DIY Network

Making Your Home Baby-Safe From "Ask DIY Home Improvement" episode DADH-105

When making your home baby-safe, you need to imagine seeing the world at toddler-eye-level. That may entail actually crawling around your home on your hands and knees.

Q: We're expecting our first child in a few months. We'd like some tips to make our home a safe place for our baby.

A: (from DIY's home-improvement expert James Young) Children have the natural need to explore, and they have an uncanny knack for getting into things that you just don't want them to touch. Don't take any chances. Experts say that unintentional injuries are the leading killer of children, and 90 percent of those injuries are preventable. Below are some suggestions for getting your home ready your new arrival.

The first thing to do is to try to see the rooms in your house from your baby's point of view. Use a yardstick (or get down on your hands and knees and eyeball it) to establish potential hazards at eye-line level for a baby or toddler.

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	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C

Making Your Home Safe for Babies and Toddlers

• In the kitchen, one of the biggest potential hazard areas is under the sink where cleansers, drain cleaners and other dangerous chemicals may be stored (figure A).

• To make this area inaccessible to young children, you can use a cabinet latch (figure B). These come in various types, but the basic idea is that the door is latched in such a way that adults can easily unlatch it (figure C), but young children cannot.

• Experts say that latches like these are recommended for making cabinets inaccessible to children up to the age of 25 months.
  

  	Figure D
  	Figure E
  	Figure F
  	Figure G

• Another area to safeguard is the stove or oven-range. If the control knobs on the front of a range are low enough to be reached by children, they can be protected by installing a knob cover (figure D). These covers are easy to install. They can be removed and replaced easily by adults for accessing the knobs.

• As a general practice, make sure that pots and skillets left on the stove are turned with the handles facing inward -- away from the edge -- so that children can't reach them or knock them off the stove top.

• Make sure to keep your dishwasher shut and latched (figure E) so that small children won't inadvertently pull the heavy door down onto themselves.

• Avoid leaving heavy or breakable objects, containers of liquid, etc. close to the edge of countertops where they might be knocked off by small, exploring hands. Similarly it's a good idea to avoid using tablecloths when small children are around, since the edge of a tablecloth (figure F) can easily be grabbed and pulled off by a small child -- along with any of the items sitting on top of the table.

• Throughout the house, to prevent potential shocks or electrocution from electrical outlets, use plastic outlet covers (figure G) to keep them off limits to small fingers.
  

  	Figure H
  	Figure I
  	Figure J

• In the bathroom, make sure that medications, vitamins and mouthwashes are removed from lower drawers or cabinets. Keep them up high in a medicine cabinet or shelf that is not accessible. The same is true for scissors, razors, nail-clippers or other sharp objects (figure H) or breakable objects.

• If you have cleaning products or other chemicals under your bathroom sink (figure I) relocate them to an out-of-reach location or install a cabinet lock like the one described above.

• Though it may seem unlikely, small children have drowned by leaning and falling into commode. Keep the lid closed, and consider installing a toilet lock (figure J) to prevent small children from being able to lift the lid.
  

  	Figure K
  	Figure L
  	Figure M

• As a general safety measure, no home should be without fire extinguishers and smoke detectors. A smoke detector should be installed in every bedroom as well as in (or close to) the kitchen.

• Safety gates (figure K) can be used to keep entire rooms or sections of the home off limits to very small children. Use them to protect basements, stairways and other areas where you don't want the child to go. For added security, it's advisable to use the variety that fastens to the wall or doorway with screws.

• Window-blinds with cords can present a hazard in that pull-cords extending close to the ground can get wrapped and tangled around a small child and might even cause choking. Cord-shorteners are a small device that attach to the cords and reel up the unused portion to keep it up high and out of reach.

• Sharp edges, such as on stone fireplace hearths, can be protected with made foam guards. Simply secure the L-shaped foam guard to the edge using double-sided tape (figure L).

• Similarly, sharp corners on furniture can be made safer with plastic corner guards (figure M).