All babies begin crawling or become mobile according to their own time frame, but generally this happens between 6 and 10 months of age. Therefore, it is critical to prepare your house for this event to ensure your child's safety!
Below is a Home Safety Checklist that will help you go room by room in your home and look for potential child safety hazards.
Toddler Guard Rail
Edge & Corner Protection - Every room in the house should be checked for sharp edges and corners. These objects should be removed or covered with edge and corner cushions or bumpers. Coffee tables, end tables, and fireplace hearths are the typical items to consider. Other household items to check for sharp edges in your safety inspection are desks, entertainment centers, shelves, cabinets, window sills, stone or marble stairs, statues or other decoration pieces.
Stairway Protection - All stairways that your baby could potentially have access to should have stairway safety gates. According to the National SAFE KIDS Campaign (NSKC), Falls Fact Sheet, 2004, falls are the leading cause of unintentional injury for children. Children ages 14 and under account for one-third of all fall-related visits to hospital emergency rooms. Because falls are associated with a child's curiosity and development of motor skills, babies and toddlers are at the greatest risk of fall-related death and injury. Children ages 5 and under accounted for nearly half of the fall related emergency room injuries cited above. Please do not let your child become one of these statistics. Research and install stairway safety gates. Also examine the slats in your stairways and banister to determine if banister guard is needed.
Choking and Ingestion Hazards - Now that your child is or about to become mobile, check your home for small objects that could potentially be within your child's reach such as small marbles or stones that are often used as decoration around candles or other coffee table center pieces. As part of normal development, babies learn by putting things in their mouth. Remove glass or other breakable/valuable objects. Set dog and cat food out of reach. Use extreme caution and do your research on chemicals if you have your home exterminated or use chemical products to clean (consider organic, non toxic products). Babies and toddlers crawl around on the floor and often but their hands and objects in their mouth. In most cases this also helps them build their immune system, but we have to do our part to keep them safe from serious injury. Check all floor level cabinets for cleaning products, medicine, makeup, alcohols, Ect. and move them to a top cabinet or install safety latches or cabinet sliding locks.
Falling Furniture - Check your home for large items that could fall over and bolt them to the wall. Too many child injuries have occurred due to televisions, entertainment centers, and bookshelves falling over on children. Toddlers like to climb! Additional things to consider as potential falling hazards are computer monitors, large vases, plant stands, and dressers.
Kitchen Safety - As stated earlier ensure that cleaning/chemical products are in a locked cupboard or placed well out of reach. Consider installing a stove guard to prevent burns or a child playing with the knobs and turning the gas on. Move kitchen knife racks well out of reach. Toddlers enjoy helping out in the kitchen and it is important to their developmental growth and independence to do things for themselves, but standing on chairs and stools can also become a fall hazard. Consider investing in a step stool with side rails such as the Learning Tower. Children should always be well monitored while standing on stools or chairs.
Electrical Hazards - All unused electrical outlets should have outlet plug covers and cords should be placed out of the way as much as possible. In bathrooms, never leave blow dryers or other electrical items plugged in and unattended near the sink or bath tub.
Windows & Shade Cords - For homes that are two stories or have high windows consider installing window guards if you frequently open your windows. This is especially important in a child's room. Shade cords should be tied up and out of reach of children. For some reason these cords tend to attract children's' attention as a play item and can be extremely dangerous if the cord gets wrapped around them.
As well as child proofing your home, child safety gates are an ideal way to keep your child contained and safe. As a mother of two children, I know how quickly a child can crawl or run if you turn your back for a minute to attend to house hold chores. Give yourself that piece of mind knowing that your child is learning by exploring his world, but contained to safe areas of your home!