Baby Proofing - Tips for Child Proofing Your Home

About 2-1/2 million children are injured or worse by hazards in the home each year. The good news is that many of these incidents can be prevented by using simple child safety devices on the market today. That is why at Kidproteq in Wayne, PA, it is their goal to provide the very best child safety products available, along with the very best customer service.

 

So whether you are making home safe for baby for the first time ever, or the first time in a long time, here are recommendations from child safety experts for making your home safe for babies and toddlers.

Newborns and Infants (under three months)

Premobile little ones need special precautions, predominantly in the areas where baby will be sleeping.

Crib Safety. We used to lose too many babies to accidents in cribs or bassinets. So the standards are now pretty clear. New cribs will generally meet them, but if you are using an older or second hand crib, you will need to be extra careful.

• Use a crib made since 1992 that meets safety standards set by the American
• Society for Testing and Material (ASTM).
• Be sure the crib mattress fits snugly. You should be able to slide only one finger between the mattress and the side rails and headboard. If it is wider than that, get a larger mattress.
• Don’t use a crib that has wide or raised corner posts or decorative cutouts in the headboard since a baby’s head could become trapped there, or loose clothing could get caught and increase the risk of strangling the baby.
• The slats on the crib should be 2 3/8 inches apart or less; any wider and a baby’s head can get caught between them.
• Make sure all screws, bolts, and other hardware are securely installed to prevent the crib from collapsing.
• Never put pillows, extra bedding, electric blankets, heating pads, or stuffed animals in a crib. Babies can easily suffocate, and it can happen quickly.

Changing Tables. A popular item in nurseries, the changing table is very convenient, but can be a risk if not secured.

• Install and use a safety belt on your infant’s changing table. Babies can get a little rambunctious and can easily slide off the table if they are not strapped in.

Place a rug under the changing table and crib, which will offer some cushion in case of a fall.

At the rolling and crawling stages, mobility brings added risks and dangers. Here are tips for babyproofing to protect the “crawling and bawling” babies in our lives.

Pad the edges of coffee tables and brick or tile fireplaces. Just a little padding can prevent a big bump, bruise or cut on the head. These corners just at crawling height are risky.

Remove the crib bumper pad as soon as your infant can get up on hands and knees. Little ones have been known to use these bumper pads as steps to climb out of a crib and topple to the floor.

Secure your entertainment devices. Make sure that cords for televisions, stereos, DVD players and home theaters are shortened. Make sure they are stable and won’t tip over if grabbed onto. Bookshelves and entertainment centers should be anchored to the wall if possible to prevent them from tipping over.

Keep appliance, drapery and lamp cords wrapped short. Little ones tend to grab onto cords to pull themselves up. Keep the cords short and protected whenever possible.

Cover every electrical outlet in your home. Open outlets are an invitation to danger. Try using the child-resistant outlet covers; the plastic outlet plugs we used to use are pretty easy for little fingers to pry out.

Provide screened barriers around fireplaces or any lower level heat source. These can be attractive nuisances to the crawlers in your life, and they are dangerous.

Get those safety gates up. Install hardware-mounted safety gates at the top and bottom of stairways with two or more steps. The old pressure-mounted gates generally will not hold a toddler back very long.

Install cabinet locks. On your ground level kitchen and utility cabinets, get some good cabinet locks installed. If the cabinet doors have handles, handle locks that wrap around or through the handles are good choices. Otherwise, install the locks on the inside of the doors that you have to push down or pull up to unlock.

Avoid moving walkers. There have been many household accidents due to babies in walkers. The latest trend is a unit that stays still but turns on its axis. This gives baby some mobility and entertainment without having the baby move laterally.

Secure the poisons. Lock any potentially dangerous substance in an upper-level cabinet. This includes alcoholic beverages, household cleaning formulas, laundry supplies, medications (including nonprescription varieties like vitamins and adult or children’s pain relievers), kerosene, gasoline, bug spray, pesticides, charcoal, lighter fluid, paint and fertilizers.

Watch the Plants. Place houseplants out of children’s reach; know the names of all plants in case a child eats one of them.

Once a baby is walking, making your home safe for baby is almost a daily chore. In addition to the safety measures already outlined, consider the following:

Use slip-proof mats. If you have loose rugs and door mats, purchase and stick onto the underneath side some non-slip fabrics. This will help your toddler avoid some major slip and fall accidents.

Doorknob covers are key. Every doorknob needs a plastic doorknob cover that will only open the door if it is squeezed and turned at the same time. This will keep your toddler from getting into places when the doors are closed.

Lock the really dangerous rooms. If you have a home workshop, sewing room, food storage room or the like, change out the door knob and install locking knobs, and keep them locked.

Secure windows. A friend of ours had a toddler who was visiting her home climb up on the sofa and lean on the window screen of an open window. The toddler lost her balance and pushed the screen out and fell out the window. Even the most secure screen will not stop a falling accident. Consider putting locks on your windows to prevent them from opening or from sliding more than 4″ open.

Use banister shields. If your balcony banister are wider than 4″, purchase and install a banister barrier.

Childproofing is an ongoing process. Being constantly aware of hazards and taking precautions are the best ways to make sure your home is safe for your child or grandchild.

 
So what are you waiting for? Make their goal your goal. Turn your home into the safest environment for your child, grandchild or loved ones. Find out more and contact them today!

Rachelle Gansky
President

532 West Lancaster Avenue
Wayne, PA 19087

Phone:  610-688-7404
Fax:      610-688-7406

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