5 Baby-Proofing Tips to Keep Your Home #SafeandStylish
October 22, 2015A home can be dangerous to a young child. From electricity to sharp corners, there are hazards in a home that need to be addressed in order to make the environment safe for little ones. However, there are many solutions to these dangerous problems and I’ll be sharing five easy ways to make your home safer for baby! From #WindowSafety to water safety, here are some easy ways to protect your home, yet still keep it #SafeAndStylish.
5 Baby-Proofing Tips to Keep Your Home #SafeandStylish
1. Adjust the hot water heater temperature.
To avoid scalding injuries during bath time, it is recommended to adjust the temperature of the hot water heater to be below 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Even still, test the water with your wrist or forearm before placing baby in the water during bath time. And always, stay within an arm’s reach of your child when they are in the bath.
2. Protect the outlets.
Electricity obviously poses a big danger to little kids. Electrical outlets tend to be low on the walls, within reach of little hands. Furthermore, the small holes on the outlet might seem interesting to curious kids. Be sure to cover the outlets with products designed to keep their fingers out. We use a combination of the sliding/twisting electrical covers and the ones that basically house everything within a baby-proof box.
3. Keep medicines & cleaning supplies inside locked cabinets.
Another hazard for young kids involves cleaning supplies & medicines. Keep these items out of reach of young kids- either on a high shelf or locked away in a cabinet. Here is our bathroom, where a cabinet lock keeps curious little fingers out!
4. Choose round furniture or corner guards.
When possible, choose furniture that has rounded corners. Otherwise, purchase corner cushions or corner guards that are designed to protect little heads that might come in contact with the corners! Here’s a round table in our entryway!
5. Convert to cordless window treatments.
Older window coverings tend to have long cords that pose a strangulation risk to young children. According to the WCSC (Window Covering Safety Council), homes with young children should have window coverings that are either cordless or have inaccessible cords. Being a member of the WCSC, Smith & Noble feels an obligation as a window covering industry leader to protect consumers from potential dangers by educating them and offering smart window treatment solutions. Here’s a cordless window treatment. Since there are no cords, you simply lower or raise these blinds by pulling or pushing the bottom bar.
I’ve been a long-time fan of the window treatments offered by Smith & Noble. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you may remember I ran a giveaway for them a few months ago and also completely transformed my windows in the master bath with some of their products! Remember this transformation?!
Isn’t the After picture beautiful?! Those are gorgeous window treatments from Smith & Noble! Smith & Noble offers an amazing selection of high-quality, yet affordable, window treatment options! Now, if you’re ready to make the switch to safer window treatments, you’re in luck! Smith & Noble is offering up a $50 promotion code savings per window to anyone who is willing to trade in old, unsafe window treatments for one of their new styles! How generous is that?! Just visit this page to sign up!
And if you like sweepstakes, you will LOVE this! Smith & Noble is running a $1,000 sweepstakes to one lucky reader! Visit this link to enter and to also get a useful child safety checklist!
Hope these tips help you make your home safer for little ones!
These are all great ideas to baby-proofing. I also make sure I have my dishwasher pods stored up high. I used to keep them in the cabinet under the kitchen sink until the grandkids came along.
Good point. Those pods tend to look quite tempting to young kids. Putting them far out of reach is a great idea!
All very good tips. They take me right back to when my daughter was a baby and how important this is.
Yes, there are so many household dangers for a baby, but luckily, there are good solutions for all of them!
My kids are 7, 8 and 9 and I still have under my sink locked. Those outlet covers are great, better than the one I have stuck in my plug. My kids had the temperature rubber duckie that changed color and said if the water was too hot.
That rubber duckie is a wonderful thing: a toy and a safety device all in one! Love it!
It has been so long since I had a baby in the house. I love all these updated tips and seeing the great new products. Good to know for when I have grandchildren in the far, distant future!
Yes, there are definitely simple fixes to some of the more common household dangers for kids!
I’m a big fan of Smith and Noble too. Love the bathroom curtains you used and I think they would be perfect for my bathroom remodel that we are doing. The baby proofing tips are so important too. Young mom’s need to know the dangers of simple household things like blind cords. Thanks so much!
Thanks, Ali! We love those curtains in the master bath! And yes, the blind cords are a huge danger that so many people forget about fixing!
These are great tips and I wish I had them when my kids were small. I just tried to baby proof in the best way I could think of. The water heater suggestion just reminded me that I’ve been meaning to have my hot water level adjusted. I’ve got the hottest water, I don’t want it to ever scorch the grands.
Yes, that’s definitely an important one, Terri! Thanks for visiting!
I’d never thought to adjust the water heater temp…and I have 3 kids under 4. Yikes! So glad to have learned more child safety tips today.
Yes, that’s a common one that is often overlooked. The main reason I know about it is that our pediatrician recommended adjusting the temp. Thanks for visiting, Jelli!
I remember with my little ones the things my first one didn’t get into, my second one did. We made sure we covered all the bases, sometimes accidents happen though. Love the window treatment.
Thanks, Heather! We love those curtains- beautiful and easy to install!
We have done a TON of these babyproofing tips except for the water temperature and getting cordless blinds. Thanks for drawing our attention to changes we need to make.
Of course, Amanda! Thanks for stopping by!
Great tips. We ended up doing away with our coffee table after our son hit the corner of it with his face.
Yes we’ve had a similar situation with my youngest. That’s when we switched to round furniture when possible.
I definitely didn’t know you could adjust your water heater max temp! Great tips!
Yes it’s a common one often overlooked.
I guess babies can really be so inquisitive and really mess up things. It’s nice to secure sockets or even keep away fragile items.
Yes fragile things definitely need to be out of reach!
Great tips! All very much needed when you are having babies in the house! I have had my home baby proofed for the last 12 years now and am so glad I did it all from baby #1!
It’s great you’ve been on top of all this from baby #1!
Love the tips on choosing round furniture! When my niece was little I was always scared she was going to run into the corners of our tables!
Yep, that’s a scary thought for sure! Thanks for visiting, Angie!
I love this outlet covers, I haven’t seen these before! Much more practical for frequent use for sure!
These outlet covers I have shown are definitely the safest I’ve seen! Better than those plastic ones that just “plug” into the outlet!
These are some pretty great tips! Swear you can never be too baby proof! My disgusted is 3 and still gets into everything!
Yep, I have a 2 and 4 year old. And while the 4 year old knows a lot about staying away from the major dangers, it never hurts to be extra-safe!!