Every parent wants to make his/her home as safe as possible when bringing a newborn infant home.There could be more dangers than a parent might think. The best way to baby proof a house is to think like a baby and enlist professional help, if necessary. Below are some tips that parents can do before the baby arrives.
Suffocation Hazards
The best way to imagine the world as a baby is to get down to his/her level. Get on all fours and crawl around seeing all the potential dangers. According to the National Safety Council, mechanical suffocation and suffocation by ingested objects cause the most home fatalities to children aged zero to four years. For crib safety, babies should be placed on their backs to sleep, crib bards should be no more than 2 3/8 inches apart, make sure the crib mattress fits the crib tightly with no gaps and make sure the crib is away from windows, especially ones that have cords or curtains.
For mouth safety, avoid foods that could become lodged in a child's throat, don't let children suck or eat anything while lying down, don't place infants on top of soft surfaces such as couch cushions or pillows and keep small objects such as coins, rings and batteries off floors, tables and cabinets where a child can reach them.
For strangulation safety, keep toys with long strips or cords away from children and use safety gates that are not accordion style, are installed properly at both the top and bottom of stairways and don't have large holes.
Drowning and Fire Hazards
Other ways children can also die in the home are by drowning and fire. To avoid a drowning, never leave a child unsupervised in any body of water (bath, pool or larger), fence in a pool area with a self-latching door and/or alarms and keep toys and other items a child could slip on away from a pool or water area.
To avoid burns, bath water should be 100° Fahrenheit so always check the water temperature first with a wrist or elbow. It's a good idea to set the hot water thermostat to 120° Fahrenheit. Also, keep matches out of sight and out reach, do not smoke, use matches or drink hot beverages while holding a child and keep electrical cords out of the way.
Other ways to avoid burns include putting covers on outlet plugs, latches on cabinet doors, drawers and windows. Remember to tell and keep an eye on the child if an appliance is going to be hot, such as a stove, radiator or space heater. A child could touch it once and it be cold, the next it could be hot and cause a burn.
Even though it may seem the danger list goes on and on, doing simple safety checks before baby arrives and after baby arrives, can help settle a worried mind. Check out this baby proofing website to find a resource center in each state.
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