Is your baby now mobile? Practice safety tips and learn how to baby proof your home. These five items will keep your children safe in your house as they explore their surroundings.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Regalo International. All opinions are 100% mine.
It’s the stage we all come across. The baby who once could only flail her arms and legs is now using them to crawl. Bath times are getting more boisterous (not to mention slippery!). And one minute she’s laying on the blanket, the next she’s across the room.
I had been looking forward to the mobile stage, even impatiently waiting for it. But with every exciting crawl and step comes the fear that they’ll get hurt. That they’ll land on the coffee table corner or slip in the tub.
I try not to be a paranoid parent, but it’s because of this mentality that I baby proof my home.
You see, I don’t do it because I think the worst might happen, but because I don’t want to worry whether it will or not.
I’ll share how to baby proof your home to give your baby the space to explore, but within the boundaries that will keep her safe.
How to baby proof your home: A checklist
We don’t have to hover our kids. Besides, we’ll tire telling them what they can or can’t do, and they’ll get more frustrated.
Instead, create a safe space where you don’t have to hover. How to baby proof your home? Here are my top tips:
1. Baby safety gates
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Tired of making sure your baby doesn’t eat the plants or touch the oven? Or maybe she gets frustrated when you tell her “no” for the zillionth time.
Baby safety gates keep her safe and provides the space to play and explore. When my kids were in this stage, I installed this Regalo baby gate in our kitchen.
Come cooking time, I didn’t have to worry whether they’d touch the stove right when I wasn’t looking, or dash through the kitchen with the oven wide open. (Learn how to keep your baby safe in the kitchen.)
The gate was so sturdy it withstood all sorts of pulling and shaking my kids did. Plus I liked how I didn’t need to drill anything into my walls, making it easy to take down when the time came.
Another option is to use baby gates to create a mini play area within your home. Block a room for your baby to explore, or connect the gates to make one contained area for her to play in.
2. Plug covers
One of my cousin’s friends had stuck something into a plug when she was two-years-old. She got electrocuted and ended up wearing eyeglasses to fix her vision.
That might be extreme, but it convinced me enough to cover all our exposed jacks. Use plug covers that don’t remove easily, either. It might be a hassle removing them when you need to plug something in, but some are so flimsy my kids have easily pulled them off.
3. Corner protectors
One of my kids tends to fall, so corner protectors have helped avoid many cuts and pokes. Place them on coffee tables, dining room tables, and places within their level they might fall on.
And get the corner protectors that have a cushion on the top and bottom. A few times my kids have stood up, only to bang their head on the exposed, bottom side of the corner.
4. Drawer locks
Drawer locks are one of the most versatile safety items. We place them on kitchen drawers that house sharp knives or heavy utensils. We also use them for the kids’ folding closet. Otherwise, they might get their fingers pinched opening and closing the doors.
They’re also useful for pantry doors, bureau drawers—anything you don’t want your baby to open.
5. Bath faucet spout cover
Kids are amazingly slippery in the tub. A spout cover makes sure she doesn’t slip and land onto the metallic faucet. Plus, the cover also protects from heat coming from the hot water.
Conclusion
Long gone are the days when you could lay your baby down and know she’ll stay put. Now, she’s crawling, scooting and exploring her surroundings.
Learn how to baby proof your home and keep it safe with these baby proofing items. Allow her to explore so you don’t have to tell her “no” so many times. And rest assured that when she does, she’s doing so safely and happily.
Tell me in the comments: What were your must-have items when baby proofing your home?
Great tips! My goodness how many times have my kids fallen right into a corner of a wall! Having a gate is so helpful, I had one when my twins were babies so they won’t get inside the kitchen. Plug covers are a must, I’m too paranoid not to have one, haha!
Sounds like we had the same setup! The kitchen was definitely the one area I didn’t want to have to worry about. So many things could go wrong!
It’s been so long since I’ve had to do this. Sadly long! My two sisters are approaching this, though. Their babies are six months old!
Aww haha! This is why people have more than one kid lol.
Thank you for sharing these helpful childproofing tips. I especially appreciate the one about the bath faucet. A lot of parents don’t think about the dangers a faucet causes to a child’s head, or the fact that the water temperature can be changed very quickly with tiny hands. In addition to the wonderful tips you provide parents, I would love to recommend that all parents get certified in First Aid and CPR. No matter how safe we think our homes are, accidents happen. This is why knowing what to do in the case of an emergency is so important. Thanks again for sharing!
Right on, Jon. The hospital I delivered in offered a First Aid and CPR class among many others. Those were very informative and a must for parents and child care providers.
I have a toddler (daughter) and a baby (granddaughter) in my home and sometimes it is just overwhelming to keep up with all the trouble they get into together! Thank goodness for some awesome products to help keep them safe. The whale cover for the tub looks fantastic!
Agreed! I think that’s the key point of baby proofing. Not so much to be paranoid, but so that we don’t have to fuss and tell our kids “no” for every single thing they might get into.