New babies coming along means a whole army of plug socket covers, baby gates, and cushioned corners across the house. Planning for a baby's arrival means immediately worrying for their safety and in the home, safety is paramount. You don’t notice the dangerous things until you have to think about a baby pulling themselves up, crawling and banging their heads on the coffee table, and thinking a plug socket is the new hiding place for tiny toys.
Generally, people don’t tend to start baby-proofing their home until the baby can crawl. Newborn babies tend not to do much more than cry, poop, and eat and so the socket covers can usually wait. When it comes down to it, you need to be prepared and with these six tips, you can be armed and ready for your tiny person to find their feet.
- Plugs: Those tiny pinholes in the walls reserved for phone chargers and TV plugs are like sugar to a baby. They see them and they get that urge to stick their fingers in them. There’s no rhyme or reason for it, it’s just what they do. Place plastic socket covers like these into the gaps or cover them with furniture to avoid an accident.
- Stairs: Like Everest, there’s an urge to climb them and explore what’s upstairs. Adding a baby gate at the top and the bottom means your child is safe to roam free without you risking a heart attack every time they head for the hallway.
- Kitchen: Cupboard doors that swing open to reveal prizes such as bleach and cat food are always a revelation for children. Secure the doors with latches so you can keep unsafe materials away from your baby. Add a non-slip rug to the lino floor so your new walker can safely wander around without going flying.
- Living room: Adding cushioned corners to the edges of coffee tables can make a difference when your little one starts to walk.
- Furniture: If you have a lot of bookcases or units in the home, secure them to the walls with brackets. Most furniture comes with brackets now for this reason as there have been many news stories of children pulling furniture over on top of themselves.
- Radiators: For the most part, radiators are safe for children to be around. Adding radiator covers to make them even more secure and prevent burns on their skin when they get too close.
There’s not that much that a baby can get into without your watching eye overseeing it, but rather than think they’ll be okay, make a point of ensuring it. Add the safety measures necessary so that you can rest soundly knowing you’ve done what you can to keep the baby safe.
2 Comments
I am so glad that a lot of the baby-proofing tools have come so far. There are so many different styles of things such as baby gates, which don’t ruin your home decor completely.
I agree with your statement “Generally, people don’t tend to start baby proofing their home until the baby can crawl. New born babies tend not to do much more than cry, poop and eat and so the socket covers can usually wait. When it comes down to it, you need to be prepared and with these six tips, you can be armed and ready for your tiny person to find their feet”. Very informative post. thanks for sharing.