.
Furniture anchors
Little ones love to pull up and climb on furniture, so it’s important to have items that could tip over anchored to the wall. This includes the television, especially if it is within reach since tvs can be so interesting.
Door alarms
These probably aren’t something everyone needs. If you have a pool or open water near your house, or if your little one is a serious escape artist, then door alarms can be helpful. We bought a pack of alarms by GE, and they can be set to a chime that will sound once when the door is opened, or to a continuous alarm. These are very loud, so they definitely serve their purpose.
Moving breakable/valuable items
Things like picture frames, vases, figurines, anything that you don’t want your baby or toddler getting into should be relocated to a safe space. We had some photo albums and picture frames on a low shelf and quickly realized these would all be destroyed if we left them within reach of our little one.
Plants
This is something I didn’t think of until one day I found my baby playing with one of our house plants. Moving plants out of reach is a good idea just so you don’t end up with your potting soil everywhere, but it’s also a good idea to make sure that none of the plants you have in your home are potentially poisonous or toxic for children.
Charging cords
Another thing I hadn’t thought of until I saw these “Watch Your Mouth” USB charger safety covers. When chargers are plugged in they can give off electricity, which could potentially be dangerous. Personally, I just make sure to keep any chargers unplugged and out of reach.
Every family is different and some parents may baby proof more and some may baby proof less.
Some people use corner covers on their tables. We never used these because I heard mixed reviews that they can be easy for the kids to pull off. We decided to skip them. As long as you are keeping your baby safe, that’s okay! Don’t feel like you have to run out and buy everything on this list.
If you aren’t able to or don’t want to child proof the whole house, start with the baby’s room and then make sure they have a safe space somewhere else in the house, even if this is a playpen.
I heard about the idea of a “Yes Space” from Janet Lansbury, which I really like. Her idea to create a space that is entirely safe for the child to explore so that you don’t have to tell them no. The space could be a playpen, a gated area of a room, or even an entire room depending on your space and what you want. Having a space like this is especially helpful for times when you need to take a shower, so that you don’t have to worry about if your little one is getting into something they shouldn’t.
Although child proofing can sometimes feel overwhelming and can be a lot of work, we hope these tips can help make the task just a little bit easier! If you found this post helpful, be sure to share it with a friend! Any child proofing tips we missed? Please leave a comment and let us know!
