Do you have a little one who is now on the move?  Those little hands will be into everything now that she can get around on her own.  Now is the time to childproof your home if you haven’t done so already.  Babies and toddlers are very curious little beings and they love to explore.  They don’t know the difference between something that is safe and something that is dangerous, you have to help them with that.

To help keep your little one safe now that he is on the move here are a few tips for childproofing your home and making your baby’s environment a safe one.

  • Put up baby gates.  Gate off any area that you don’t want your baby to get into.  Be especially careful to gate off stairwells as your baby will most certainly take a tumble if you don’t.
  • Install safety devices in your outlets, on the knobs on your stove, and on any cupboard you don’t want you baby to get into, you can find these in any baby department.
  • Move all dangerous substances, particularly cleaning supplies to higher ground.  Even with safety devices on the cupboard it is probably not a good idea to keep your cleaning supplies on that baby’s level as they can pose a dangerous poisoning risk to your little one.
  • Get down on their level and determine if there is anything within their reach that may be dangerous and move it.
  • Be sure to secure large pieces of furniture like bookcases and wardrobes to the wall to prevent your child from pulling them over if he decides to climb it.
  • If you have furniture with sharp corners consider placing a protective device over the corner, there too can be found in any baby department.
  • Check for choking hazards like the ties on blinds and curtains.  Keep your child’s crib and away from blinds once they can pull themselves up.
  • Check all doors and windows and make sure they are secure and that your baby or toddler can’t get them open.

The best thing to do is to go around on their level and find anything that may be interesting to your baby and determine if it poses any kind of risk to your child, if it does move it.  You will likely need to revisit your childproofing several times throughout your child’s life.  As your child grows determine what additional childproofing needs to be done in order to continue to keep her safe.

There are experts you can hire to assist you in childproofing, but I think most parents can handle this on their own.  If you aren’t sure about something ask your child’s pediatrician or other mothers for advice.

Good luck, it will be so much fun to watch your little one explore his world now that he can move around it, you just need to make sure it is safe for him.

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