Baby proofing your home

Preventing burns

• Keep hot food and drinks away for the edge of tables and counters as far out of their reach as possible.
  Make sure when cooking, to turn pan handles towards the back of counter.
• Little hands can soon be tempted if they think they can reach something.
• You can also fit an oven door guard to ensure they don’t burn themselves.
• Keep hairdryers and straighteners out of reach and always remember to put them away once you’re done.
• Invest in some good radiator guards or covers for radiators that are easy to touch.

In the bathroom

• Only ever fill the bath tub with just enough water to cover your little ones legs
• Always use warm water, but not hot. It can take a second to scold yourself in hot water so we’d recommend testing the water. As a guide, if you have a thermometer, it should be no hotter than 37 degrees.
• Make sure, to never leave your baby unattended in the bath.
• Put down a non-slip bath mat into the tub to ensure they’re secure and avoid slips!
• Invest in some bath tap covers, little ones will touch whatever they can reach – so make sure they don’t burn themselves on a hot tap.
• Lastly, keep chemicals and shampoos out of reach.

Avoiding falls

• Never leave your child alone on beds, sofas or other high furniture where they could fall.
• Use safety gates at the top and bottom of the stairs to ensure they don’t take a tumble.
• If your banister has wide gaps, fit netting or other material in between.
• Be careful when carrying your baby down the stairs – you can minimize accidents by keeping the stairs clutter free!
• Use window guards – even if your little one can’t reach the handle – you can’t be too safe.

Stopping cuts and scrapes

• Your furniture can be hard and usually have sharp or pointed corners.
• Pop corner protectors on to the edges to prevent bumps and scrapes.
• Keep electrical cables, such as those attached to lamps, tucked away and out of reach.
• Fitting child locks onto cupboards and drawers is also a must – once they start exploring they’ll be no stopping them.
• Use doorstops to keep your child’s fingers from getting trapped – especially if you have fire doors which can be heavy!
• Secure any items of furniture which could topple, such a bookcases to the wall.

Cot Safety

• Remove hanging toys from the cot when your little one can kneel or stand.
• Avoid using fluffy bedding and don’t let your child sleep on pillows
• Always put your little one down to sleep on their back.
• Ensure that you don’t leave toys in your cot and when you’re not in the room it’s best to keep the crib locked.

Whilst there is no such thing as a completely baby proof home, taking the above precautions will go a long way to giving your peace of mind. It’s worthwhile teaching your child about danger early on – using words such as “ouch” or “hot” to alert them to risks.

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