Baby Proofing your Home – Baby Safety Tricks for Effective Babyproofing

Unfortunately, greater than four million children find themselves in the emergency room every year due to home accidents. Thankfully 90% of the accidents happens to be avoided. While there is no replacement vigilant supervision, proactive childproofing will go along way towards preventing needless accidents. As the child explores, teach him what exactly is safe and what is off-limits.

Drawing on the data of child safety expert Kimberlee Mitchell, experienced mother of two toddlers and who owns Boo Boo Busters Professional Babyproofing Service, below is really a set of recommended childproofing methods for every home.

The way to Build a Baby Safe Home Environment

The lowest priced and quickest way to babyproof would be to limit entry to certain parts of the home which have been neither safe nor befitting babies. The garage, laundry room, loft, terrace, office, gym, utility room, craft room, rooms under construction, etc. ought to be “off limits” for babies and really should be secured with door locks. The front door and interior garage door really should have flip locks so child doesn’t need usage of outdoors.

Common Hazards in each and every Home

Some household dangers are obvious while others could be more elusive. Albeit there are numerous dangers common to every household, they may be easily rectified once recognized.

Electrical:

· Cover all outlets, power strips and old exposed wires. Engaged outlets having a cord plugged in and play areas (nursery, play room, family room) should have sliding plate covers or perhaps a big box outlet cover oversized plugs on every exposed outlet. Push plugs can be utilized in less accessible areas as long as the plugs have become a hardship on a adult to get rid of. A determined child and/or some twins, can get rid of the push plugs given enough time.

· Use cord control kits to arrange and house all wires.

Tipping:

· Anchor all armoires, shelving units, dressers, etc. or appliances (i.e. TV, VCR, computer, etc.) that will topple onto child because of climbing or pulling. When drawers are open simultaneously the unit, however sturdy, becomes front heavy and tips easily with weight of toddler on open drawer.

· Earthquakes are another good reason to secure heavy furniture to wall stud.

Falls:

· Install window guards with emergency release latches on all windows on second level. Screens usually are not babyproofing devices. Beware of toy stacking. Children will accumulate everything to have a view outside. Move furniture far from half walls where child can climb up and fall over. Consider having Plexiglas installed to give dangerous pony walls.

· Mount safety gate at stair top and bottom. Professional babyproofers offer excellent gates, extensions, custom mount kits for wood and wrought iron banisters. Pressure gates are not recommended. If banister posts tend to be than 3″ apart, put in a barrier.

· Install custom cut Plexiglas on stair banisters and decks which can be no to code (2 1/2 inches wide) or if you can find decorative embellishments on banister that can work as a foothold to get a climbing child.

· Be certain all rugs and mats have non-skid bottoms to avoid slipping.

· Never leave infant unattended on changing table or bed

· Never let child experience stairs unattended.

Chemical:

· Move all chemicals (including cleaning utility caddy, various beauty and childcare accessories and alcohol) to some high locked cabinet.

· Install magnetic child safety locks (Tot Loks) on all accessible drawers and cabinets that contain these toxic items. These are generally 100% kid proof.

· No unsupervised entry into garage and laundry room.

· CO detectors needs to be placed on each degree of home near sleeping quarters.

Plants:

· Find out which plants in your home and yard are poisonous. Landscapers commonly use White Oleander, and that is highly toxic. If you have a plant under consideration, cut off a sprig, place it in the zip lock bag and grow it to local plant nursery for their input.

Pets:

· Keep all pet doors closed off when child is present.

· Pets tell you door and knock over child and/or child can escape to the outside through the door, and that is at their eye level and quite inviting.

· Never allow your child usage of an animal you do not know is a useful one with children. Don’t allow child to hug dog or kiss its face. Don’t bring young children to dog parks. Keep child away from pack of fast running dogs.

Choking/Strangulation:

· Something that will fit in a empty cardboard toilet tissue roll can be a choking hazard.

· Replace all old door stops who have removable rubber tips with one piece door stops since the small rubber tip is often a choking hazard.

· Do a visual safety sweep of home every single day before child wakes to ensure all small objects are picked up off floor.

· Avoid older children’s toys that can be choking hazards. Use locked storage bins for small pieces.

· Use a peg rack on wall to hang purses, coats, bags, backpacks, etc. to maintain not even considered.

· Install blind cord cleats and wrap all dangling cords to disallow strangulation.

Water:

· Avoid the most popular drowning hazard and possess a pool fence, cover or net installed over everything pools and spas.

· When swimming with baby or small child constantly be sure they’re within arm’s distance and Be aware. Being engrossed in the conversation with someone while “watching your child” is incredibly dangerous.

· Babies can fall into toilet head first and not be capable of geting out so be sure you install toilet locks.

· After it rains perform a visual safety sweep from the yard to watch out for planters, buckets or water tables with pooled water and dump against each other.

· Never leave a child unattended around water.

· Turn your hot water heater into 120 degrees Fahrenheit to stop risk of scalding.

Humans:

· Use back burners in kitchen and turn pot handles in.

· Parents make practice of holding handrail when utilizing stairs when carrying child.

· Keep doors to “off limits” rooms pulled closed.

· Stay away from elderly or older children’s non-safe habits about household. They are going to unintentionally leave medicines out, drop pills, leave doors/cabinets/drawers open, etc. You’ll be able to educate your family members being mindful of these unsafe habits but at the conclusion for the day the newborn’s safety factors are still your responsibility.

· Be vigilant about supervising your son or daughter. You’ll be able to babyproof your home being a safety fortress but there’s no alternative to your constant attention.

· Shut off the television if you’re not watching it using your child. This program may be child-safe but the commercials may not. There are many pretty terrifying things on TV that wont physically harm a baby but sometimes cause damage. See your pediatrician about it topic to find out more.

A VIRTUAL Home SAFETY EVALUATION:

The following is often a room-by-room walk through of the average family home. Remember that our homes just weren’t created for the security of your baby or child planned. Each residence has special features that are unique along with common safety challenges. Below can be a list of methods to common safety hazards seen in most homes:

Kitchen

· Install magnetic child safety locks (Tot Loks) on all accessible drawers and cabinets that contain toxic items (i.e. cleaning utility caddy, alcohol, vitamins, plastic bags, etc.)

· Gate off home.

· Keep child in highchair or pack and play during meal preparation.

· Latch all the other drawers and cabinets. We recommend babyproofing for safety first of all, however additionally it is a matter of convenience. Should you choose, keep one cupboard with Tupperware lids unlocked for child to get into but make certain they are able to not make use of this open cabinet or drawer as being a the answer to climb up onto counter. Your son or daughter will not be in a position to reach certain drawers now but he surely will quickly.

· Never let child play with pots or pans as it sends an unacceptable message to child why these are toys. When child sees the identical pots/pan on stove top he will need to grab his familiar “toy.”

· Consider latching all appliances child can access just like the refrigerator, dishwasher, trash compactor, dumbwaiter and oven.

· Keep all appliances on counter unplugged and hide electrical cords.

· Usually do not hang dish towels on oven door as baby can pull towel and bring the door down into the bridge of his nose.

· Use back burners on stove and install stove guard and knob covers if child has access to them.

· Don’t use small or breakable refrigerator magnets as they are choking hazards.

· Avoid leaving knives, scissors, mug, etc. out on counter as child will grab at whatever they will get a handle on from other vantage.

Bathrooms

· No unsupervised entry into bathroom.

· Use safety locks on door at all times.

· Install toilet locks to prevent child from drowning and throwing objects in.

· Latch all cabinets.

· Move wastebasket under sink behind a latched cabinet door or make use of a covered receptacle.

· Turn water heater right down to 120 degrees to stop scalding.

· Look for temperature of water on the inner wrist ahead of putting baby engrossed.

· Never leave a youngster in bath unattended.

· Never leave filled tub unattended and drain tub right after use. Children can wander in and drown.

· Use no-slip mat to stop slipping along with a spout cover to prevent scalding and cuts.

· Remove all electrical appliances from bathroom where child bathes.

Living Room/Family Room

· Eliminate baby’s entry to fireplaces, wood stoves and hot tubs using gates developed for this purpose. If gates will not focus on fireplace use specially designed fireplace lock on glass accordion doors and install hearth padding around edges of hearth to prevent child from falling into it.

· Remove gas key from fireplace gas gauge and store in high place.

· Anchor all things that are tipping hazards.

· Anchor TVs.

· Remove all items (torchiere lamps, freestanding coat racks, statues, etc.) from home until child is older.

· Cover end tables, coffee tables, countertops, and low dressers furniture corners and edges with cushioning made for this purpose.

Decks

· No unsupervised usage of decks. Beware of you child stacking toys/object to see over railing.

· Use a Plexiglas or net barrier if you have a lot more than 2 ½ inches between railing posts.

· Put decals on sliding glass doors at baby’s eye level, so he or she doesn’t come upon them.

· Continue to keep baby away when from your grill. Hearthgates work effectively for this purpose.

· Don’t use deck furniture to reduce risk of climbing.

· Always lock all doors bringing about decks.

Nursery

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, National Safety Council along with the American Academy of Pediatrics contain the following helpful safety ideas for your child’s nursery.

· ALWAYS place baby to sleep on his / her back. This greatly cuts down on the risk from SIDS (Cot death) or suffocation. Since American Academy of Pediatrics recommended back-sleeping five years ago, SIDS deaths in america have declined by 38%.

· Remove all soft bedding-pillows, comforters, blankets and stuffed animals-from the crib to increase reduce risk of suffocation. Rather than blanket, dress baby in the sleep sack or sleeper.

· Make sure the crib itself meets current safety standards. This implies:

1. The slats are no wider than 2 3/8″ apart

2. The mattress is firm-not soft (foam or coil – your choice)

3. There’s no gap between mattress and crib walls. Two fingers worth of space is too much.

4. Corner posts are level using the height with the end panels (just 1/16″ higher at most)

5. There are no decorative cut-outs inside the headboard or footboard.

6. Top rails, when raised, are near least 26″ above the mattress support rolling around in its lowest position.

7. Hardware is secure-no loose or broken screws or pieces. Recheck periodically.

8. Drop sides is not accidentally released by the child. (Good National Safety Council, the crib sides should require two separate steps to produce. If it is single step process, it must require a minimum force of 10 pounds to release.)

9. Get a JPMA safety certification seal on newly manufactured cribs.

10. Top rails should be covered by teething guards.

· Keep blind cords, curtain pulls, décor, electrical cords and mobiles from baby’s reach.

· Maintain a very good room temperature give you a recommended range to prevent overheating.

· Place baby’s crib far from any source of draft.

· Ensure baby’s fitted sheet is secured towards the mattress and will not pop loose.

· Place a baby monitor inside the nursery definately not child’s reach.

· Consider investing in a special crib mattress that circulates air around baby. This helps avoid the “rebreathing” of carbon dioxide, that is thought to be a number one reason behind SIDS.

· If you utilize bumper pads, get them to tightly secured to the sides from the cribs. Trim excess ties or straps. Straps ought to be loose, simple to push down to mattress but not hung on any hardware. You don’t want your child to secure a foothold on bumper in order to climb out.

· When child is sitting up remove bumper pads and many types of other animals or pillows reducing crib mattress to lowest position.

· When the the surface of the crib rails are below three-fourths your son or daughter’s height or they are 36 inches tall, it is time to go on to a toddler bed.

· For those who have a youngster who climbs out of the crib before the above point, you should consider using a crib tent. Some parent’s can’t stand it but the potential alternatives are far worse.

· Install finger guards on fast-closing doors.

· Anchor all furniture, cover all outlets (even ones behind crib), and install locks or window guards on all windows.

· When baby is sitting up remove all mobiles and any kind of canopy over bed as they can pose choking or strangulation hazards.

· Usually do not place heavy object on shelves or hang pictures above crib.

· Use earthquake putty on all objects added to shelving. Use Velcro the secure base of pictures on walls – stay with wall and back of frame as well as prevent it from falling and breaking during quake.

· Use locks on sliding closet doors until baby can make without pinching fingers or slamming causing glass doors to compromise.

· Pick-up room nightly before going to sleep so any time an urgent situation you will get in your child quickly without incident.

· When child is in toddler bed, use pressure gate in doorway in order to avoid child from walking around house unsupervised when asleep. Instruct child to necessitate you when he’s awake each day.

Fire & Health Safety

· Store fire escape ladders in most bedroom on second level and above.

· Place working fire alarms in most bedroom and so on every story don’t forget to check them regularly. Day light savings time is a good marker to make use of look at your alarms bi-annually

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· Install deadly carbon monoxide detectors on each a higher level home near sleeping areas.

· Install propane detectors on each level of home near sleeping areas.

· Create and exercise a disaster plans. (ie. fire escape plan, earthquake plan, disaster plan.)

· Purchase disaster preparedness kits.

· Make certain all fire/smoke alarms are in working order.

· Position the number with the poison control center at the telephone. You need to know your weight to treating a poisoning. Never use ipecac unless instructed by a professional for this.

· Learn first aid and CPR and maintain skills up-to-date.

How to Baby Proof a Utility Room

How to Baby Proof your Bathroom