Is your house safe for your baby?

Getting your home ready for little ones goes beyond just building a crib and decorating the nursery. Once babies start to crawl and later walk, they are incredibly curious, so you will need to make sure your home is free of any hazards that they can come into contact with. Read on to find out how you can baby-proof each room in your house! 

Living room 

Coffee tables and desks with sharp corners can be an accident waiting to happen, if a little one slips and bumps their head. Buying corner protectors might not look the most visually appealing but they can prevent or lessen an injury to your active toddler! 

Heavy cords on appliances, such as lamps and computers should be tucked away, so that children can’t access and pull on them, causing the appliance to topple over. You might also want to anchor heavy furniture to the walls, such as bookshelves, TV units and cupboards with drawers to minimise risk of them falling on your child. 

If you have a fireplace, cover it with a fireguard and keep an extinguisher nearby. Always keep matches and lighters out of your child’s reach. 

Kitchen

Accidental tea and coffee burns account for a high number of childhood injuries. Keep mugs with hot drinks away from the edge of tabletops, where children can likely grab and spill them. When cooking on the hob, always make sure saucepan handles are turned inwards for the same reason. 

Tablecloths aren’t safe from a child’s grasp either. Swap them out with tablemats to prevent the contents of your table from going flying. 

Lock cleaning products, such as bleach and oven cleaner, in high cupboards out of harm’s way. 

Bedroom

Keep large windows shut at all times when you aren’t in the room, and make sure you move any furniture that a child might climb up onto away from the windows. 

As with the living room, make sure any large furniture such as wardrobes and chests of drawers are anchored to the walls to prevent them from tipping over. 

Any small objects that a baby might grab and choke on should be stored away safely too – this includes any make-up items or toiletries on your dressing table! 

Bathroom 

Having easy access to hot water is a common hazard where your bathroom is concerned. Think about putting a cover on the hot tap to prevent children playing with it. 
Make sure you’re supervising very young children in the bathroom at all times. We recommend keeping the doors locked and toilet covers down with a special lid lock when not in use. 

Stairs 

Stairs should always be well lit and free of any objects that can cause someone to trip up (that includes an adult who may be carrying a child upstairs!). Make sure you repair or remove any carpet that’s worn or ragged. And check that the railings on your banister isn’t wide enough for a child to slip through, or for their head to become trapped in. 

Safety gates should be your first point of call when it comes to child safety, to prevent them from having a fall. Install a gate at the bottom and top of the stairs (especially to stop your child from wandering downstairs in the middle of the night when everyone else is asleep!).