Keeping your baby safe is hard enough when she spends her days contained in a crib or your arms. Once she starts crawling and exploring things she shouldn't, she can get injured in a heartbeat. Babies typically start crawling when they're between 6 and 9 months old, so start thinking about preparing your home when she turns 5 months old.
Choose a Safe Room
Every room in your house poses some risk to a quick-moving, curious baby. Rather than giving her free rein, choose a few rooms in which she'll be free to roam. In most homes, the bathroom and kitchen are the riskiest areas, with their medications and knives, so you might choose your living room or dining room as you baby's crawl space. Remove potted plants, sharp objects and breakables from the area. Install child locks on cabinet doors and place corner and edge guards on the edges of tables and windowsills.
Put Up Gates
Once you've chosen your baby's crawling zones, set up gates to keep your baby from going outside the area on her own. You can buy adjustable baby gates at any major department store or baby supply store. Following the directions, set up gates in the doorways of the safe room. You'll likely see spring-loaded gates, which you can adjust to fit in a doorway, and these are generally safe for most areas. You must also put gates up at the top and bottom of each staircase. Choose the type of gate that's bolted to the wall. Your baby won't be able to knock it down, keeping her from getting onto the staircase when you're not there to supervise.
Get Down
Even if you think you've baby-proofed, there may still be dangers that you don't spot in your baby's crawling area. The best way to stay one step ahead of your baby is to get down on your hands and knees and crawl around yourself. You'll be able to spot the things that will be eye-level with your child. Move any items that your child could pull over, such as floor lamps, so they're out of your baby's reach. Place these items in a different room or tuck them behind other furniture so she can't get to them.
Give Corrections
Once your baby is old enough to crawl, she's old enough to start comprehending orders you give her. If you let her crawl around in areas other than her safe zone -- with your supervision -- giving her corrections and guiding her away from certain areas will help her learn the difference between right and wrong. Whenever she starts getting into something she shouldn't, get down next to her. Say "no" and direct her in a different direction by pointing or turning her around. Praise her when she follows your direction.
