Whether you’re welcoming a new addition to your family or have guests with little ones coming to stay, safety should be top of mind. Babies and toddlers are notorious for their curiosity and propensity for mischief, but you can protect little ones from harm by baby-proofing your home. Keeping small children safe from electricity, water temperature and more is simple when you follow these four steps.
- Cover electrical outlets.
As babies gain mobility, electrical outlets become a hazard. Use outlet covers to protect children from sticking their fingers or toys into outlets. Keep cords out of reach, too, so crawling babies can’t pull a lamp or other item down — or get tangled in the cord themselves. - Block stairs and other hazard areas with gates.
Babies and toddlers often run the risk of falling downstairs or getting into trouble in certain rooms. Install safety gates at the top and bottom of any stairs in your home, as well as to block off the kitchen or other parts of the house you don’t want children to wander into. - Set your water heater to less than 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
If a toddler were to get into the bathroom or kitchen and turn on the faucet, they could accidentally burn themselves. Protect curious children from this hazard by keeping your water heater’s temperature set below 120 degrees Fahrenheit. - Keep furniture from tipping.
Heavy furniture — as well as televisions, lamps and even artwork — can seriously injure children in your home if tipped or pulled down. It’s best to anchor or wall-mount as much furniture as you can. You may also want to consider putting away heavy items, such as lamps or vases, until your child and other children in your home are older.
