How to Baby-Proof Your Home

Get the house ready for a mobile baby.

A new baby in the house is an enormous adjustment. Organizing, decorating and outfitting a nursery alone requires preparation, but you must contend with another critical issue before your baby arrives. Your childless home needs to be baby-proofed. Spending some time on baby-proofing now, though, will make your house safe for years to come. It's much easier to baby-proof prior to your baby's arrival as it's difficult to know when a baby will become mobile and need the safeguards installed.

Things You'll Need

• Baby gates
• Corner guards and edge guards
• Carbon monoxide and smoke detectors
• Doorstops
• Rubber bath mat
• Electrical outlet covers
• Notebook
• Window guards and safety netting
• Stove locks
• Anti-scald showerhead
• Door locks
• Toilet seat locks
• Cabinet locks

Instructions

1. Examine your baby's crib, especially if you're using a family heirloom. Check the screws, slats and other parts to make sure the crib is sturdy. Crib slats need be no farther apart than 2 and three-quarter inches, cutouts must be boarded and the sides must stay up securely. Remember the crib should be clutter-free: Take toys out when the baby is in it, and make sure cords from appliances, window blinds or even baby toys are beyond reach. Move the crib away from all windows, too.

2. Investigate the paint in your home. Check everything from your crib to your walls. If anything was built before 1978, contact the National Lead Information Center at epa.gov/lead to learn how to get your paint tested for lead.

3. Reduce the hot water heater temperature to 120 degrees to prevent burns or scalding. You can also purchase anti-scald devices for individual showerheads and faucets, but they may need to be installed by a plumber.

4. Buy a big enough diaper bag to double as an emergency bag. Along with daily necessities, pack a list of baby's special needs, including allergies, medications, medical conditions, doctor's names and any phone numbers you need in an emergency. If your baby uses medicines, keep them all in a case that you can grab in a hurry if you have to rush out.

5. Keep a large notebook of all important information about your baby's care up to date. Note doctor's orders, feeding and medical information and any phone numbers that your babysitter needs. In another section of the notebook, note anything you'd want to share with your doctor and your doctor's instructions, along with records of immunizations. Store all insurance information and records in another section. Once the notebook is assembled, it will take only a few moments now and then to keep it current, but it saves you worry in an emergency.

6. Cover all unused electrical outlets in the house and get cabinet locks for every cabinet that holds potentially dangerous items. These include laundry products, household cleaning supplies, pool supplies, liquor, medicine and any sharp tools or utensils. Secure these and other dangerous items with cabinet locks, which come in affordable models that are simple for adults to undo.

7. Store all your potential choking hazards higher than your baby will reach. This includes buttons, jewelry, nails and screws. Anything that will fit through a cardboard paper towel roll is too small to be around a baby. Also carefully dispose of plastic bags, bubble wrap and anything else that poses a suffocation hazard.

8. Use door locks and baby gates to secure doorways leading to off-limit areas. Buy gates that screw into the wall studs for maximum security around stairs. Look for Juvenile Products Manufacturing Association (JPMA) certification seals to make certain the gates are up to code.

9. Safeguard your pool. Install private fencing all the way around the pool and put the lock high enough so that children (yours or anyone else's) can't reach it. As an added precaution, teach the little ones to swim as early as possible.

10. Beware of all water including toilets, buckets, kiddies' pools and pet bowls. Although most drowning deaths occur in bathrooms, a child can drown in very small amounts of water. Buy locks for your toilet seats and never leave a young child bathing or using the toilet without supervision. Tub rings and other devices to hold the baby upright are not all that secure when a baby starts to wriggle or fall over. Use a rubber mat to prevent falls.

11. Buy window guards and safety netting for balconies, windows, decks and raised patios. The bars of the window guards should be no farther than 4 inches apart to be safe. If you use window guards, make sure there is a window that you can open in case of fire.

12. Install UL-listed carbon monoxide alarms and smoke detectors. Place the alarms near the bedrooms, in the kitchen area and on each floor of the house, and test the batteries in all alarms every six months. Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and discuss a fire evacuation route with your family.

13. Purchase corner guards and furniture edge guards to protect little ones from sharp edges on corners, tables, footboards and other common household fixtures. Use doorstops and door holders to prevent smashed fingers.

14. Consider alternative window treatments to replace blinds, which present a strangulation risk. If you have blinds, either cut the cords off or cut the hanging loops in cords and use safety tassels on the two ends. Be mindful of low-hanging curtain tiebacks, too.

15. Keep heavy items away from table edges and counters and secure bookcases and wall units to the wall. Turn all pot handles inward to prevent children from tugging on them and buy locking devices for stove and oven knobs.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't put heavy objects on top of tablecloths that can be pulled down on top of little ones.

References

• Consumer Product Safety Commission: Crib Information Center
• BabyCenter: Childproofing Checklist: Before Your Baby Crawls