With a little one crawling around the house soon, you had better make sure it is a safe place for him or her. And, you should do this before the baby comes. Your partner might want to help you, so the sooner you start the better.
- Check the size of the baby’s mattress; it should fit in the crib tightly. You should only be able to slide one finger between the mattress and the side rails of the crib and head board. If it is wider than that, get a larger mattress.
- Never put pillows, extra bedding, electric blankets, heating pads or stuffed animals in a crib. Babies can easily suffocate and it can happen quickly.
- Make sure all screws, bolts and other hardware are securely installed to prevent the crib from collapsing.
- Place a rug under the changing table and crib, which will prevent sliding as well as offer some cushion in case of a fall.
- Keep fans out of your baby’s reach.
- Put some sort of padding on the edges of coffee tables and corners of cupboards. Just a little padding can prevent a big bump, bruise or cut on the head. Many corners are just at crawling height and are risky.
- Secure your entertainment equipment. Make sure that cables for TV, stereos, DVD players etc are shortened. Also make sure that your equipment is stable and will not top over. Bookshelves and entertainment centers should be anchored to the wall if possible, to prevent them from tipping over.
- Cover every electrical outlet in your home. Open outlets are an invitation to danger. Try to use child-resistant outlet covers.
- Get safety gates up. Install hardware mounted safety gates at the top and bottom of staircases with 2 or more steps.
- Always hold onto the safety railing when carrying your child up and down the steps.
- Lock windows to prevent your child from falling outside.
- Install cabinet locks. On your ground level kitchen and utility cabinets, get some good cabinet locks installed. Do the same for low drawers.
- Make sure closets can be opened from the inside, so that your child doesn’t get locked in.
- Move cleaners far from your baby’s reach; do not keep them under the sink.
- Throw out plastic grocery bags and dry cleaning bags immediately; these can cause suffocation.
- Secure the poisons. Lock any potentially dangerous substances in an upper-level cabinet. This includes alcoholic beverages, household cleaning chemicals, laundry detergent, medication (prescription and non prescription), mosquito spray, pesticides, charcoal, lighter fuel and paint.
- Never use hot tap water for mixing your baby’s formula or food.
- Secure garbage behind a latched door or make sure it has a tight secure lid.
- Watch the plants. Place houseplants out of children’s reach; know the names of all plants in case a child eats one of them.
- Never leave your baby alone with pets that the baby could reach for and that may cause harm, especially dogs and cats. Animals always avoid confrontation, but can react strongly if they’re annoyed, threatened or even jealous.
- Never leave your baby alone in the bathroom for any reason. Babies can drown very easily and quickly without constant supervision.
- Turn off the hot water first when running bathtub water, so that if your baby accidentally turns on the water, he or she is not burned by water left in the tap.
- Keep the bathroom door closed and latched. Small children are capable of drowning in toilet bowls.
- Set the thermostat of your hot water heater to no higher than 48ºC to reduce the chance of scalds or burns. It takes only 3 seconds for a child to get a third-degree burn from water at 60ºC.
