Once your baby is about to crawl, it’s really important you consider the various ways you can childproof your home. Generally speaking, most babies start to get on all fours at around the eight-month mark (some of mine have army crawled even earlier), so being prepared and making your home a safe place for them to explore is a priority once they hit seven-months-old. Once they are able to crawl, they will soon be off and you will have to keep a very close eye on them! Not only that, though, but you will find that they will try to touch (and put in their mouth) everything they see. Not to mention trying to pull themselves up with various objects.
Add in distractions of homeschooling siblings and the busyness that is raising a family and that close eye is not as close. As you can see, it really is necessary to ensure your house is safe for your young child once they are on the move. Here are a few ideas that can help you do just that.
Add Easy-To-Clean Flooring
Once babies become toddlers, they also become very messy indeed. No matter what kind of food you give them, I’m sure some of it will end up on the floor! And whenever you give them a little snack when they are sitting on the floor, there’s still a good chance of them making everywhere sticky straight away. There’s nothing you can do about this, unfortunately, it’s just how babies are. However, you can make things easier when it comes to cleaning. For instance, swapping your carpets for hardwood flooring will make your floors a lot easier to clean. Clicking here gives you an idea of the kind of hardwood floors you can get. When we bought our home, one room had carpet, the dining room. It was maddening. Wood floors a must when raising children. You just need to wipe any spills on these and there is little chance of the wood staining.
Cut The Cords On Your Blinds
One of the things that you do not want your child to get their hands on is the cord on any blinds that are hung at your windows. This can actually be very dangerous, and there have been a few stories in the media about children who have accidentally strangled themselves by getting tangled in blind cords. To ensure this never happens in your home, simply trim the cord so that they don’t dangle in reach of your child. If you don’t want to cut them, you can just tie them up in a knot to keep them out of reach. And don’t set baby’s crib under a window with blinds with cords no matter how perfect it looks. Safety first.
Install Safety Gates
Don’t forget to install safety gates at the top and bottom of any stairs in your home. Some parents think that they don’t need to install them until their child is able to walk on their own. That isn’t the case, though, as most crawling babies and will be able to pull themselves upstairs. So, when you have safety gates at the bottom, you will be able to turn your back on them for a few minutes knowing that there is little chance of them getting up or down the stairs. Even better, they are less likely to injure themselves by accidentally falling down the stairs! Train older siblings in how to use them so they stay closed.
Attach Corner Guards To Hard Furniture
Most parents prefer to completely remove any sharp-edged or cornered furniture from their home when they have a small toddler crawling around. They could easily bump into or fall onto the sharp edges and corners and really hurt themselves. If you want to do this, you could always try selling your furniture on the likes of eBay or Craigslist to try and make some extra money. Don’t want to get rid of your furniture? No problem; you don’t have to. Instead, you just need to buy some corner guards to cover up any sharp parts. You can usually buy these in most baby stores. These covers are quite soft and sometimes spongy, so you don’t need to worry about your baby hurting themselves if they do bump into them.
Keep Collectibles Out Of Reach
Once your toddler is able to crawl around, you better believe they are going to try and get hold of anything that they see! So, you might want to move those precious collectibles off the floor and put them on a higher shelf… Otherwise, your toddler will make a beeline for them straight away! One great tip is to get on your hands and knees in each room and see what you would be able to touch without reaching too much. These items will be what your toddler will also be able to touch and grasp, so you had better move them before they get to them!
Clean Up Clutter
Clutter doesn’t just make your home look untidy and messy. It can also make it very dangerous. Just imagine trying to walk through your living room when the floor is covered with toys or other items. It could be very difficult indeed, and you might even end up tripping over if you are not watching where you are going. This is also the case for your child, and they are a lot more likely to trip as they will be more unsteady on their feet than you. So, make sure clutter is cleaned away as soon as it is created! Even toddlers can help to pick up their toys. It makes life so much easier to instill these type of habits from the beginning.
Place A Safety Guard In Front Of Fireplaces
Fireplaces are beautiful features and are likely to be found in older homes. Sometimes they are only used for decorative purposes but, more often than not in our area of the country, they are still used for their original purpose: to heat the house. Some of them might have been converted into gas fireplaces while others might still be open fires that require coal. We’ve put a wood burning stove on the hearth of the old fireplace. It keeps our house nice and warm. Either way, this can be very hazardous to your child, especially once they start to crawl around. If you have an open fireplace, it’s really important that you buy a fireguard that you can stand right in front of the fireplace. Don’t worry, this won’t mean that your home warms up slower – most guards are made of mesh so all the heat can still get through into the room. It just puts a physical barrier between your baby and the fire. You’ll also want a physical barrier if your wood stove sits out in a room. We use babygates until our young ones know to steer clear of the hot stove.
Bumps and owies are part of toddlerhood (the name kind of gives it away, right?). They cannot be eliminated entirely, but we can certainly minimize the risks by using these simple ideas. Don’t neglect any of these points in your home! We don’t rely solely on these things, but use them in conjunction with a watchful eye and training our children. We can’t bubble wrap them.