Baby on the Move: 3 More Things to Do When Baby-Proofing Your House
As soon as your baby learns how to crawl, it's off to the races trying to explore every nook and cranny of the surrounding environment. While that means a lot of fun discoveries, there are also substantial hazards in most homes that, if left unchecked, could pose a danger to your baby's health and safety.
Identifying Choking Hazards
Because toddlers love to put things in their mouths, choking is a major risk for babies. Chances are that if you haven't baby-proofed it your home yet, it is full of choking hazards. Batteries, coins, marbles, and refrigerator magnets are all objects that babies have choked on. Take the time to scour anything that could be within arm's reach of your baby throughout the day that might be small enough to cause choking.
Preventing Scalding
Your baby doesn't know what might be too hot to touch. Hot liquids are a main sources of burns, and can pose a danger to children in the form of bath water that is too hot, hot coffee or tea, or the contents of pots and pans whose handles might be just within reach. Restrict access to areas with potential for access to hot liquids, ideally by closing doors or using indoor fencing to control where your baby goes.
Outlet Covers
Babies are naturally curious, putting objects inside other objects oftentimes just to see what happens. Such curiosity is normal and healthy, but it comes with potential risks. Electrical outlets are located throughout modern homes, and most adults don't give them a second thought other than when they need to plug an appliance in. To babies, though, outlets are novel things that should be explored. This is something you want to prevent, so investing in outlet covers is a good way to safeguard your baby from shock or electrocution.
Most parenting experts recommend that you start making the necessary adjustments in your home to baby-proof it at least 3 months before the baby comes. That way, you have plenty of time to catch any hazard that you might have missed and remove it. Plus, your tired mental state after baby comes may cause you to miss something important. Perform a thorough inspection because your baby is only one hazard away from injury.
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