Now that colder weather is upon us, Your child spends most of his/her time inside, so you’ll want to make sure that the environment is safe. Many things will be obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many things you wouldn’t even think about. Consider these safety tips when childproofing your home.

Of course, the most obvious safety precaution is to make sure that your house is equipped with proper safety gates. There are a number of safety gates on the market that can close off a stairway, a doorway, or a large archway entrance.

Staircases are especially intriguing to crawling babies. Be sure to close off the staircase in your home once your baby begins to crawl. Selecting the right gate the first time around is important in order to eliminate possible dangers and unnecessary frustrations. Think about where the gate will be installed, how wide the opening is, what will the gate be mounted to (drywall, wood, banisters, wrought iron, brick…)

Safety gates generally fall into two categories: pressure mounted or hardware mounted.

Pressure mounted gates are best for doorways to divide areas between rooms on the same floor. They require no holes or hardware for installation.
They should NEVER be used at the top of stairs.
Hardware mounted gates are safer than pressure mounted gates because they are permanently affixed and are best suited for more dangerous areas like at the top of the stairs. No one likes to drill holes in the walls, but better safe than sorry. There are kits available that may help minimize the amount of drilling you may have to do through banisters and walls; we’ve also seen some parents get very creative with their own solutions…

Before you get started with the rest of the house , our best tip is to get down on your hands and knees to see the world from your baby’s level. Literally, get down on all fours and crawl around the house asking yourself what might look intriguing to your baby and what unsafe objects are within reach. Also keep in mind that a crawling baby will put anything into his or her mouth. Check the room and pick up any small objects.

When setting up your nursery, be sure to place your baby’s crib away from windows. This is usually the hottest place in the summer and the coldest place in the winter – especially at night. Make sure that are no shade or blind cords within baby’s reach. Children can become entangled in cords and injure themselves.   This also goes for monitor cords.  Long ceiling fan cords or light cords must be shortened so that your baby can’t reach them from the crib.

Be sure to purchase a baby intercom so that you can monitor your child’s napping and sleep time. I would strongly recommend monitors with a crib camera and the Angelcare baby monitor with a sensor pad, which senses the slightest breathing movements – or lack thereof… and will sound an alarm if no movement is detected for 20 seconds.

Buy cabinet and drawer locking clips or child proof devices. Go through your home securing closets, cabinets (especially with chemicals and cleaning products), or storage areas from which you want to protect your child — and also protect from your child