Your home should be the safest place for your child. However, little explorers may create trouble if preventive measures aren’t taken. Unseen dangers can lurk in each room of your house. To avoid accidents or injuries, you need to make sure you’re fully baby proofing your home.
1. Protect Both Interior and Exterior Doors
Reliable exterior door locks, as well as baby proof locks, latches, or door stoppers can help avoid accidents. Interior door locks installed on door knobs or handles may prevent unsupervised exploring of the rooms you don’t want your child to enter. They also can be used if you want to prevent your kid from leaving the room.
Top lock is a special type that is attached to the top jamb where they aren’t accessible for children. Sliding door locks can be applied to glass or wooden surfaces and opened by simply pulling back the latch. A door monkey is a type of latch that can keep a door slightly open and allow airflow between rooms, but still make the other area inaccessible. To prevent any fingers or toes from being pinched, a door stopper can be attached on the edge of a door and stop it from being slammed shut. While not being considered specifically baby proofing equipment, exterior door locks are also important for protecting your child, as they prevent criminals from getting into the property and kidnapping or hurting your baby.
The most reliable and yet affordable type of lock for an exterior door or a residential property is a mortise deadbolt. You can also use rim latches as an additional lock. Other types of locks include Keypad and smart locks, vertical deadbolts, and others. Learn more about the types of locks for homes in the blog post written by a leading locksmith company in Houston TX—Skilled Locksmith.
2. Child Proof Your Windows
Avoid choking hazards or accidental falls by properly securing your windows. Keep any blinds or cords out of reach from being played with, tangled, or pulled on to avoid strangulation risks. Locks are specifically designed to child proof windows and prevent your little one from opening the window and falling out. Window stops are wedge-like devices that prevent a window from opening beyond a specific point. To find the right fit for your needs, make sure you know what type of style your window is.
3. Secure Furniture
To make sure your child can enjoy your home safely, be thorough about child proofing your furniture. Coffee tables, desks, storage containers, and other pieces of furniture with hard or sharp edges generally require bumpers or safety padding to avoid injuries. Don’t place playthings or other items your baby may mistake for toys on the upper shelf. This discourages your child from climbing on furniture and possibly falling. Take steps to protect your entertainment system and child by mounting your TV on the wall. Or, you can secure your TV on a low, stable base. Another means to babyproof your entertainment center is to install a child fence around it. Safety strap kits are great assets in anchoring large furniture to prevent anything from moving or falling.
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4. Limit Access to Fireplace
Both fire and a fireplace itself pose serious risks to children. A barrier or screen can prevent sparks from burning your child. Foam edge guards or full cushion hearth guards cover hard and sharp edges to protect babies from bumps, bruises, or falls. Because a screen can heat up and still burn your child, a gate or fence that sections off the entire fireplace may be your best bet to keep your child safe.
5. Staircase Baby Proofing
Prevent falls by installing toddler gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. Avoid devices with large gaps between slats, since your child may get their limbs trapped in between the rails. Accordion-style baby gates are also known for hiding a danger of trapping hands of children in the gaps between the segments and causing injuries. Pressure-mounted, retractable, and classical swing-shut models are the optimal kinds of safe child stair gates. Some homeowners are hesitant when it comes to getting relatively large child proofing equipment, such as staircase gates, because of the fear it’ll ruin the interior (and sometimes for a good reason).Â
If this is your concern, retractable gates could be a good and affordable option, as they are almost seamless when open. However, other types of stair gates need to be thought-through to appear appropriate in the house. Pressure-mounted gates usually don’t offer great compatibility with any interior design. But if you can afford a baby gate made specially for your home, it could even enhance the look of your interior. Take a look at the pictures of these custom-made gates of wrought iron, and read more about baby gate types in this detailed article by Houston baby proofing experts Precious Baby Protectors. Additionally to the gates, keep your child from climbing over the banister or through the railing by installing a banister fence.
6. Install Outlet Covers
To thoroughly baby proof your home, make sure you unplug electrical devices not in use and install outlet covers or plugs to protect them from outlet hazards. Outlet safety covers come in a large range of options. Sliding outlet covers automatically slide back into place when not in use, which gives them an edge over plugs that you manually replace. Box socket covers prevent your child from putting items inside the socket and stop any cords left plugged in from being yanked out. Additionally, put away any hanging cords to stop wires or devices from being damaged or causing accidents.
7. Take Fire Safety Measures
To best protect your child and prepare for a possible fire emergency, do more than simply install smoke detectors. Purchasing a fire extinguisher can pay off in peace of mind if it is never used. Additionally, make sure you can operate door and window locks or latches quickly in case you need to make a fast exit with your child. Any child gates or fences also need to be readily maneuvered by you. Red Cross emphasizes the importance of making a fire escape plan and practicing it at least twice a year. Lastly, make sure your home or apartment number is visible to fire or rescue personnel so you can be located quickly.
8. Baby Proof Bathroom
Slippery hard surfaces, sharp corners, and multiple water sources can be a recipe for disaster. To make your bathroom a safe space for your toddler, it’s important to make sure you have the right child proofing devices in place. These products are described in detail in the blog post on PottyTrainingSolution.com, but if you want to quickly read about their types, here is a breakdown of the main ones. Several devices may keep your toddler safe from the toilet and vice versa. Toilet lid safety latches and swing shut locks can keep your child out of your toilet bowl. Additionally, a toilet flush cover or stopper could prevent your child from flushing items.Â
You may want to invest in water faucet locks, knob covers, or bath spout taps to prevent your little one from harming themselves. Parents are commonly advised to set the water heater to 120°F or below to keep from burning your baby’s tender skin. Cabinet locks or latches could also be a worthwhile investment, since there are a number of items in bathrooms that babies should stay away from. Razors, cleaning products, medications, and electrical devices should be secured and kept out of reach. Grab bars or non-slip mats for the bathroom floor or tub can also be installed to help prevent accidental falls resulting in injuries.
9. Protect Your Child from Kitchen Hazards
While curiosity is a great quality, your child could be at risk when exploring your kitchen thanks to sharp edges, contents of your cabinets, heat sources, and more. Protective guards or cushioning can be installed along counters and other hard edges and cover corners to prevent head injuries. Doors and drawers of cabinets and cupboards need to be secured with locks or latches. Similarly, childproofing devices for your oven and dishwasher doors are needed to avoid a number of hazards. When cooking, use your stove’s back burners to make reaching fire more difficult for your child, and turn pot handles towards the center of the stove to prevent any grabbing or pulling. Make sure knives, other utensils, and all sharp objects are out of reach and securely kept out of view.