5 Easy Ways to Child-Proof Your Home
October 31, 2016This post was sponsored by the Window Covering Safety Council as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.
Getting the home ready for baby requires careful planning and preparation. It’s not just about decorating the nursery with cute accents. As baby gets older and becomes more mobile, it’s important to protect her from the various hazards throughout a home. From covering electrical outlets to using cordless window coverings, there are many ways to child-proof the home.
5 Essential Ways to Child-Proof Your Home
5 Easy Ways to Child-Proof Your Home
1. Cabinet Locks: Cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom tend to hold cleaning products, which are often full of toxic ingredients. It’s important to make sure that baby cannot access these products, so a sturdy cabinet lock is essential. We installed this one on our bathroom cabinet and it has worked well for years!
2. Stair Gates: Once baby starts crawling or walking, it’s important to keep her away from the stair way. Install a durable stairway gate to make sure baby doesn’t try to climb up or down the stairs. While a tension-based gate may be acceptable to keep baby out of a particular room, use an anchored baby gate (one that is screwed into the studs of the wall) at the top of any stair way, like this stairway gate we installed years ago.
3. Outlet Protectors: Electrical outlets are usually placed low on the wall – right at baby’s eye level when she is crawling. Protect baby from electrical hazards with outlet covers. Plug-in outlet covers are better than nothing, but the most secure solution is a product that goes over the whole electrical switch plate and conceals everything inside a durable box. We have had this outlet protector installed in multiple outlets in the nursery.
4. Soft Furniture: It may not be practical to replace all your furniture for baby, but try to make some simple swaps when possible. Rather than a glass square coffee table with sharp corners, opt for a cushioned ottoman instead. We have used this ottoman in our living room for years – it can hold our remote, a drink, our feet, etc. When it’s not practical to replace furniture, buy cushioned corner pads to protect baby from all those sharp edges.
5. Cordless Window Coverings: The hazards of corded blinds is often overlooked by first-time parents, but the dangers are very real for young kids. It’s crucial to replace any corded window coverings in your house with cordless options. Exposed or dangling cords pose a strangulation hazard to infants and young children.
Did you know that October is National Window Covering Safety Month? For homes with young children, only window coverings that are completely cordless (or have cords that are inaccessible) are safe. Take some time over the next week or so to evaluate the window coverings in your home. In surveying my own home, I found a few window coverings that were compliant, like these cordless blinds in our hallway bathroom.
5 Easy Ways to Child-Proof Your Home
However, I also found these corded blinds in my home office. I will be replacing them shortly with a cordless variety.
5 Easy Ways to Child-Proof Your Home
Not sure if the window covering you like at the store is compliant? Look for the following Best for Kids™ certification label on product packaging. Best for Kids™ products are currently available at major retailers throughout the nation.
Check out this video to learn more about the label certification!
Best for Kids Label Cerification from Window Covering Safety Council on Vimeo.
Now, learn more about the Window Covering Safety Council and tell me: What is your best tip on child-proofing the home? Do you have cordless window coverings in your home?
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Cordless window blinds are definitely the way to go when it comes to child-proofing your house. I remember when I had my first child and how long it took to baby-proof the house. The corners of the fireplace always made so so nervous.
I did all but one of these when my daughter was born almost 16 years ago. I didn’t know about the cord danger. One other thing I did was get padding for wall edges. Stuck those things to the wall up to three feet high lol. Thanks for sharing!
These are all great tips!
We’ve been using this thoroughly but now our little girl is 2 she is turning into a bit of a gymnast and climber so nowhere is safe haha
These are great tips. The thing about baby proofing a home is that just when you think it’s all safe, your kids find a new way to get into things.
I love these tips! I remember how overwhelming it was childproofing the house for the first child but they always got through it.
My daughter is only 2 months old, but I’ve already started doing some of these. A gate at our stairs, opting for furniture that’s less pokey…but I still need to fix our blinds. Thanks for the tips!
I don’t have kids, but thank you so much for these tips. I know whenever I do get blessed to have children, I will be looking for all the help I can.
Outlet protectors are so important. My granddaughter just started crawling and we have had to put them up now!
OH wow these are easy enough ways to get your home safe for child. I will share with my Mom friends!
Childproofing your home takes a lot of work so it is great that these products exist. Also great information to have on the infographic.
This reminds me of the time that our nephew nearly fell down our steps. We didn’t have a baby gate, because we didn’t have any small children. So, we didn’t think about it when my husband’s sister came over and brought her young son. We were fortunate that my husband was there to catch him before he fell, but, whew! It almost gave me a heart attack!
This is great! So important for people to learn how to do this really early on. My home has been baby and child-proofed for about 13 years now! So many things little fingers can get into!
These look like great ways to baby proof your home! I don’t have kids but I have had to puppy proof before…LOL!
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This is a really great post and helpful too on ways to child proof a home. I didn’t know there was cordless blinds. Can’t wait to get some.
When we childproofed our home, we had corded window blinds, so we installed little anchors to wind the cords around, keeping them out of reach of the little ones. We also relied heavily on gates!
We used to do all these when our children were little. It is important to keep these in mind when you have little onles at home.
Child proof is very important step to keep our little ones safe! Thanks for sharing these useful tips!
These are all great tips, I do not have kids yet but my brother and his wife did most of these when my nephew was born
Thank you so much for these great safety tips for childproofing your home. I especially appreciate your mention of window chords. This is a serious matter that not everybody is aware of. And yet with a little baby proofing, a lot of accidents involving windows can be prevented. I would also like to mention that getting certified in First Aid and CPR can go a long way in the case of an emergency. Knowing what to do when an accident occurs is the best way to help the situation until paramedics can arrive or a visit to the doctor can occur. Thanks again for sharing!
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