Baby Proofing Your Home

In decades past parents simply avoided the need to protect their babies from home hazards by confining them to playpens.  As our understanding of the development process in children grew it became apparent that a child’s brain develops better in environments where a child is allowed to explore and “play.”  For babies, playing is learning.

Today we are more willing to let those crawlers crawl and explore and learn.  But a home can be a dangerous place for a baby, whose exploration involves putting anything found on the floor into the mouth for further exploration.  It also involves pulling anything that can be pulled closer for further inspection.

Although there are a variety of baby proofing products available in the market, nothing replaces a thorough visual inspection of your home from the baby’s point of view.  So get down on your hands and knees and start crawling!

There are obvious things that need attention, like electrical outlets, cabinet doors, stairways, and basement or exterior entrance doors.  Although you can buy inexpensive plastic plugs to insert into electrical outlets, spend a little more and get special childproof covers as many crawlers and toddlers are smart enough to figure out how to remove the plugs.

Cabinet locks can also give you a false sense of security as toddlers can figure these out as well.  The solution is to remove all harmful substances from lower cabinets, even if you place child proof latches on the lower cabinets.  Simple “hook and latch” hardware attached at the upper end of an entrance door is a must.

Expandable stairway gates will keep your child from crawling up a few stairs and then realizing he or she can’t get down!  If you have access to an old fashioned wooden scissor style gate, don’t use it.  If a child pulls it free the scissors could pinch your child’s arm and cause injury.  The more modern gates with plastic mesh are preferable.  These must be checked frequently to ensure they are tight.  Crawlers and toddlers will pull on these and they could loosen up.

Once the easy stuff is out of the way, crawl around your home and try to think like a baby.  In the kitchen you might find a refrigerator magnet that has popped off and is now on the floor.  Get rid of your magnets as they will surely end up in your baby’s mouth if they find their way to the floor.

As you inspect your home from the floor, look for anything loose and dangling, begging to be pulled.  Your home entertainment center may have hanging cords accessible from the sides or the back.  A baby will surely pull on these.  Drapery and blind cords are additional invitations to disaster.  Lace doily covers on end tables, dining room table clothes with fabric overhang, and even draperies themselves all offer your child a wonderful opportunity for exploration – and potential harm.

If you like decorating with houseplants, they’ll either have to go or be moved to a location where the child is not allowed – ever.  Babies will dig in the dirt of floor plants and eat the leaves.

No matter now hard they try some parents discover their child is smarter than they are and they still manage to get into things.  Have Ipecac syrup and activated charcoal readily available.  Most communities have special poison control centers you can call for immediate emergency assistance.  Make sure you have the number readily available.