As your baby starts to crawl or walk, baby-proofing your house becomes essential. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 2.8 million children each year are treated in emergency rooms across the nation for falls, many of which occur in the home. Children also suffer other injuries such as burns, electrocutions, drownings, and suffocation or choking. You could avoid many of these accidents by baby-proofing the home.
Electrical Outlets
Cover electrical outlets with safety plates, which are available at most home improvement stores. Electrical outlet covers keep your child from sticking her fingers or other objects into the outlets and getting shocked or electrocuted.
Kitchen and Bathroom Cabinets
Your kitchen and bathroom cabinets often contain chemicals and products that can be deadly to children. Install safety locks that keep your child from opening cabinet doors.
Suffocation and Choking Hazards
Keep items that can suffocate or choke your child out of his reach. This includes things like plastic bags, grocery bags, cords from blinds or drapes, and small toys or objects that your child might try to put in her mouth and swallow.
Stairs
Put gates at the top and bottom of staircases. Most toddlers who can walk still are not adept at the motor skills they need to walk down stairs safely.
Water Temperature
Protect your child from accidental scalding by installing a scalding guard or lowering the thermostat on your water heater. According to Blue Cross Massachusetts, you should not set your water heater any higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
Swimming Pools
Swimming pools present a major threat to a child who is crawling or walking. Never leave a child unattended near the pool, and surround the pool with a high fence with a child-proof gate.
