Crawling is a milestone that most parents look forward to, but it can also be a scary time – your once stationary child can now move about! Crawling babies can encounter all sorts of things while on the move, from touching or swallowing potentially hazardous objects to knocking over furniture to attempting to climb the stairs. Read on to discover how you can make your home safe for a crawling baby.
1. Keep Small Objects Well Out Of Reach
An important part of childproofing your home when you have a crawling baby is keeping small objects and any other choking hazards well out of your little one’s reach. Keep any open spaces that your curious crawler may venture into free of potentially dangerous clutter. Consider investing in affordable storage containers where you can store these objects. In addition to this, you also want to keep a close eye on your baby just in case.
2. Cover Sharp Corners Using Guards And Pads
As a parent, you want to protect your child from anything that might cause injury, but bumps and bruises are inevitable. However, you can certainly prevent serious injuries. Keep your baby from bumping his head on sharp corners or furniture by installing soft corner guards on pads on protruding edges.
3. Consider Investing In Quality Baby Gates
When your baby starts moving on all fours, be that he/she will try to go everywhere. This is why it’s important to strategically install reliable, sturdy gates throughout your home. When shopping for baby gates, look for models that feature locking mechanisms and have stellar consumer-safety ratings.
4. Keep Cords And Plugs Out Of Sight And Reach
From lamps to electric cords to outlets, your baby is likely to crawl over and try to touch or even put in his/her mouth. This can result in serious consequences such as electrocution. For outlets, the simplest childproofing solution is covering them with outlet caps. You can also try using sliding plate covers, which allow you to leave covers in place while you have a device plugged in. As for cords, try taping down excessively long ones to prevent curious hands from accidentally pulling down lamps.
5. Lock Cabinets That Contain Hazardous Materials
To keep your precious little one from getting into anything hazardous – like detergents and cleaning solutions – consider investing in childproofing cabinet locks once your baby learns to crawl. Cabinet locks are effective at keeping babies and children in general from accessing hazardous materials that you may have stored away.
6. Consider Stove-Knob Covers
As you might know, crawling babies can hold on to objects and pull themselves up. While this is utterly adorable, it can also be a cause for concern especially when they’re moving about in the kitchen. Your curious explorer might try turning on the burners; to prevent this, consider stove-knob covers.
Final Thoughts
It may seem like you’re being overly cautious, but when babies start to crawl, they also develop a new sense of curiosity and intrigue, which leads to them trying to get into anything and everything that they come across. Childproofing your home against a crawling baby is the most effective way to prevent injuries and accidents.
