Proven Strategies in Baby Safety
Baby proofing your home is an important task when you have a baby. It’s a good idea to practice baby safety as soon as your baby comes home and it begins with getting down to a baby’s level and looking for hazards in the home.
This will give you an idea of what a baby sees and would be attracted to.
Why You’ve got to Look out for Hazards
Hazards are everywhere in the home and you’ll first need to look out for sharp, small objects that a baby can put in his or her mouth. It can involve things like dust balls, cigarettes, coins, staples, paper clips and any other object which is smaller than one and a half inches diameter. Make certain that, for baby safety, the knobs on your TV and chests of drawers are completely affixed and cannot be removed by the baby. As an obvious aside, you should keep all knives, scissors, razor blades and potentially broken glass away from your baby. Throw out hazards but don’t put them in an open trash container.
Cover electrical outlets with plastic plates and keep lamp cords tucked away behind furniture. Move fans as high as you can and never leave a cord hanging down where a baby can get to it. Baby proofing your home means looking out for these kinds of dangers. Poisons are other issues to pay attention to.
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Take your cleaning supplies and move them to a higher location. If there are chemicals in a cupboard door that a baby can get to, install childproof locks on those doors. Remove any hazardous plants that could be poisonous. Your local Extension Office can help you with that. If you are having people over, immediately pour unused drinks into the sink and put away cigarettes or cigarette stubs that are dangerous for baby.
The Real Keys to Baby Safety
Never take a pill or other medicine in front of a child or tell him or her that it’s candy. Just about any prescription or over the counter medicine can be hazardous to your child and it is important in baby proofing that you lock your medicine cabinet at all times and keep syrup of ipecac handy just in case of an ingestion. Be careful, too, about food which is too hot. Test all foods you feed baby and turn the handles of your saucepans toward the inside. Remember that dry cleaning bags and other plastic bags are extremely dangerous, as are rubber balloons. Mylar balloons are much safer. Put in safety gates at the bottom and top of all staircases and keep them always fastened.
When your Baby Can Stand
At some point, your baby will be able to pull himself up onto furniture and will have a higher reach. A good rule of baby safety is to put things even higher up. There will be newer things which are hazardous for your baby and you will need to remove the bumper pad from the crib and move the mattress of the crib to the lowest possible level. Make certain that bookcases are fastened to the wall and you should look again at electrical cords a baby can get into. Tablecloths should be removed and you should look out for curtains and curtain cords that a baby can get tangled up in. All medications, pesticides, alcohol and home cleaners should be kept even higher and locks put on doors the baby can reach. Reduce the temperature of your water to less than 120 degrees as baby can mess with the tub handles while in the tub. Keep baby away from water in the tub or kiddy pool unless he or she is monitored. Never allow your baby to stand within the grocery cart when you take him or her to the store and make sure he or she cannot stand up in the infant high chair.
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