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10 tips to baby-proof your home (Gallery)

Having a baby? Don't forget to make your home safe for your baby. Here are 10 tips to do so.

Written by Kriti Saraswat | Updated : September 26, 2014 10:29 AM IST

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Crawl Like A Baby To See What\'s Dangerous In Your House

A handy tip by a leading pediatrician, neonatologist and lactation consultant Dr Zinal Unadkat is to take a baby’s-eye view of your home. Get down on your fours and see how things look from down there. What’s within reach? What looks tempting? Where would you go if you could crawl, toddle, or walk? This will help you figure out which cupboards, drawers, and other spaces your child might get into. As they start walking, you’ll have to revaluate again, looking higher each time. As your child grows up, they will want to run around and end up bumping into things, or crawl into open drawers and touch sharp objects.

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Watch Out For Sharp Furniture Edges

Sonali Shivlani advises everyone to make sure that their furniture has smooth edges. Main culprits are tables especially glass ones with sharp edges. You can buy table corner guards for this purpose.

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Lock Drawers, Cabinets, Electrical Sockets

Put locks on drawers so that little curious fingers don’t get squashed while exploring, install safety electrical sockets, lock medicine and other consumables in cleaning cabinets securely and if you have stairs then install stair guards, she adds. There are wardrobe latches available in the market which prevent young ones from opening them by securing the knobs. Also Read - World Health Day 2026 LIVE Updates: From Nipah alert in India, to New COVID variant Cicada spreading rapidly - Top headlines of the day

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Kitchen Safety For Your Baby

In the kitchen, make sure that there is nothing left in the open which will attract the child especially cutlery and pots and pans which look shiny and draw their attention. Cover all electrical items like microwave, tea-maker, induction panel with a cloth as they might try touching and opening them. Also make sure they are unplugged and switched off after use. Keep cleaning products at a height where they cannot reach them or else there are chances they will put it in their mouth. Get a lock for your refrigerator so that they can’t open the door.

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Crib Safety

The bed or the crib where the baby will spend a lot of time should not be near any window or door. If you prefer a crib, the bars of the crib should not be more than two to three feet apart. If it is, the baby could put its head through it and may get stuck. Once the baby starts growing, when you prefer a bed, make sure it has safety rails on the sides to prevent them from falling off the bed.

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Take Precautions When Bathing Your Baby

In the bathrooms, babies often get hurt due to taps. Cover it with a cloth or faucet cover available in the market to cushion the blow. When you are getting their bath ready, make sure you let them in the bath only after you’ve checked the temperature of the water.

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Why You Need To Baby-proof Your House

You wait for your baby\'s arrival with bated breath. You paint their rooms pink or blue in anticipation and fill it up with a world of full of joy. But have you paid attention to their safety? Is your house safe for the new addition in your family? Have you baby-proofed it? If no, it is high-time that you think about it. ‘Baby-proofing’ essentially means making the environment surrounding the baby safe by reducing the risk factors that exist. According to Sonali Shivlani, a leading prenatal, lactation and pediatric nutrition consultant, one should ideally plan baby-proofing prior to birth and it should be in place before the baby turns two months old. This is generally the time when the baby will start moving a bit. It should stay in place till you realise that the child understands the dos and don’ts – this may actually be around five years of age. Here are useful and practical tips to baby-proof your house.