How to Babyproof Your House After Moving: Room-by-Room Checklist

If you’ve recently moved to a new home with your baby, there’s something you must do even before your little one begins to crawl around the house – it’s called babyproofing (or childproofing).

The process of ensuring your baby’s safety, and consequently your peace of mind, should be done as soon as possible since it requires some careful planning and proper execution.

Childproofing is all about identifying the potential household hazards for your precious one and then effectively eliminating them by employing the necessary safety measures.

The ideal way to start this childproofing process is to go to each room in your new house and take note of anything that may pose even the slightest risk to your baby’s well-being.

How to childproof your house?

Remember that your child doesn’t see the world the same way you do. Therefore, you’ll need to try and see your new home through his or her eyes and the only way you can achieve this is to become a baby yourself.

So, get on all fours and take a crawling tour around your house to best spot the dangers that await your little one.

1. NURSERY

The nursery is the room where your baby will be spending most of their time in the beginning and therefore it is your top priority to make it as safe as it can go.

The leading causes of accidental death in babies under 1 year are suffocation and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Therefore, to minimize the risk of suffocation, the crib must be emptied of any toys (especially stuffed animals), bumpers, blankets, comforters, or pillows.

The only two things left in the crib should be the fitted mattress sheet and your happy baby.

Always remember to lay your little one on their back to sleep which is one of the SIDS prevention strategies.

Also, since 2011, cribs must meet new stricter federal requirements. If possible, get your baby a new and safer bed.

• Make sure the changing table is well secured to the wall. Even though the changing table may seem sturdy and stable enough, in some cases, it can still tip over and hurt the baby, or even you.
• Protect your curious baby from electric shock by having electrical outlet protectors installed in the nursery, as well as throughout the rest of the new home.
• Keep in mind that the strings of traditional blinds pose a strangulation hazard so make sure you either keep them out of your baby’s reach or install cordless blinds on the windows for better protection. Also, if deemed necessary, mount window guards to eliminate any risk of accidental falls out the window.
• Place a thick piece of carpet by the crib to break the fall if your baby manages to come up with a Houdini-like trick and escape the safety of its own bed.

What to Do on the First Day in Your New Home

2. BATHROOM

Drowning is one of the leading causes of injury-related child deaths in the United States and it often happens in the bathroom.

Pay attention to these safety tips so that the bath time is and continues to be fun, as it’s meant to be.

For infants under a year, the bathtub is the most dangerous place in the entire house.

• NEVER, not even for a second, leave your baby unattended in the tub! Forget about ringing phones or doing something else really quickly – you must never have your hands off your baby. Remember that they can drown in as little as an inch of water. If you absolutely must leave the bathroom, take the baby with you.
• Use a slip-resistant infant bathtub with body contours for improved safety.
• Make sure your hands are dry and that you have a good grip on your baby when taking him/her out of the tub.
• Set your hot-water heater at 120 °F (49 °C) or lower to prevent scalding your baby.
• Keep the baby as far away from the faucet as possible.
• Place nonskid strips on the bathroom floor.
• Install a toilet lock or remember to always lock the bathroom door.
• Keep medicines, cosmetic products, and razor blades well out of your baby’s reach.

3. KITCHEN

The kitchen is the room where parents get often distracted, usually while preparing something delicious.

Infants are known to get into trouble in split seconds so it’s very important to take the necessary safety steps to properly baby-proof it.

The place where most chemicals and cleaning supplies are stored is underneath the sink. Dishwashing and laundry pods are particularly dangerous since they look like candy and will attract the baby’s attention.

You have two options here – either latch securely the cabinet doors under the sink or move all of the chemical supplies to the top cabinets where your baby won’t be able to reach them.

• Place convenient stove knob covers to prevent the knobs from being accidentally turned when you’re not cooking.
• Use the back burners of the cooking stove to discourage brave attempts at reaching any scalding food currently being prepared.
• Be mindful that high-chair injuries are becoming more and more often due to babies slipping out of them. Remember to always use the chair straps to secure your baby. Also, place the high chair in such a way that it won’t be accidentally tipped over.
• ALWAYS keep an operational fire extinguisher in the kitchen and make sure you know how to use it in case of fire.

4. STAIRS

Approximately 100,000 children are rushed to ERs each year due to injuries that have taken place on the house stairs.

• Mount safety gates at the head and the foot of your stairs to prevent your baby from reaching the stairways. These gates have to be hardware-mounted and should open out and away from the staircase.
• Use the staircase railing for extra support when carrying your baby upstairs or downstairs.
• Make sure the stairs and the hallways always stay well-lit.

5. LIVING ROOM

At first glance, living rooms do not pose particular threats to infants’ health, but there are a number of hidden dangers that need to be neutralized before it’s too late.

For example, it may sound hard to believe but statistical data show that every three weeks a child is killed by a TV tip-over.

• Mount your television set to the wall so that your baby is not endangered by an accidental tip-over. Or, if your TV is too bulky and/or heavy, place it on a stable piece of furniture and anchor it safely with straps to the wall.
• Secure all bookcases to the wall. Also, distribute the weight of their content so that the heaviest items remain at the bottom – this will not only make them less prone to tipping over but will also minimize the risk of having something too heavy fall on your child.
• Cover all furniture edges in your house with soft corner guards to lower the risk of puncture wounds. Why? Living rooms are usually full of furniture with sharp corners, such as low tables.
• Keep all remote controls well out of your baby’s reach. These devices are powered by batteries which, if swallowed, pose a great risk for your little one’s health. Read on for more information on this subject.

How to Adapt to a New Environment When Moving

EXTRA SAFETY TIPS

• Make sure your baby doesn’t have any access to battery-operated items. More than 3,500 Americans of all ages swallow button batteries each year. These batteries are abundant in every household because they are used in a wide range of electronic devices – watches, toys, hearing aids, remote controls, etc. Such swallowed batteries may get hung up in the esophagus and cause a tissue burn. In any case, if you see your baby accidentally swallow a button battery, or suspect that he/she has done so, seek help immediately. Call 202-625-3333 – this is the 24/7 hotline for battery ingestion cases of the National Capital Poison Center in Washington, DC. Learn more about battery ingestion on this website.
• Install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors on key spots in your new home, if possible.
• Keep at least one fire extinguisher on every floor of your house. You must have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen at all costs. Make sure you’ve been instructed on how to properly use fire extinguishers.
• Prepare a first-aid kit for your baby. Prepackaged first-aid kits are available for purchase but feel free to add extra items because no commercial product can meet all of your particular needs. You can receive more detailed information on what a first-aid kit should include here.
• Prepare a list of emergency phone numbers and place it inside your first-aid kit AND on a visible spot around the house – for example, on your refrigerator door. The list should contain the contact information of your family doctor, your local hospital, your local police and fire department, and the phone numbers of at least two close friends who live nearby and who can respond quickly to an emergency.

Each year millions of children are accidentally injured in their homes and almost all of those injuries could have been prevented if the right childproofing steps had been taken.

Most of the accidents that involve babies happen predictably and can be easily avoided with some organized planning and systematic preparation.

Be a prudent parent!

Take the necessary precautions described above so that your kids grow up healthy, safe, and happy.

More information on baby safety: Global Organization Safe Kids Worldwide

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