Babyproofing Your Home

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Kitchen Safety

  • Move cleaners far from your baby's reach—do not keep them under the sink.

  • Install electrical outlet plugs to protect your baby from shock.

  • Place covers over the stove's burners and cook on the back burners. Keep pot handles faced inwards towards the back of the stove and/or keep baby contained in highchair or playpen when cooking.

  • Move sharp, tiny, and/or poisonous objects to a drawer with a safety latch.

  • Keep baking soda and a fire extinguisher in the kitchen area, in case of a cooking fire.

  • Keep alcoholic beverages far from your baby's reach.

  • Secure all tablecloths to the table so your child cannot pull anything onto him/herself.

  • Dispose of plastic grocery bags and dry cleaning bags immediately; these can cause suffocation.

  • Never use hot tap water for mixing your baby's formula or food.

  • Store glassware in high cupboards out of reach.

  • Lock garbage bins so that your baby cannot access to them.

  • Never hold or pass hot liquids over your baby.

  • Never let your baby pick up sharp objects such as scissors or sharp pencils.

  • Remove cigarettes, lighters, ashtrays, and matches from your baby's reach.

  • Install childproof safety latches on lower cabinet doors and/or make the kitchen off limits with a gate. You can also make one cabinet accessible with safe playthings like wooden spoons and sturdy bowls.

  • Keep your purse out of reach of your baby. Many small objects like coins can easily find their way into your baby's mouth.
  • Bedroom Safety

  • Keep pillows out of the crib until your baby is a year old.

  • Install electrical outlet plugs to protect your baby from shock.

  • Keep small jewelry, perfumes and colognes, shoe polishing materials, belts, scarves, and ties out of your baby's reach.

  • Never lock a baby into a room.

  • Make sure closets can be opened from the inside, so that your toddler doesn't get locked in.

  • Never allow your baby to sleep with a bib on.

  • Keep older children's toys out of your baby's reach.

  • Keep button batteries away from your child; they can cause intoxication with mercury and acid. Button batteries can be found in watches, small toys, computer games, and other small gadgets. In the United States there is a 24-hour emergency consultation service called the National Button Battery Ingestion Hotline (202-625-3333). Over a 7-year period they followed 2382 cases of swallowed batteries. Of these, 62 were larger cylindrical batteries, and the rest were buttons.


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