How to Baby-Proof a HouseCaity Jozwiak

Period 6

• Crawl through your house like a baby would to get their point of view. remove anything that could be hazardous to the baby. Also remove anything that is valuable to you.

• Turn down your hot water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent burns.

• Make sure every area of your house has a smoke detector and a carbon monoxide detector.

• Secure cupboard doors with childproof locks

• Put dangerous items (cleaning solutions, knives) in high cabinets where children cant reach.

• Leave one easy-to-reach cupboard open and fill it with plastic containers or pots and pans that are safe for baby to play with.

• Cover all electrical sockets with plastic plugs.

• Cover sharp edges of furniture and fireplaces with pillows, quilts, blankets, or foam rubber.

• Put a hook-and-eye latch on your doors. This prevents babies from ending up anywhere they shouldn't be.

• Remove refrigerator magnets. They can fall off when the refrigerator door is opened and closed. This is a choking hazard for babies.

• Program your phone's speed dial with emergency and other important numbers (your pediatrician, the poison control center, your spouse at work, and 911). You should inform your baby-sitter of the numbers.

• Keep a bottle of ipecac syrup up on a high shelf in case of a poisoning emergency. This syrup triggers vomiting. Not all poison cases require vomiting, however, so check with a doctor. Call your local poison control center for an emergency reference card. You should let your baby-sitter know where the syrup and card are as well.

• Keep older siblings' toys separate. These toys are not appropriate for babies.

• Make sure your baby monitor works and is within range. You can test it by placing a ticking clock near it. If you can hear the ticking from the other end of the monitor, you will be able to hear your baby.

• Keep hot liquids away from baby. Place coffee, tea, or other hot liquids far away from your baby so that if it spills, your baby won't get burned.

• Never leave your baby alone in the bath or in the pool. Babies can drown in just inches of water. Also never leave your baby alone by the toilet or with a bucket of water.

• Don't expose your baby to smoke. Secondhand smoke can cause illness now and serious health problems later on.

• Check your house for lead poisoning, especially around window sills.

• Get a good stain stick. Use it to clean anything you didn’t baby proof.

• Make sure your house is clean and germ free by using anti-bacterial wipes.

• * Ask a professional to look over your house for any baby hazards you might have missed*