Safety Proofing for Babies: Tips and Products

There is SO MUCH to do involving safety proofing for babies. Sometimes it can seem overwhelming. Where this might not be 100% of everything that you need to do to prepare your nursery and your home, we feel that this is a great place to start.

General safety Proofing for Babies Tips

1. Get down on the ground. Yep, on your hand and knees. What do you see? What can you access? The moment your baby is mobile, they’ll be able to access that too.
2. Don’t go overboard padding every corner and locking every drawer. Get the dangerous items out of the way [chemicals, knives, etc] but wait and see on the rest. Some children are more curious than others. Some will persistently get into every little thing you ever owned, and some will be easily redirected.

Safety Proofing a Sleeping Area:

• Inside the crib/bassinet should be only the baby, and maybe a pacifier. That’s it!
• Bumpers- nope. Don’t use them. It goes against AAP guidelines. No matter how cute they look, it isn’t worth the risk.
• Positioners/pillows- another no. baby needs to be flat on their back.
• Crib- We love milk street for their quality and safety standards. But when looking for a crib in general, find one that meets the CPSC crib safety guidelines. If it’s a used crib make sure the slats are 2.5in or less apart and that there is no dropside.
• Make sure there is nothing above the crib that could fall down, and that there is nothing the baby could reach out and grab that could be a potential hazard as they grow.

Carseats:

• All new carseats on the market have passed rigorous safety testing.
• Do not use carseats that have been in a crash, that have not been stored properly or that are expired. [Yes they expire!]
• Find a local CPST in your area to recommend on the right carseat for your car and to have the installation checked.

Changing Table:

• Always have one hand on the baby!
• Make sure nothing dangerous is within grabbing range
• Make sure there is nothing heavy on the walls that can be accidentally pulled or kicked down.

Bath Time:

• Temperature: Newborn babies do best with water that is slightly warmer than skin temperature. It shouldn’t feel hot, but shouldn’t feel cold either. Putting a facecloth on baby’s chest if it’s out of the water can help keep them warm too.
• ALWAYS monitor baby in the bath. Babies can drown in an inch of water. Make sure you are monitoring that their full head is kept out of the water.

Staircases:

• Only carry your newborn up/down the stairs, take a second trip for your coffee or laptop
• Always properly monitor or gate off staircases.
• Make sure any gates at the top of the stairs are made for top of the stairs! You can’t just put any pressure gate at the top.

Heavy Furniture [Bureaus, Television]

• Anchor, anchor, anchor!
• Make sure anything that could fall on your baby is securely attached to the wall. You don’t want your baby’s first climbing adventure to end in disaster.

Cabinets:

• Focus on areas that hold dangerous items- knives and chemicals.
• How you childproof these completely depends on the type of cabinet that you have.
• Pro tip: Leave one safe cabinet unlocked and let it house baby safe items like Tupperware, spatulas, measuring cups etc

Sharp corners

• When you’re on the floor crawling around, check out if any tables or decor have extremely sharp edges that a toddling baby could bump into.
• We love stick on soft protectors like these .

Outlets:

• Covering outlets is probably the most commonly known safety rule. Plug up your outlets!
• If you’re getting a new home they can retrofit them with safety outlets, or you can use any of the protectors that you push in. [Eventually some older toddlers will figure out how to pull them out.]

Blinds:

• Strings from blinds can be a deadly hazard. It’s one of the preventable deaths that we hear about most often.
• Get stringless blinds if you can, or make sure that they are tied up high and out of reach.

Is that all we need to know to safety proof for babies?

Probably not. [Sorry] Each home will have its own unique potential dangers. We highly recommend finding a YES SPACE in your home where your baby can explore freely, and teach them safety and boundaries on “off limits” areas in the rest of your home.