Around the age of 7 months I began to really start preparing our home to be “baby proofed”. We had just moved into a new home, and there were many aspects of the layout and features of the home that needed to be modified in order to be safe for our son. I will be discussing each of the baby safety features we added to our home and products that we love for our active and FAST little boy!
Gates
The style and size of baby gate(s) you need will truly depend on:
- The layout of your home
- Where you/your baby will be spending the most time
- How many stories your home is
We just moved into a two-story home right as my son was becoming mobile, so we knew we would need baby gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. We also just got a brand new staircase installed and stained, so we wanted the baby gates to somewhat match the style since it was now such a focal point to our home. We chose the Summer Infant Rustic Home Safety gate for both the top and bottom of the stairs. We did not need any other baby gates for our home because we chose to instead purchase a play yard for our living room area…keep reading for more on that!
You can find the rustic home safety gate on the Summer Infant website by clicking HERE.
It also can be found on Amazon:
play yard
As a stay at home mom, I spend most of my day in the living room and kitchen. Our house is also laid out with many different entry ways and sizes. Unfortunately, I cannot see clearly into my entire living room from the kitchen, so it was important that we made a safe space for my son to play while I am in the kitchen preparing meals or cleaning. Not only is the Skip Hop Playpen aesthetically appealing (and matches our living room), it was SUPER easy to set up and arrange how we wanted it. There are several options for arranging the pieces or even mounting it to attach to a wall. The play wall toy is a bonus too! I love the mesh panels that make it easy for me to see in even from afar, and my son is calmed by being able to see me too when he is in the playpen.
outlet covers
The easiest and arguable most important fix… just DO IT. Babies for whatever reason are attracted to outlets/cords and if yours is as fast as my baby, it is just much more reassuring to know you have these on your outlets that aren’t in use. They also make protectors for cords you do have plugged in. The outlet covers are super reasonable and come in a large pack, so we just got one and stuck them all around our house!
covers/locks
Another super easy, super important fix. There should be some time between installing the other baby safety features and the door knobs until your child is mobile and tall enough to reach the knobs. I like everything by the Safety 1st brand, and used a lot in my early childhood classroom. For our home we purchased the lever handle locks. Of course, the #1 habit to get into as soon as they are mobile is to CLOSE THE DOOR behind you. We close our door to our basement and to our laundry room at all times.
corner guards/furniture bumpers
I think we all know the sound of a little one bumping their head…and then the sound of crying that usually follows. If you have a piece of furniture, molding or fireplace that has hard, sharp corners or edges, these are very easy to apply and worth having. We got the 8-pack of corners for a dresser and our tv stand.
sleep
Safe sleep could be a post in itself, but there a few basic things you can do to ensure your little one is safe in their slumber.
- Mattress- the short version of the story: at 6 weeks old my son was sinking into his average-rated mattress we had purchased for him prior to his birth. ACTUALLY SINKING. When we would pick him up there were marks where he was laying. This made me very uncomfortable that a newborn was sleeping on such a soft surface, especially because he was such an early roller. I was so worried he would roll and be in a sinking hole in this mattress. I contacted the manufactuer and got a full refund. I also did A LOT of research on baby mattresses. That is when we decided to invest in the one with the best ratings and reviews, the Newton mattress. This mattress is 100% breathable. If you stick your face to it, you can still breathe easy. It is also 100% washable. You can take out the inner part and throw it in a shower or bath tub and rinse the whole thing down!
2. Sleep sacks- we love these! I am still leery about having “extras” in the crib with my son. We have always put him in a sleep sack to sleep in to keep warm, rather than loose blankets. In the winter in Michigan it is VERY cold, and his nursery is one of the coldest rooms in our house unfortunately. For these colder months we put him in a fleece sleep sack. He transitioned into these from the swaddle at around 3 months (as soon as he showed signs of rolling). Our favorites are the Nested Bean Zen sleep sack and the Halo fleece sleep sack.
3. Baby monitor- you of course want to keep an eye (or ear) on your baby as they sleep. We love our Summer Infant baby monitor! It has clear zoom abilities and a large screen. You can find it HERE (Summer Infant also has an entire line of baby proofing products to check out as well)
& more
Other things you can do to keep your baby safe:
Stay nearby. Things can happen SO fast. Make sure your baby is always in eyesight, even in a play pen or gated play area.
Be proactive. Look around your home and see if you can anticipate potential hazards that can be eliminated, moved, etc.
Check electrical cords, window treatment strings & more. Look around for long, loose cords or dangly cords from window treatments that need to be secured or replaced.