Baby proofing your home

Creating a baby-safe environment

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So, your baby is crawling – congratulations! If you thought being a parent was exhausting before, try multiplying that tired feeling by ten. Because looking after a baby on the move is a completely new experience.

Baby proofing your home

Now that he is mobile, a whole new world will open up before your baby. For the first time ever, he’ll be able to reach things he couldn’t get before, like your cup of tea for instance, or that pair of scissors. You’ll have to start thinking about those plug sockets, or the stairs. There are so many places your baby will want to explore; his new skills are likely to keep you very busy!

There is a serious side to all this though. According to the Child Accident Prevention Trust (www.capt.org.uk) falls are the most common cause of childhood accidents. And six toddlers are admitted to hospitals in the UK every day because they are so badly burned. One of the most common reasons for these accidents is that babies and young children develop so fast, their parents literally can’t keep up with them. Every day your baby will be learning new skills, which could sometimes get him into sticky situations.

The basics

When baby proofing your home, try to consider things from your baby’s perspective. Take those scissors on the edge of the table, for example; they’re a shiny new toy just within reach for a determined little person. And that DVD player on the TV stand? Think of it as a multi-sensory gadget with lots of sparkly buttons and a hole the perfect size for posting half-chewed raisins into.

When you start to view your baby’s world from his point of view, you’ll understand how exciting all these new “toys” are – and how potentially dangerous your home is to such an inquisitive little mind.

It goes without saying that it’s a good idea to move any dangerous objects out of reach. When cooking, for example, make sure your saucepan handles aren’t hanging off the edge of the stove. Never leave hot drinks within reach of little hands. And those scissors? Well, it may just be safer to put them away for now.

Plug sockets are another potential hazard. Babies don’t know it’s not wise to shove their little fingers into the holes – little fingers that are likely to be sticky or wet from dribble and milk. Many parents invest in plug socket guards for when sockets aren’t actually being used.

Stairs are another hugely exciting new adventure for your baby. If you don’t fancy spending the day supervising your little one while he climbs up and down the stairs, you may want to consider using a stair gate. Jane Blackmore, a 32 year old mum of three from Berkshire, used stair gates when her five-year-old twins were babies. “We had stair gates at the top and bottom of the stairs and in the kitchen,” says Jane. “They were a pain, but very necessary as with twins you can just blink and someone would fall down the stairs.”

From about six months, babies reach a new developmental milestone: they want to put everything within sight into their mouths. While this is fine if it’s a baby-friendly toy they want to gum, you may not be so happy to find them chewing on a pen top or sucking on a medicine bottle. It’s a sobering statistic that every day in the UK, 12 young children are admitted to hospital because they’ve swallowed something poisonous. And once your baby starts putting things in his mouth, choking becomes a very real hazard. With this in mind it’s a wise idea to invest in a medicine cabinet to keep potentially harmful products out of reach of your baby. And when you’re choosing a new toy for your little one, check the age it is suitable for and if it has any small parts which could come off in your baby’s mouth.

Introduce boundaries

As with any aspect of parenting, there are different approaches to baby proofing. Many parents prefer not to use gadgets like stair gates or plug guards and to teach their baby clear boundaries instead. Some even use their baby’s new-found inquisitive nature to their advantage.

Liz Owen, a 39 year old mum from Buckinghamshire decided she wasn’t going to baby proof at all when both her daughters were born. “I think it was because I had never experienced ‘clinical safety’ myself when growing up,” explains Liz. “I was allowed to crawl freely in our kitchen, and as soon as I could walk, I would run around with the animals on our farm and guess I wanted to pass on this attitude to my children.” Instead, Liz set about teaching her children clear boundaries, so they learned what was safe and what was not. “Once I realised they could climb the stairs, I’d help them up and teach them to bounce back down on their bottoms. If they explored in the cupboards and pulled out potentially harmful items, I’d immediately say ‘no’ and ‘ouch’.”

Caroline Black, a 36 year old mum of two from Peebleshire in Scotland, also took this approach and didn’t buy any safety gadgets for her home. “Instead I relied on teaching my daughters what they could and couldn’t do consistently,” explains Caroline. “If they ever went for anything that was unsafe, I wouldn’t make a huge scream to stop them, as I find that making a big deal out of it just turns it into a game and something rather exciting to try again later.”

Whatever method you decide to use to keep your baby safe, it’s always a good idea to be prepared before your baby’s actually on the move. He may not be crawling yet, but you never know when he’ll decide to get up and start exploring his new world – the chances are, whenever this is, it will take you by surprise.


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