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20+ Tips for Childproofing Your Home

I partnered with Tide to bring you this post. All opinions are my own.

I’ll never forget the time my son ingested a small amount of liquid dishwasher detergent. He was two at the time, and like most kids his age, he liked to explore and put things in his mouth. On this particular night, I had left the dishwasher open as I cleaned up after dinner. In a matter of seconds, he had dipped his finger into the detergent dispenser filled with detergent and licked it. As a first time parent, I totally freaked out. I immediately called Poison Control and followed their instructions. Thankfully, he had only swallowed a small amount so it didn’t hurt him or cause him to get sick. I was relieved but couldn’t help feeling like a bad parent.

Fast forward twelve years and three healthy kiddos later. My son is now 14 and my twin girls are 6. I’ve learned a lot over the years, especially how to childproof my home. When my twins were little, I made sure our house was extra safe. I had it all — cabinet locks, outlet covers, baby gates, furniture anchors and more. I also made sure to keep harmful products out of reach, such as cleaning products, medicine and small objects.

20+ Tips for Childproofing Your Home

If you have young children, make sure you take the necessary steps to childproof all the rooms in your home. My advice is to get down on your hands and knees and view your home from your child’s perspective. Take a look around to see what risks you might have and then take the time to fix them. To help get you started, here are some of my tips:

20+ Tips for Childproofing Your Home

Bathroom

  • Place a non-slip mat in the tub on the floor beside the tub
  • Cover the tub spout
  • Install a toilet lid lock
  • Store all medicines, vitamins and supplements out of reach or in a locked medical safe

Kitchen

  • Install cabinet latches and/or locks
  • Keep cleaning products out of reach or locked in a cabinet
  • Place knob covers on the stove knobs
  • Keep pet food out of reach

Living Room

  • Place outlet covers on all exposed outlets
  • Mount TV to the wall or secure it to entertainment center
  • Make sure all cords are out of reach
  • Place padding or bumpers on edges of coffee table, TV stand, etc.
  • Install a baby gate at the top and bottom of stairs and between areas you want your child to stay out of
  • Cover the front of your fireplace with a fireplace guard or gate

Bedroom

  • Place outlet covers on all exposed outlets
  • Make sure all cords are out of reach
  • Remove crib bumpers, stuffed animals and large blankets from your child’s crib
  • Only use a crib that is up-to-date with safety standards and follow the directions on proper use
  • Secure dresser, changing table, bookshelf or any other large piece of furniture to the wall with furniture straps/anchors

Laundry Room

As parents, we usually think about childproofing our kitchens or bathrooms but the laundry room is often overlooked.

  • Keep cleaning products, laundry detergent and laundry pacs out of the reach of children between every load
  • Use a cabinet safety latch as an added security measure to ensure products are not accessible
  • After each use, close the container completely and immediately put products away in their appropriate storage location

Childproofing your home can be overwhelming, but it is well worth the peace of mind. I encourage you to watch the video above from Tide to see if you can find all the potential risks the baby could get to in five seconds. Try to find all 11!

Want more to learn more about laundry pac safety? Stay tuned for a new post coming next month that will discuss laundry pac safety tips, as well as P&G’s effort to keep children safe!

What are some of your childproofing tips?

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