Quick Tips for Baby Proofing Your House

Today's Tip - Baby proof the house before you actually need to

Maybe you were super organized and baby proofed the house before they even arrived, but if you're like me, it fell lower on the priority list than it should have. After all, they can't even move around for the first 5 or 6 months anyway. But, you don't want to wait until they're crawling around to start making the house safe. You might miss something in your hurry or worse, you'll be prompted into action by them sticking a paper clip into an outlet.

So before your baby is born, and definitely before they even come close to rolling over, make sure you take care of the following around the house:

• Put plastic outlet covers in all open outlets
• Lock cupboards and drawers that your baby can reach
• Put all dangerous chemicals and substances out of reach
• Keep scissors, knives and sharp objects put away
• Make sure all large, heavy objects are on the ground or on stable bases so they can't be pulled down on top your baby
• Put a baby gate across stairs
• Keep pet food and kitty litter put away and out of reach
• Place fragile objects out of reach
• Move houseplants out of reach, they can be toxic
• Make sure medication is out of your purse and into a medicine cabinet
• Cover any sharp corners with padding
• Get down on your hands and knees, think like a kid to find other trouble areas

See all the first time parenting tips