How to Make Your Home Accident-Free for Your Baby

As soon as your baby starts to crawl, he can be prone to meet accidents even in the privacy of your own home. Any kind of accidents that can harm your family, especially your baby is the least you want to happen. This is the reason why you need to anticipate things before they can actually happen so you can avoid them.

There are so many common things at home that you may not think harmful to your baby unless you had given it much thought. Neglect and carelessness are often times the reason that can expose your baby to hazards. Every part of our home can be accident prone unless we put much effort to make it accident-free

Electrical Outlet and Cord

To secure your baby from being electrocuted or shocked, be sure to install your outlet out of your baby's reach. Babies are typically nosey and curious. Expect them to put their fingers into something they should not. For added security, put the cover on your electrical outlet. This will prevent your baby from sticking anything on it. Also, make sure that there is no electrical cord within your baby's reach. If you are using Venetian blinds, you may buy a cord retractor so there will be no dangling cord that could entangle your child and accidentally tie around his neck. This can be one of those gruesome stories we hear and sure enough, we don’t want this to happen to our kid.

Small and Breakable Items

Small and breakable items are dangerous to babies and toddlers. Babies love to put anything they can put their hands into directly to their mouths. Small items or parts may choke them and could kill them, so keep such items away from your baby. Do the same with pointed things such as needles, pins, and knives. There are a lot of these things in the kitchen. Therefore, keep your baby out of there. The kitchen is the most dangerous part of your home for a baby. Install a safety gate so your baby can't crawl in there.

Concrete Walls

Most houses are made of concretes and this is not advisable nor safe for babies as they always got their head bumps. If you got a house built like this, make it baby-proof by installing double walling made or plywood, ply board or wood. In case your baby bumps into them, it will not harm or hurt him as much as concrete walls do.

Elevated Areas and Stairs

Babies can move faster than one can expect. Before you know, they can fall down from any heights. We can hear the news that a baby fall down from a three-storey building. We find this impossible, but it does happen. To avoid this, secure your baby and avoid leaving him in elevated areas such as a bed. It is advisable to have a crib for your baby so you can leave him alone when sleeping. He can always wake up anytime and start exploring possibilities of getting away from where you left him. Setting him up in the confinement of his crib while you are gone to do other household chores can provide him enough security.

If you happen to be leaving in a two-storey building or a flat with elevated areas, secure your baby by installing safety gates. You may place these gates in nursery doorways, at the top of the stairs, kitchen or bathroom. In installing the stairs, be sure that your baby won't be able to climb it or crawl through it. Lastly, if you've got banister post, there's a possibility that your baby may crawl through it and get himself locked in. If you don't want this to happen, you may purchase netting that can be screwed into your banister posts.

Installing motion sensors in the nursery windows can secure your homes from burglars. Some get through the nursery room since some babies are left alone in their nursery at night. There are also some reports telling us that some babies had managed to do impossible things like opening a window and crawling to it. This sound rather morbid, but some babies do fall out of windows without their parents’ knowledge. Situations like this can be avoided if you have installed motion sensors or alarms in your nursery, particularly in windows and doors.

Sharp Edges

Furniture can have sharp edges. If you can't get away from furniture with sharp edges, then keep them out of your baby's crawling or playing areas or try putting corner cushions to soften edged corners. As babies would love to stand up, there's always a possibility that your baby will hold on something that can support him like furniture. In doing this, he can get out of balance and hurt himself if there are some pointed edges. In addition, get away with drawer knobs with pointed edges as they can add more to your child hazards.

Cleaners and Chemicals

Babies love to eat anything they can put their hands into. Having cleaners, chemicals and other toxic substance like chlorine, caustic soda, muriatic acid, dish washing liquid or fabric cleaners inside your home and within the reach of your baby can be a danger to his life. For safety reason, secure these items away in a place out of their reach. Store them in a locked cabinet and maintain a medicine cabinet as well in your home. Make sure that your medicine cabinet is screwed to the wall and high enough so as not to be within the reach of little children.

Household Pets

Babies can be unpredictable just like your pets. It’s enough that you introduce them to each other but never leave them alone together. Some people trust their pets too much that they let their babies play with their pets only to find out later that their babies had been harmed by their household dog or cat. We have every reason to think that our pets, especially if they had lived long enough with us, are reliable and think like we do. No matter how you are close to your pet, never trust him with your baby. If things happen just because you had trusted your pet that much, you will never be able to forgive yourself for it.

In planning for an accident-free home, visualize every part of your home in a baby's point of view. You may start on your bended knees and crawl to be able to see things your baby might see. In this position, you may be surprised to realize how things worth neglecting could always pose a hazard.

Setting up a Nursery

Setting up a nursery for your baby includes planning safety measures for your baby. A nursery may be installed with complete security gadgets and completely cleared to keep your child from any form of hazards. A crib is an essential feature in a nursery.

Primarily, your baby must not be left unattended unless he is in his sleep mode. However, even a few minutes of being left alone can give him many opportunities to subject himself to any kind of accident. Unless, your baby is fast asleep in his crib, it is not advisable to leave him even for a few minutes.

When sleeping, it is better to clothe your baby in a sleeping garment that can also serve as his cover from cold rather than cover him with a blanket. If the baby becomes restless, he may entangle himself with the blanket that may suffocate him. When your baby is not old enough or have the strength to hold anything, avoid stuffing his crib with pillows, stuff toys or anything that may suffocate him.

In summary, the important things to keep in mind in making your home safe for your baby are the following:

• Assess the inside of your home in your baby’s point of view.
• · Set up a Nursery and install it with a crib.
• · Cover electrical outlets and get away with window curtain or blinds’ cords.
• · Lock away chemicals, cleaners, and other toxic materials.
• · Install sensors, safety gates for windows and doors; and nets for banister posts.
• · Soften pointed edges with cushions.
• · Keep small and breakable items from your baby.
• · Get them out of your pets’ way.

Now that you have this tips to guide you in keeping your baby safe in your home, there’s no reason not to say, “ There’s no Better Place Like Home!”