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When you welcome a new member in your family, your home tends to become a potentially dangerous surrounding for him and his upbringing. You need to accept that your home isn’t going to be the same from now on, that it’s not just about you being comfortable anymore, but making it a safe place for your toddler. Of course, the first step is Baby proofing  the nursery and the crib, but your toddler won’t spend the entire day in his bed, so you need to toddler-proof your entire home. Your youngest has a great urge to explore and you need to make sure he won’t hurt himself while doing it.

1. Furniture

Furniture is an archenemy of all people, not to talk about toddlers – just remember how many times it has hurt your pinky. When it comes to your youngest, furniture can become far more dangerous because it can fall and literally crush him. Don’t think that some pieces of furniture don’t need toddler-proofing because they are heavy and it seems impossible they can fall – when your little explorer starts climbing, they will fall like a pack of cards. The edges of all the furniture must be covered with something soft, like rubber or foam, so babies don’t hurt themselves when they bump against the corners. The easiest way to secure the furniture is to simply use furniture wall straps. That’s the best way for baby proofing your furnitures!

2. Windows

The best place to climb to for every toddler is the window, especially an opened one. When those little and curious eyes see a beautiful weather, falling leaves or some colorful butterfly, the adventure is on. Even if you live on the ground floor where a fall from the window can’t hurt him, there are plenty of stuff that can, if he gets on the streets unnoticed. In order to prevent such and similar excursions, it’s enough to install mesh window guard on your windows.

3. Stairs

Now that he can’t climb his favorite furniture mountains and can’t go through the window to the ‛great unknown’, your toddler will look for another exploration methods. If his room is on the first floor this will probably lead him to the stairs. This might not be some real danger, but there are numerous ways in which he can fall, especially if he’s still half asleep. That’s why you should install a  baby gate at the top of the stairs. Just remember to remove the gate eventually when it becomes older and don’t put it everywhere around the house, just at potentially dangerous places. Stairs have to have baby proofing to avoid incidents.

4. Electricity wirings and sockets

This is where things become more serious. Toddlers are like little copycats – they observe everything that the grownups do and then they want to repeat it themselves. So it’s not enough to have the outlet plug covers because they will eventually learn how to remove them. The smartest thing would be to install a safe plate outlet cover that’s very easy to install but almost impossible for your toddler to figure out. Another problem is the wires that are everywhere around us – from the lamps, TV sets, CD players, etc. They can be very interesting for your toddler, especially in the form of a colorful spaghetti, so it’s recommendable to use wire guard in order to prevent that electrifying meal.

5. Clutter

One of the favorite methods of exploring for every toddler is to try to swallow everything he comes across in the room. These are usually heaps of unnecessary things lying on the floor you promise to yourself every day to put away, but you just don’t know where. You don’t even want to think about throwing them away because these things usually have some emotional value if they stayed in your home until this point. The thing is that you don’t have to – you can just find some affordable storage company that will allow you to keep all those things by hand, but away from your little explorer’s mouth.

Keep an eye out – the conclusion

No matter how hard you try, you probably won’t be able to baby proof all around the apartment. The whole point of being an explorer is to find things others haven’t found yet. You’ll need to invest in a video monitor so you can follow his latest ‛achievements’ and take care of potential dangers along the way.

Thank you so much Helen for this amazing post which shall help many parents!

Helen Bradford is an architecture student from Sydney, who enjoys writing about health, interior and exterior design. She spends her spare time doing fitness and traveling.

Happy proofing Parents!

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