One of the key things I wanted to keep in mind when designing baby J’s room is that I want him to be able to freely explore the room. I try my best not to limit what he can and cannot do.
Remove unnecessary furniture
His playroom used to my office. To make it safer for him to explore, I removed my large plants, office table, chair and moved my cabinets into the closet. I only left the items that are meant for his room.
Baby Safety
Secure furniture to the walls.Don’t skip this step. You might not want to drill holes into your wall, but it’s necessary. J is only 10 months old, but around 9 months he was reaching and pulling on furniture. Plus he’s surprisingly strong, so I could see something potentially tipping over
Cabinet locks. Once your babe starts to crawl, he’s going to start pulling up on things. It’s very easy for them to accidentally pull out a drawer and close them onto their little fingers. Not the mention you might have things that should stay out of reach inside those drawers.
Outlets. You’re going to have to cover all the outlets in the room. I’m not sure what is so fascinating to them, it’s guaranteed they will try to stick their fingers in. Also, tamper resistant does not equal baby proof. I was going to get the sliding outlet covers, but they didn’t work for us. These plug protectors worked really well for us and is difficult for an adult to remove.
When using plug protectors, make sure the fit is snug. If you end up removing a cover to use an outlet, make sure to place the cover somewhere out of reach… so in the event you forgot to replace it, it’s not going to be a potential choking hazard.
Closet doors. For our playroom, we have sliding doors. I didn’t know these types of locks existed! It was very easy to install. Just stick on the adhesive and place it high and out of reach.
Window Treatments. If your house also comes with the cheap plastic blinds, you’ll have to change those out soon too. You’ll soon start to notice that, if you leave the blinds down – baby can reach it. But if you open the blinds, the string is now in reach. We’re still in the process of looking for window treatments, so at this point we have the blinds open half way everyday. When looking for window treatments, make sure to choose something that is cordless. I know there are some mechanisms that allow you to wrap the string out of reach – which is a good temporary solution – but you’ll want something more fool proof. Someone can easily over look this detail and leave a dangerous situation behind.
Remember to keep furniture away from windows too. In case they decide to climb.
Overall I think this covers most situations. As long as you’re watching your kid, you’ll notice when they start to do something new and if you need to intervene and find a way to make it safer.
No Comments