If you’re bringing home a bundle of joy any time soon, you’ll want to make sure your home is safe and sound, so you can spend more time caring for your baby, and less time worried about keeping them safe from dangerous objects around the house. If you have pets, there are easy ways to slowly introduce the latest member of the family without damaging relationships. Here are some easy ways you can keep your home baby-proofed, without breaking the bank.
Baby-Proof Your Pet
When you introduce your baby to your pet, it can get a bit weird.Your fur baby has to accept that the attention will be handed over to the baby, so you should make sure you take some steps to make both parties comfortable. You can keep your pet settled in a pet playpen for a little while, so they don’t get too excited and knock baby around, and you can cover their food and water bowls so your baby doesn’t have some experimental time. For more tips about introducing a pet to kids, read here.
Around The House
It’s imperative that you protect your baby from dangerous places in the house, and although you don’t need to baby proof everything, there are some important places you should keep out of harm's way. Bellamy’s Organic has some crucial places you should baby proof in every room of the house.
1. Kitchen: Babies are curious creatures and by nature, they'll want to grab anything within reach. If you have any pots or pans on the stove turn the handles towards the wall to avoid your little one tipping the hot contents out.
2. Bathroom: Installing a safety latch on your toilet will prevent it from being opened by babies when you're are not present.
3. Living Rooms: Whether it be your lounge room, study or bedroom, make sure the blinds or curtain cords in the room are high enough that your baby can't reach them.
4. Stairs: Place lockable barriers at the top and bottom of any staircases in your home. While your baby is crawling or learning to walk, they shouldn't be attempting the stairs by themselves
You can find out more about Bellamy’s Organic by following them on Instagram and Facebook.
Let’s Stick Together
Sometimes the most basic items around the house needs to be baby-proofed. Susan Trani, the owner of Violet & Lily Pram Liners, has the perfect solution for dangerous items in the house.
“When my husband and I had our daughter we felt that our home was relatively 'baby safe' with the exception of our large pieces of timber furniture. We had a solid timber buffet, that had cupboard doors, in which we stored platters and service-ware for entertaining. We also had a timber TV cabinet with glass doors, that held CD's and DVD's. We knew that we needed to baby-proof these two pieces of furniture but didn't want to have to stick any baby-proofing devices to the timber and risk damaging the timber finish. So in order to prevent the doors from being opened by a crawling baby or toddler, my husband purchased a couple of sets of relatively strong magnets. He then screwed them to the inside of every door, on each piece of furniture, which was easy, as they were all timber. In doing this all of our 'breakables' were kept safe from little hands. Also, the furniture was not affected or marked by stick on baby-proofing gadgets.” You can find out more about Violet & Lily by following them on Instagram and Facebook
It Doesn’t Hurt To Double Check
Even if you think you’re ready to bring baby home, do one final check. Is every door protected from little fingers, every corner padded so little noggins aren’t at risk of being knocked? Double check that your pet has a nice bed to sleep on, and it’s far away from your baby’s bed. This is just a precaution, as your two babies can get to know each other. Cover your power outlets and cords, so little fingers don’t go searching for trouble. You can do this with bandaids, putting cords in boxes, or purchasing equipment designed for baby-proofing.
Your home doesn’t have to be covered in bubble wrap, but you should make sure that your little bundle of joy has a safe place to come home to. Check all corners, cover power outlets and deplete all hazards. It’s your baby after all; you want them to be safe!
