Are you an expecting parent? Well, in preparation for the baby’s arrival, you must have bought all of the adorable tiny baby clothes, toys, and essentials such as their crib, milk bottles and diapers. But have you also made sure that your home is safe for the baby? Because in the blink of an eye your baby will start rolling over, crawling, and even waddling around the house! Which means they’re going to get much better (and faster!) at grabbing, holding, and moving things around! So in order to prevent any boo-boos from happening, you should begin baby-proofing your home a few months before your baby’s arrival so that you’ll have more than enough time to properly equip the house with baby-safe items!

Feeling lost? Well, here’s what you’ve gotta do :

Make a checklist!

To make sure that you won’t need to keep going back and forth on things to purchase, write everything down into a checklist! Take some time to look through everything in your house and take note of things that might be dangerous for your baby, such as:

• Unsteady or unbalanced furniture
• Dressers or cabinets that can be opened and close easily
• Choking hazards like plastic bags, hair clips or pins, batteries, and loose screws/bolts
• Household appliances; the caps for your sauce bottles, magnets, etc.
• Staircases or high platforms

and list out alternatives you can get to replace it, or any items you could get to make it safe. Make sure to refer to your list and share it with your spouse, to avoid any unnecessary purchases when you go shopping. We don’t wanna come home to two of exactly the same things!

Protect the outlets!

Make sure that all of your electrical outlets are turned off and unplugged when they’re not in use. And purchase outlet shields or childproof socket covers after turning off the switch, so that your child won’t be able to stick their fingers or any small objects into the electric box. You can find these pretty easily, in your nearest hardware store! And when the outlets are in use, then make sure to keep it out of reach from children or monitor them to ensure that they don’t play with the plugs.

Say bye-bye to clutter!

Does your sofa and beds have space underneath it? Well, if you’ve kept some knick-knacks or swept some unused stuff under these areas, then you might want to clear it up! That’s because your kid might just decide to do some exploring, and crawl into these gaps. 

So make sure to get rid of any unused items that create unnecessary clutter, and buy some storage boxes to keep everything in - perhaps even opt for furniture that could double as storage! And don’t forget to vacuum the floor regularly to make sure your baby won’t be crawling into a pile of dust, and you’ll also be sucking up any loose items that can be a choking hazard. Another thing that you can do is to allocate a safe spot that will act as a play area for your child. This spot should be an area that is free from any plugs, wires, or items that will be a danger to your child. It should also have a baby safety net or barrier around so that they won’t be able to crawl off to explore.

Accomplish your kitchen mission!

When your child is beginning to learn about all the wonders of the world… the inside of a cabinet could seem like the most interesting thing to explore. And before they get hold of any sharp items, it’s your responsibility to make sure all of the dangerous items are out of their reach.

You should keep your cutleries and cooking knives in drawers and all of your fragile ceramics from mugs, to bowls and plates into closed cupboards, with all of the heavy pots and pans out of your child’s reach, in case it falls on them by accident. Additionally, if you’ve kept any dishwashing liquid, detergent or bleach under your kitchen sink, move them into a higher closed cupboard. Bags are also a huge hazard to your toddler, so be sure to store them right.  Purchase some child-proof safety locks to install onto all of your drawers, cabinets and fridge, so your kids won’t be able to access any of these on their own.

Secure and tape stuff!

Having pots and pans fall on your kid is scary enough, but heavy furniture- yikes! In order to prevent any catastrophes like that to occur, you should screw heavy furniture such as bookshelves to the wall. Another option would be to purchase some safety straps to anchor them to the wall. This is especially important for furniture that appears a bit unstable. 

Other than that, make sure to take note of all your sharp-edged furniture, and if it’s within your budget to replace it, go ahead and get a new table with rounded or curved edges! But since that’s a bit much for a majority of us, you could also stick corner cards onto the sharp corners to prevent any injuries or scratches.

Oh, and don’t forget about your carpets! Accidents do happen, but in order to prevent you from slipping over a rug while carrying a baby, you should stick a non-skid liner and stick it onto the bottom of your rugs and carpets. Or if you’ve got an older child, they might run around the house in a sugar-rush frenzy, or they might just be in a hyper and energetic mood, so this would prevent them from slipping too!

Meet Safety Gates, your best mates!

For high platforms, doors and staircases, installing protective gates is a safe bet. Try installing gates that are complex to open for toddlers and can’t be climbed over. You might want to place these gates by doorways to ‘danger zones’ such as the kitchen, and even by stairways! When you install this, make sure to test it out by giving it a shake to make sure it’s sturdy enough and won’t easily break or fall onto your child. 

So yes, these are a few ways to baby-proof your home! Of course, there are countless other things to keep in mind. Becoming a parent is a journey, and it doesn’t have to be such a painful one. To all new parents-to-be, enjoy watching your child discover the world but make sure to take steps towards properly childproofing your home, so they can safely explore the surroundings.

If you feel like you don’t have the time or knowledge to babyproof your home, you could of course consider hiring professionals. But other than that, use the internet as your friend, and ask fellow parents who have had firsthand experience with this. If you’re thinking about expanding your family, and purchasing a bigger home, or perhaps even your first home, then make sure to check out our e-book for some helpful home buying tips!