Baby-proofing a home is something that everyone needs to consider, especially when they have a newborn along the way. By the time you know it, the little one will be able to move around on their own, which includes both walking and crawling. As soon as they are moving, this is when things get a little dangerous so you need to ensure that your home is safe for them to move around. The last thing that you want is for your child to hurt themselves because it was you who wasn’t being careful with your property. 

What Is Baby Proofing

If you have never heard of baby proofing before, it is the changes you make to your home to ensure that it is safe for your child. Here are some of the precautions you need to take to ensure that your home is safe. 

The first thing that you should do is fit safety mechanisms on your windows, doors and drawers. Additionally, make sure you purchase a baby gate for the stairs to ensure they don’t fall down. Even doorways that lead to the stairs, ensure you have a baby gate there as well. 

Household chemicals are something that you have to ensure are well out of reach of your children. We all know that babies will put everything and anything in their mouths so make sure no washing products are in reach of babies. 

They will also bump into a lot of things when they start to move so if you have a television on a stand, we recommend that you put it on a wall or, ensure that it is secure so it doesn’t fall off. 

When you are baby-proofing your home, try to look at things from the perspective of your child which is quite difficult. However, you need to look at the places where they can be dangerous for your child, for example, a table edge or even a high sofa which they could fall off. These are all the things you need to consider when you are having a baby. 

When Should You Start To Baby Proof Your Home

Baby-proofing your home is something that you should consider very early on to ensure your home is safe before your child starts moving on their own. Additionally, there will be quite a few things you need to change so it is advised you do this during the early stages of pregnancy. 

As a mother, you will lack a lot of energy during pregnancy however, it is best to do most of this between 14 and 27 weeks because you will have more energy than usual during this period. 

Baby-proofing can be a lengthy task and as you move around the house and go through your pregnancy, there will be more things that you consider to be slightly dangerous for your child. There will be things that you didn’t notice before that you have noticed now. 

Areas To Baby Proof

Plug Sockets and Electrical Wiring

Both plug sockets and electrical wiring are extremely dangerous for young children so to ensure they are safe, purchase cover plug sockets. You can buy lockable covers for your plug sockets so the baby can’t get into them. Additionally, you can purchase plug socket covers that can also be closed when it has a plug in them. Make sure you get all of the plugs that will be within reach of the child. 

Something else you will need to do is tie up your cables for your TV, computers, chargers, wifi router, lamps and anything else that is electrical and within reach of your child. Furthermore, another good way to keep their fingers out of plug sockets would be to cover them up with furniture. Put a sofa in the way so they can’t get access to it. 

Floor

On the floor, you want to reduce as many obstacles as possible so they don’t trip and fall over. This includes rugs. Even during the early stages when you will be carrying your child around with you, you need to ensure that you don’t trip and fall with your baby in your hands. 

Doors

Door stoppers are something else that you will need to purchase to ensure that the child doesn’t shut the door or their fingers. Additionally, install baby gates around the home to ensure they don’t go into areas that are off-limits. Finger guards are something else that you have to install over door hinges. This is placed over the hinge and the doorframe where the gap opens up. 

To Conclude

As you can see, there are a lot of things that you need to consider when you have a newborn and it can be quite stressful. One of the best tips that we can give is that you should speak to your friends and family to see how they have baby-proofed their home because there could be things that you missed. 

Although there are many stressful things to consider to ensure the safety of your child, there are also other things that are exciting. Going to a baby shop and finding all of the wonderful things that you can buy for your child is exciting and something that makes you look forward to your child using them.