BABY BUZZ
Home Proofing for the New Baby There is a lot to think of when making your home safe for Baby. It might seem a bit premature to get your home ready before they become mobile, but it’s never too soon to start good habits. Here are a few tricks to try.
Kitchen
The kitchen can be one of the trickier areas to control. Since we are in the room every day, it can be hard to analyze for hazards. The big items are: • Stoves: install knob covers and cook on the back burners to prevent any unwanted cooking disasters. • Don’t use dangling tablecloths; it’s really easy for little hands to pull on them from the ground and create a mess of any dishes or centerpieces on the table. • Garbage: to ensure that your little one isn’t eating out of the trash bin, place a lockable cover on it.
Odds and Ends
Furniture
The main thing with furniture is to secure loose items or place them in storage and cover sharp edges. Make sure all knickknacks are high enough that they aren’t going to get bumped off tables and hit someone, or put them in storage for a few years. If you want to keep costs low, try using old pool noodles as edge bumpers! Cut them down to size, and slip them over sharp edges.
• Keep your bathroom door closed once your kids start crawling around. • Control your cords and clean up around outlets that see a lot of usage, especially around computers and TVs. It’s also a good idea to put outlet covers on any exposed socket that isn’t being used to prevent your little one from shocking themselves. • Double-check your greens. Make sure none of the plants you have in the house are toxic. Place safety gates at the top (and the bottom!) of the stairs so they won’t fall to the bottom or try crawling their way to the top.
DID YOU KNOW? It takes the average parent 8-12 hours to child proof their home, and as many as 90% of unintentional injuries to children can be prevented by child proofing correctly. Take the weekend and play it safe!
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