This is a collaborative post
Whether you’re a well-established parent or a newcomer to our whacky (but wonderful) world, the safety of your young one(s) is imperative. Baby-proofing your home and ensuring your little one will be safe can seem a little overwhelming. But, there’s no reason to panic. We’ve put together a smart little guide to ensure your home is as safe as possible – and even thrown in a couple of our top tips for child safety as your bambino grows up.
1. Avoiding bumps and lumps
It’s unavoidable that your home will be full of tripping hazards. Luckily, there are a few steps you can take to mitigate risk and avoid dangerous falls for your child. An important action is installing baby gates at the bottom and top of any staircases. The last thing you want is your young one wandering up the stairs unsupervised or, even worse, trying to make their own way down.
The importance of the well-known term ‘cleaning up as you go’ can’t be underestimated, either. Toys, clothes and loose wires can all contribute to tumbles. Tidy up anything laying around, and use electrical tape to keep wires tidy.
Top Tip: Once your little one is up on their feet, try to avoid them wearing slippery socks in the beginning – especially if your home has a lot of wood flooring. Non-skid pads are also a great way to stop your rugs sliding and causing an accident.
2. Keep them out of cupboards and drawers
As your child begins to grow up, they’ll soon be curious about EVERYTHING. Which means any low cupboards or drawers will receive a lot of attention as they head off exploring. So what can you do to keep them out of places they shouldn’t be?
The first thing to do is find good, secure cupboard and drawer locks. You can normally find high quality locks at a reasonable price, and they’re simple to install. Secondly, it’s crucial you keep any harmful substances in storage that’s high up and out of reach. Although child locks are a good preventive measure, they can’t always be fool-proof. Use preventive measures in case you get a faulty lock. Medicine, cleaning products and alcohol are the obvious ones to start with. But, don’t forget any cupboards or drawers with small choke hazards such as jewellery, batteries, or loose change.
3. Watch out for wandering hands
Back to the subject of curiousness, everything is there to be explored – at least that’s the way your child sees the world. Wandering hands can be the bane of any parent’s life and the cause of much anxiety. Take steps to prevent accidents and keep those hands away.
Plug protectors are a simple and quick fix for low-level sockets, which are in the perfect position for your child to access. Toddlers are also known to grab for pan handles, so always make sure you turn them the opposite way so they’re out of reach.
Other things to look out for include any electrical devices such as hair straighteners, and small objects like stationery and loose change that can find its way onto the floor. Suffocation and choking is the top hazard in your home for a young child, so taking extra care and appropriate precaution with small parts is so important.
Top Tip: Avoid letting your child sleep on big blankets and pillows. They might look cute and comfortable, but it’s a suffocation risk.
4. Cover up potential hazards
Bumps and bruises are part and parcel of a child growing up. Although sometimes they’re unavoidable, it’s easy to take necessary steps to reduce the risk.
Secure any furniture that could potentially be knocked over. Your child will look to hold onto things, especially once they’re crawling and walking. By keeping furniture such as book cases secured to the wall, you keep them safe and your furniture intact. Once secure, apply edge guards to any sharp corners to keep your baby from cutting themselves if they suffer a bump.
Radiator covers are also a good investment for child safety. Radiators are the perfect height for many to children to play with, so keeping them covered means they’re unlikely to burn themselves when exploring.
5. Consider these additional tips
Whilst these steps and our top tips will make your home much more secure as a child-less home, consider these additional precautionary measures should also be considered:
- As your youngster gets older, install a child restrictor on your window to prevent it opening fully.
- Install doorstops to prevent little fingers getting trapped.
- Remove any looped cords on window blinds.
- Use doorknob covers to stop your child accessing rooms they shouldn’t be in, such as swimming pools and storage closets.
- Install CCTV for everyone’s safety
- Move furniture away from windows to prevent your child climbing onto windowsills.
- Keep bathroom items such as shampoo and shower gel away from reach.
- Unplug any electrical equipment when it’s not in use.
- Buy the best baby monitor
It’s also worth looking at Your Baby Club for the latest best buys and parenting advice and tips.
Being a parent is the best thing you’ll ever do and, although stressful at times, taking precautions will help you rest easy knowing your baby is safe and well in their home. What tips have you picked up when baby-proofing your home?
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post