When you are moving cross country with your little one, knowing how to baby proof a house is essential because, unfortunately, you can’t watch it 24/7 a day. Accidents can happen at any time of the day, and this is why it’s better to keep everything out of the child’s reach and every sharp angle covered. Luckily, there are ways to prevent your kid from harming themselves in your home with our easy and quick tips.
The safety of your kid should be the number one priority for parents
There are many reasons why you should move, but if you have a toddler with you, there will be a bit more things to do after the move. Besides the time you’ll need to adjust to the new environment, there are some precautions you’ll have to take to protect your child. Notice that your little one has to adjust as well and that its routines are changed. This can only bring more potential accidents that are more likely to happen on summer days. However, if you’re moving in winter, you still need to adapt your home and protect it.
When Is the Best Time to Adjust Your Home for Your Newborns
After you organized your move and got over the anxiety about moving, you’ve probably been thinking you’ll finally have a moment for yourself. Suddenly, you realize you’ve been wondering when to baby proof and how do you childproof your home. If possible, you could do it before you actually move in. However, if it’s not possible, do it right after you efficiently unpack your belongings.
It’s understandable that among finding reliable cross-country moving services and all other tasks that need to be done, especially if you were in the last-minute move, learning how to baby proof your house might slip your mind. Still, it is important to do it because more than 90% of injuries to children happen precisely in the place you’re living in.
Use your free moments to secure every corner of the place
Ensure the Safety of Your Child by Creating “How Do I Baby Proof My House” Checklist
To make sure you don’t forget any little detail (or big one), you should create a checklist of everything you have to put away and be sure all the harmful stuff is out of reach for curious little ones. Think about the checklist you created for relocation and how it helped you avoid the most common mistakes during the whole process. Likewise, this one will keep you on track with everything you’ve done already and remind you of something you just forgot. Here are some tips on where to start and what to do:
- Start with the bulky stuff, like furniture or windows. If you noticed that one window needs to be replaced, now is the right moment to do it. The same goes for furniture, and you should also check what pieces can easily be tipped over, so you have to move it right next to the wall.
- Secure the stairs. Put safety gates at the entrance or exit of every flight.
- Place the toxic plants out of your children’s reach. Keep in mind that most tropical plants are extremely poisonous.
- Keep any kind of batteries safely stored in one place where only adults can find them.
- Radiators and every heating vent should be covered, or you can put little gates around them and prevent burning.
Be sure that all of the things that your kid might consider amusing are safely put away
Learn How to Baby Proof House and Lower the Risk of Injuries for Your Toddlers
It is crucial for parents to know, especially if they’re new at this, that it is normal for every kid to be curious and that now and then, some bruise or scratch can happen. That’s why you shouldn’t panic, but you should do everything you can to prevent some more severe injuries.
Nothing can replace your vigilance, but you also have to realize you can’t watch your baby girl or boy all the time. As a result, you might exaggerate and cover every little corner of your home, but don’t worry, it is entirely normal. The best way to learn what is the safest method is to listen to other’s experiences. However, every child is different and has different interests.
When all protection is installed in your new place, month after month, you see your children grow so fast, and you start wondering how long do you need to baby proof for. There is no correct answer because every child is different, and you should have all the childproofing installed until you think it is the right moment to remove them.
Baby Proofing Essentials That Will Protect Each Room
Efficient moving isn’t an easy task, and you have to prepare a relocation essentials checklist so that everything goes smoothly. When you have a stress-free relocation, you’ll have more will to do this one last task after the move. Here are some things you have to be aware of that can cause significant accidents:
- Toxic items and liquids – keep them stored and safely locked when thinking about how to baby proof a house.
- Knives, forks, and all the sharp things – even the grownup can harm themselves when they aren’t cautious, so it’s essential to lock the drawers with cutlery and don’t worry about it.
- Electricity – all the electrical appliances have to be out of reach, and each cord is covered appropriately.
- Cords – many parents don’t see them as a threat, but they can be very dangerous, and children can strangle themselves with them. So, keep your blinds cordless.
- High furniture with sharp edges – you might consider an alternative if you have this kind of furniture. Find, for example, a rounded trendy table.
- Breakable items – keep everything that can break away. You can lock them with cabin locks or just move them to a safer place.
How Much Does It Cost to Baby Proof a House?
When planning your moving budget, make sure you remember some of the things you’ll have to buy for your toddler’s safety. However, you won’t have to spend all of your savings on these things, although you might find some very expensive. The best way is to search online and compare the prices and choose the cheapest. On the other hand, a lot of things you can DIY with minimum or no expenses. Watch the video below for some tips and trick on how to do it by yourself:
Baby Proofing Your Home Means to Secure Every Room
The first thing you’ll find online or as advice from your family and friends is to get enough bumpers and safety paddings. This is important because you want every room to be safe. So, every sharp and pointy edge and item that can injure your little one is to be covered or moved. You might think you don’t have enough free space to store all those stuff, but with some creative ideas for storage, everything is possible, even efficiently packing your Christmas ornaments. However, this could be a great opportunity to sell or donate unwanted items. For example, if you decided to replace that square coffee table with a round one, check the website Craigslist.
Nursery – Place Where Your Baby Should Feel the Safest
A nursery is a place where your toddlers should feel safe and sound. There they will spend most of their time in the beginning, and you should dedicate a couple of minutes to secure everything. You could start with putting some strings on the doorknobs so they can’t come out.
Keep Your Kitchen Secured
The kitchen, on the other hand, requires a bit more attention and precautions. With all the appliances that can injure if you’re not careful, imagine how risky it can be for a child. This shouldn’t make you nervous because there is a solution. If you were looking for the cheapest way to move out, you probably saved some money, and you can invest in childproof cabinet locks.
Lock the Bathroom Door
Almost every toddler finds the bathroom fascinating and exciting. That’s why you should keep it locked if possible, and you won’t have to worry about it. However, if you don’t want to lock it, you’ll have to use some strategies to secure everything inside. The first thing is undoubtedly the toilet seat. Kids like to lift them, and it’s easy for them to get hurt if not appropriately secured. There are locks that you can also use for trash cans.
Adapt Living and Dining Room
These two rooms have a lot of items, like chairs, tables, and smaller stuff that could be harmful if they fall over your kid. This is why you should consider getting the lighter furniture if you were already thinking of redesigning your interior. By now, you probably figured out that it’s not just finding the safe neighborhood that counts when you decide it is the best time to move with your little one. There are a lot of details to keep in mind because toddlers are like little explorers.
Outlets Could Seem Like an Interesting Thing for Your Child
You can find all sorts of protective and safety plugs for the outlets. We all know how dangerous they can be and how toddlers love them. You might hear a divided opinion on whether you should put these protective plugs or just leave the cords in the wall. One thing is sure, keep cords away, and the outlets should be covered and out of reach. The best solution is to put a piece of furniture over the outlet.
Babyproofing isn't an easy task, and you should use all the help you can get
Make Every Corner Safe for Your Little Ones
After all the house-hunting tips you learned and moved from an apartment to a bigger place, you found yourself in a completely new house, and you’re still getting to know each room and figuring out the purpose for them. During that process, make sure you protect everything and put away all the things that could potentially harm your kid. Another important piece of advice, if you never did babyproofing before, is not to forget other places where your little one spends time, not just inside your home.
Don’t Forget About Securing Your Car
Moving during Coronavirus is hard enough, but you still have to check how car shipping works if you decided to get your auto transported. With a reliable cross-country moving company transporting your vehicle should be a breeze. The professional movers will leave your four-wheeler cleaned, and parents are left just to do a few extra steps to ensure the car’s safety. The first step is getting a seat for your little one that goes in the back, and if you’re struggling to install it, check the manual or call customer support. If you’re spending a lot of time in your car, make it comfortable for your little one – keep in the back of your car some toys that will keep your children’s attention during the riding.
If you're driving a lot, get the seat for your little one
Trustworthy Long Distance Moving Company Will Ease the Whole Relocation Process
When you’re long-distance moving, you could use every help you can get. A cross-country moving company seems like a very good idea because it can deal with all the tedious work, like packing fragile items as part of their packing services. Another worry that can come off your shoulders is certainly the storage service that reliable long-distance movers offer. This means you don’t have to think about all those bulky but also small stuff you don’t know what to do with. The stressless relocation will give you more free moments for babyproofing your new place, which is the most important step for parents.