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There is more to baby proofing your house than merely putting your precious collectibles out of reach of a crawling or walking baby. The main point to baby proofing your living space is to make your home safe for the baby. As soon as a baby can crawl, he or she will be touring about your home, learning everything there is about your stuff by putting his hands and mouth on it.
First, look at the room from your baby's perspective on the floor. When the baby is at an age to put things in his or her mouth, you will find that you need to pay attention to vacuuming or sweeping your floors more often than you usually do. Any little piece of lint or clod of dirt may end up in the baby's mouth. Perhaps a more serious concern is an electrical outlet on the wall. Buy plastic safety covers to cover the unused outlets. For outlets that must be in use all the time with a lamp or television plugged into it, you may need to get more creative. You can rearrange your furniture so the outlet and trailing electrical cords are not accessible.
Other things to be wary of is furniture or anything heavy that could tip if the baby pulls or pushes on it. Some examples of these are standing floor lamps, table lamps, a tablecloth with things on top of it, book shelves, and drawers. Sharp corners on furniture can be covered with baby safety corner guards. Also be sure to put anything that may be poisonous up out of reach, such as cleaning supplies and medications, and know your local poison control telephone number. Give away any houseplants that may be toxic.
Also be cautious of certain garage sale bargains or secondhand baby things passed on to you for free. Old baby cribs or play yards should not have slats with spaces greater than two and three-eighths inches. Old toy boxes with an ordinary hinged lid are very dangerous. Newer toy boxes use a safety hinge. A child car safety seat should not be used if it is more than five years old and if you do not absolutely know it could not have been in an accident previously. Toys should be age-appropriate to your child. For a child under the age of three, a toy should be too large to be a choking hazard. A rule of thumb is the toy should be too large to pass through a toilet paper roll. The toy should be very well assembled so no small parts can be pulled off.
The best way to baby proof your child's environment is with plenty of adult supervision. You will think you have picked up everything the baby could possibly get into trouble with, and then you will be amazed that he found something else. It is the rare child that does not make it through childhood without a scar or two, but with vigilance only minor mishaps will occur.
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