When babies start crawling, you need to baby proof all tricky areas of your house. Your little explorer wants to explore every spot around your house that may interest her.
Baby’s safety should be your top priority. You must take safety measures and encourage her to learn and explore more.
As a parent, you are the best judge of what your child is capable of. Only parents can decide how to help them stay protected.
Every child is different. Some are generally more active than the others. That being said, depending on your child’s behavior and activities, you must decide what safety measure you need to childproof risky areas around the house.
Save this post so you can find solutions for baby-to-toddler proofing to prevent your child from potential dangers at every stage.
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Baby-proof your home to keep babies and toddlers safe
Kitchen Cabinets safety
Move cleaners and glass utensils in upper cabinets.
Kitchen cabinets and drawers are prime targets for little explorers. All you need to do; move all kinds of cleaners and anything that is hazardous for babies and kids to a safer place – clearly, out of your child’s reach.
Also, move ceramic or glass utensils in the upper cabinets and replace them with plastic container boxes. Kids love to spend hours opening and closing containers – as long as they are safe. It may be a lot of mess for you to clean but it is a great way to keep them busy while you can do kitchen chores.
For extra safety, you can choose baby-proofing latches that work best for cabinets and drawers in your house, according to your kitchen and room configuration.
For spoons and ladles drawers, make sure they do not have access to knives, cutters, and graters.
Do not stress about the mess. As long as your house is child-proof and a safe place to play and learn, embrace the mess and let them learn and explore keeping safety intact.
16 cleaning hacks for moms to have less messy motherhood.
Outlets protection
Some kids, if not all, have no special interest in taking risks. Although I have never used the outlet covers myself, that doesn’t mean you do not need that either. At some point, when babies learn to crawl and stand, outlets seem to be the best attraction for them around the house.
Parents who leave toddlers with baby sitters or grandparents must have outlets. If your child is super active and loves to explore, invest in your peace of mind by baby-proofing your home at the right time.
Here are a few options that may work for your outlet covers.
In the first place, you should try to firmly say “No” when she is about to touch it; your reaction to your child activities make a significant impact. Do not panic, and stay composed. Hysterical reactions may make your child more curious.
However, a cheap hack is, you can also cover your outlets with painter’s tape.
Stairs safety
Safety doors are essential to protect kids from falling. Choose the right gate, depending on the configuration of your house.
Essentially, you need to have gates in certain areas of your home when your baby is almost ready to crawl. That’s high time to make it safe. But you cannot go without having safety gates if you have stairs in your home. Babies are fragile; you need to be extra protective about them falling from stairs.
Kids are generally very cautious. However, they could still fall, mostly out of sheer mistake or an accident.
The key is to keep telling kids and warn around dangers. For that, you have to be consistent about warning them with logic and reasoning. Trust me, they will get it before you even know it.
Door safety
If you have already baby-proof other areas in your house, you must not forget about room and closet doors safety and drawers safety as well. Nevertheless, that’s the most tricky area babies, and toddlers are exploring what’s inside.
Many kids accidentally hurt their fingers in between the sliding door and drawers.
Use doodle or door protectors to keep them from shutting down forcefully.
Machines safety
Machines, like a sewing machine, paper shredder, etc. – everything that may have a potential threat- should be watched all the time. Think above and beyond. Be mindful of the dangerous areas to get rid of the harmful and unsafe stuff around the house.
Note – Never leave paper shredder turned on while you have a baby or a toddler at home.
Glass tables protection
For new parents, tables with sharp edges and sharp corners need a lot of attention. Protect your baby by using table corner guards. Choose what works best with your furniture.
Cover the harmful edges of your furniture like a TV stand or coffee table, with a foam and tape it well.
My son hit his head on a round glass table with no sharp edge and still got 1/2 an inch deep cut on his forehead. Not even in a fraction of my thought, I could foresee a round table could hurt anyone. Kids can stumble if they are learning how to walk. Staying vigilant and aware of potential risks is an equally essential part of parenting.
Regardless of what tables you have in your house, be sure that the play area and other house rooms are baby-friendly and safe in every possible way.
Keeping kids from going outside unsupervised
When toddlers learn to open the door, the concerning part is the main entry and exit door. For some kids, parents need to have door protection that will keep them from exiting unsupervised.
These door knobs are super helpful. I myself had to use the doorknob covers when my daughter started opening the door and go outside unsupervised. I highly recommend using them for toddlers who can easily open the door and go out, leaving their parents worried.
Door knobs and stove knobs safety covers are the perfect solutions for curious toddlers.
From what I have experienced, kids understand safety very well. Infants tend to cry if they are not feeling safe while held by strangers. Even infants’ reflexes are super strong; they would have their grip tightened if they notice sudden, unsafe movement.
As a parent, the best practice is to tell your kids not to put themselves in danger consistently. Generally, it may seem unrealistic to believe that how a child can understand dangers early in life. Although not in the same sense as adults, kids are geniusesnius, and they learn everything fast.
