When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. This keeps it 100% reader supported and free of ads or sponsorships. Thanks for your support!

Get our Survival Guides

Babyproofing Your Home

Some time ago I asked the audience what their favorite babyproofing device was. A couple of women answered something like, “My eyes — I actually watch my child.”

I just can’t with these people. 

Of *course* you should watch your baby, but the constant vigilance of being on baby-death-and-injury-watch is exhausting, especially if you don’t have any help with childcare. Plus, we all get interrupted from time to time to answer the door, let the dog out, use the bathroom, etc. You can’t raise kids in a china shop.

Thus, your life will be soooo much easier (and enjoyable!) if you take the time to seriously babyproof your home. I recommend you take a whole day—or even a weekend—and get it done. You’ll be so glad you did.

If you have no idea where to start, don’t worry. Our guide is broken down into three distinct milestones: crawling, standing/cruising, and walking. While it’s joyous to watch your baby reach these new milestones, each presents its own set of new and delightful hazards [snort]. You can take each phase as it comes—or do them all at once in advance before the insanity of parenthood sets in.

If this is making your head explode, you can hire a “child proofing expert” (yes, that exists) to do all of this for you. However, it’s not difficult to do on your own.

Babyproofing 101

Here is the list — separated by age/phase:

Part I: Crawlers (7 months+)

Part II: Cruisers and Pulling Up (9 months+)

Part III: Walkers (11 months+)

some walkers

Go forth — and good luck!

Comments

  1. Friend of mine has a 21/2 yr old girl who when visiting touches throws takes breaks pulls apart jumps on everything shrill screaming constantly and totally out of control! What am I supposed to do when my friend and I can’t talk sit stand move about and have to put everything back in order when they leave and also to mention put a gate on bedroom and bathroom! I’ve moved stuff out of the way put gates up and dread a visit! By the way, my friend is my next door neighbor and to answer the door is a whirlwind past me and on to what I’ve mention above! A really constant wild child!!!!

    1. Tell your friend they should do something to control this behavior or stop coming over. She will have much bigger problems if she doesn’t do something.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Exit mobile version