• Start early: You’ll be shocked how quickly babies can start getting into trouble. Baby-proof your house as soon as bring the baby home–or better yet, before they are even born.
  • Think like a baby: Before you begin, try to get a sense of your house from a child’s point of view. Crawl around on all fours. Peer into nooks and crannies. You might not notice many low-to-the-ground hazards from the point of view of an adult.
  • Secure your furniture: Tie down your furniture, TVs, computers–anything heavy. Babies can be surprisingly precocious about tipping heavy objects.
  • Lock the toilet: Yes, actually. The water can be a drowning hazard. Purchase a toilet lock and keep the lid secured whenever the toilet is not in use. And never leave standing water in the sink, the tub, or anywhere else, either.
  • Secure small objects: Look for anything swallowable: pins, coins, eraser caps, pen caps. Look for removable caps on doorstops, move the mobile out of reach, and remove the magnets from the fridge (they can fall.) Double-check the floor, where these things are most likely to escape your notice but easily accessible to a crawling baby.
  • Fasten your cords: Your baby can become tangled in electrical cords. Fasten them securely against the wall. Fasten other kinds of cords, too–not forgetting the cords on blinds, which can be a real strangulation hazard.
  • Check your houseplants: Many houseplants are poisonous. If you have plants, make sure they’re safe. Anything else, move well out of reach, and preferably, out of your house.
  • Hide your meds: Secure your medication in a high cabinet, and keep it in the childproof container. Avoid taking meds in front of your child–they may seek to imitate you, especially if you refer to it as “candy.”
  • Cover your outlets: Buy childproof electrical covers. Regular covers may come off too easily, even presenting a choking hazard.
  • Don’t get trapped: If you have mouse or insect traps, make sure none of them are within the reach of your child. Even havahart traps can be a pinching habit.
  • Lock up your cleaners: Put any household cleaners, detergents, or anything else containing potentially dangerous chemicals in a high, locked cabinet.
  • Install baby gates: Block off areas of the house that you are unable or unwilling to babyproof with gates. Choose these gates carefully: accordion-style gates can trap the baby’s head, and some gates affix less securely to the wall than others.
  • Check the windows: Instal childproof screens: regular window screens aren’t enough to hold the weight of a child trying to get through. And keep cribs, tall chairs, etc. away from windows, to reduce the chance that they will try.
  • Unplug appliances: Unplug toasters, coffee makers, paper shredders, hairdryers, etc. when not in use. These appliances can be dangerous if your child accidentally turns them on, and the cords are strangulation hazards.
  • Install alarms: You should have working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in your home already, but if you don’t, consider this your reminder to get on that. Check the batteries monthly.
  • Watch the locks: Make sure there’s no way for your child to lock themselves in the bathroom. As your child gets older, consider removing the lock from the door entirely.