A Short Overview on Baby Proofing

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Richard Nash has 2 Published Articles

United States of America,
Arizona,
Laveen,
Danielle Zufelt The Baby Proofing Shop Laveen,AZ USA,

A Short Overview on Baby Proofing

Posted On : Oct-27-2011 | seen (213) times | Article Word Count : 651 |

There are several areas in our homes we can modify to ensure that our precious babies are always safe from harm. Everything that is at or below our lower chest level is a potential threat to a toddler's safety.

As we cannot overhaul our home's interior, so baby proofing is the best solution to provide safety and peace of mind. There are many areas to consider when assessing your baby's safety. Topping the list is the kitchen, followed by the bathroom, staircases, laundry areas, living room, and even the bedroom. Once children get to the crawling stage of life all their activities in these areas should be supervised or restricted.

All these areas have electrical outlets that are within the child's height. Plug covers are sufficient enough to keep children from inserting objects into the socket, thus preventing electrocution. There are many styles of plug covers, some allow for plugs to still be inserted by sliding the cover to one side, others block the entire outlet, and still others cover up wires that are already plugged into the socket. These are great for keeping your curious toddler from plugging and unplugging that lamp in the den!

Cabinets and Drawers are another source of adventure for toddlers, who can resist opening each one. Best to latch each cabinet and drawer that has anything potentially harmful, especially detergents, lotions, medicines, shampoos, perfumes, etc. If these can't be stored out of reach, get a sturdy latch to keep the cabinet inaccessible. There are simple latches that you push down to open, or more complicated (at least from a child's perspective) magnetic locks that require a magnet "key".

Baby proofing doors with a pinch guard that will prevent the door from closing all the way is a great way to avoid pinched fingers, and don't forget that spring on the bottom of most doors, it has a small removable rubber piece at the end. That rubber piece can come off and is a choking hazard. There are soft stoppers you can buy to replace those metal springs. Also, to keep certain doors closed and children out of unsupervised areas, there are doorknob covers or small latches that can be installed out of reach.

Drawers, cabinets, and any other furniture present should have cover guards to prevent injuries resulting from sharp corners. The rugs and doormats to the various rooms should be rubberized and/or have any other form of slip-protection mechanism. Most importantly, top heavy furniture and electronics must be secured to the wall with furniture straps to avoid falling on small children. Flat screen televisions, book shelves and dressers are examples of the types of furniture that pose the biggest risk.

For baby proofing the bathroom and toilet areas, special precautions need to be taken to avoid any drowning hazards. In bathtubs, never ever leave a child unattended, even for a minute. To avoid bumped heads there are inflatable and soft plastic covers you can put over the faucets. Toilets are also a drowning risk, so using a toilet lock will keep babies from opening the lids and potentially falling in.

Baby gates are the easiest and fastest way to keep the baby out of a restricted area of the house. This form of baby proofing is also imperative at the tops and bottoms of stairs, but make sure the gate you choose is suitable for stairways, pressure mounted gates are not suitable for the tops of stairs, they can be pushed forward and cause a terrible accident. Toddler gates are available in different sizes and materials such as canvas, metal, wood and plastic.

Baby proofing stores have many other products to help you baby proof many areas of your home. Remember it is always better to be safe than sorry.

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<h1>A Short Overview on Baby Proofing</h1> Author: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/profile_Richard Nash.aspx'>Richard Nash</a> There are several areas in our homes we can modify to ensure that our precious babies are always safe from harm. Everything that is at or below our lower chest level is a potential threat to a toddler's safety.

As we cannot overhaul our home's interior, so baby proofing is the best solution to provide safety and peace of mind. There are many areas to consider when assessing your baby's safety. Topping the list is the kitchen, followed by the bathroom, staircases, laundry areas, living room, and even the bedroom. Once children get to the crawling stage of life all their activities in these areas should be supervised or restricted.

All these areas have electrical outlets that are within the child's height. Plug covers are sufficient enough to keep children from inserting objects into the socket, thus preventing electrocution.  There are many styles of plug covers, some allow for plugs to still be inserted by sliding the cover to one side, others block the entire outlet, and still others cover up wires that are already plugged into the socket.  These are great for keeping your curious toddler from plugging and unplugging that lamp in the den!

Cabinets and Drawers are another source of adventure for toddlers, who can resist opening each one.   Best to latch each cabinet and drawer that has anything potentially harmful, especially detergents, lotions, medicines, shampoos, perfumes, etc.  If these can't be stored out of reach, get a sturdy latch to keep the cabinet inaccessible.   There are simple latches that you push down to open, or more complicated (at least from a child's perspective) magnetic locks that require a magnet "key".

Baby proofing doors with a pinch guard that will prevent the door from closing all the way is a great way to avoid pinched fingers, and don't forget that spring on the bottom of most doors, it has a small removable rubber piece at the end.  That rubber piece can come off and is a choking hazard.  There are soft stoppers you can buy to replace those metal springs.  Also, to keep certain doors closed and children out of unsupervised areas, there are doorknob covers or small latches that can be installed out of reach.

Drawers, cabinets, and any other furniture present should have cover guards to prevent injuries resulting from sharp corners. The rugs and doormats to the various rooms should be rubberized and/or have any other form of slip-protection mechanism.  Most importantly, top heavy furniture and electronics must be secured to the wall with furniture straps to avoid falling on small children.  Flat screen televisions, book shelves and dressers are examples of the types of furniture that pose the biggest risk.

For baby proofing the bathroom and toilet areas, special precautions need to be taken to avoid any drowning hazards.  In bathtubs, never ever leave a child unattended, even for a minute.  To avoid bumped heads there are inflatable and soft plastic covers you can put over the faucets.  Toilets are also a drowning risk, so using a toilet lock will keep babies from opening the lids and potentially falling in.

Baby gates are the easiest and fastest way to keep the baby out of a restricted area of the house. This form of baby proofing is also imperative at the tops and bottoms of stairs, but make sure the gate you choose is suitable for stairways, pressure mounted gates are not suitable for the tops of stairs, they can be pushed forward and cause a terrible accident.  Toddler gates are available in different sizes and materials such as canvas, metal, wood and plastic.

Baby proofing stores have many other products to help you baby proof many areas of your home. Remember it is always better to be safe than sorry.About the Author: For more information about <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.babyproofingshop.com/">baby proofing</a> please visit to <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.babyproofingshop.com/">http://www.babyproofingshop.com/</a> Article Source: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/Article_A-Short-Overview-on-Baby-Proofing_97009.aspx'> http://www.articleseen.com/Article_A Short Overview on Baby Proofing_97009.aspx</a>

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For more information about baby proofing please visit to http://www.babyproofingshop.com/

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