Sooner or later, my baby is going to figure out how to scoot, crawl, walk, or in some way, no longer be stationary. So, in honor of June being National Safety Month, let’s talk baby proofing!
But first, let’s level set. I don’t know what I’m doing. I have not asked one other mother or general human what to do when it comes to baby-proofing, so just go with me here.
As any modern-day mom with Wi-Fi would do, let’s start this research endeavor off with our bestie, Google. A quick search of “baby proofing” produces 10+ pages of useful (?) information. Easy peasy!
First link goes to safekids.org. Sounds legit. But, right below it is a box of text that starts off with “forbidden territory” and now I’m shook. Let’s see what safekids.org can do to help me out.
My eyes are drawn immediately to “risk areas” on the page. Batteries are at the top of the list – I’m not allowed to have batteries now?! Oh, wait, they’re just recommending keeping coin lithium battery-controlled devices out of sight and reach of children as well as keep loose batteries locked away, or place a piece of duct tape over the controller to prevent small children from accessing the battery. Ok, I can get on board with that, especially after reading that more than 2,800 kids are treated in emergency rooms after swallowing button batteries every year in the United States.
Alright, what’s next? A section on medication. Here’s a scary stat – more than 59,000 children were seen in an emergency room for medicine poisoning in 2013. It’s sounding like the key takeaway here is to put medication, or anything that could be considered medicine – vitamins, diaper rash creams, eye drops and even hand sanitizer – out of sight from kids. Got it. Makes sense.
This is all great advice, but now I think what I need are recommendations on how to hide my batteries and medications from little hands and mouths but still make my life liveable. Cabinet locks? Maybe just putting all my stuff in high cabinets I won’t be able to reach? What is the solution?? Let’s ask Amazon, Google’s second cousin who’s always asking me to buy things.
Type in the magic words, “baby proofing” and violà! The first thing that pops up is Child Proof Safety Magnetic Cabinet Locks. Magnetic, huh? Has 4 stars, I’m intrigued, but wonder if my baby would get past the magnetic forcefield somewhat quickly (or maybe I’m over estimating my baby’s superhuman strength).
Ah ha! This is what I’m talking about – furniture corner protectors! For some irrational reason, I’m more paranoid about corners of furniture than anything else. 4.5 stars, too. They must be good. Oh, and I’ve seen a lot of people on social media just corral their nuggets in one of these bad boys:
Probably a pretty smart idea. I bet if you can somehow keep this tiny, newly mobile, human contained in a fenced area, they won’t get to my batteries or medicine. Right?
As I continue to scroll through the products on Amazon that are used for “baby proofing,” I’m seeing all sorts of little locks, guards, covers, anchors, latches. And I am overwhelmed. This is enough research for one day, but I know I’ll be back here soon, using that Amazon Prime membership to get safety gear to my house STAT.
But in all seriousness, keeping our kids safe is pretty much our first job (and highest cause of anxiety) when it comes to this parenting game. It is incredibly overwhelming, but that’s probably because it’s so important. Things like having a first aid kit and fire extinguisher in the house, a plan in case there’s a fire or severe weather, and even knowing infant or child CPR can literally be the difference between life and death.
So, while we’re getting into the swing of summer this month, let’s take a little time out of our day to review some useful resources on safety. We’re moms, we’re smart, but accidents happen. And they can happen to anyone, any time. Let’s keep our little ones safe! Check out these quick links for inspiration –
And I promise I’ll figure out this baby proofing thing! What safety tips, tricks and products do you recommend for moms? Let me know in the comments!
Great article Kelly! With our first baby we actually hired a babyproofing company. Yes, that is a thing. We are not at all handy, so this guy installed cabinet locks, baby gates, anchored furniture to the wall, stuck foam guards on our brick fireplace and even left us with an emergency escape ladder. It was great to have it all done in a few hours and now, 8 years and 5 kids later, we are still using everything he did. With my 5th and final baby, there are a lot of choking hazards thanks to sibling toys (legos, beads etc..) so we have created safe zones with a pop n play in 2 living areas. Enjoy this next stage with your new baby!
A baby proofing company is genius! I will have to look that up!
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