Poison-proofing your home is something that must be done before your child starts to crawl (I will be having to do this real soon!) Those little humans are faster on their knees and hands than you may think! You don’t need to go all crazy and turn your house into a padded room, but just a few tweaks in where you store things or how you lock things up will keep your babe safe and out of things he doesn’t need to play with. Because as you may know by now, everything is a toy for the baby! Check out our tips on how to poison-proof your home!
Related: Top 10 Must-Have Baby Safety Products for Your Home
How to Poison-Proof Your Home Before Your Baby Starts Crawling
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Switch cleaners
If you haven’t jumped on the ‘no poison’ band wagon for household cleaners, then now is the time. There are so many companies now that market ‘cleaner’ cleaners but one that truly is clean is The Honest Company. Co-founded by actress Jessica Alba, their mission is to supply consumers with non-toxic household products. They are much more than just household products, so be sure to check them out at www.honest.com or on Amazon. They just launched their line of feminine products too! This easy step to poison-proof your home is also great for the environment!
Animal food
This may sound silly and it isn’t necessarily ‘poisonous’ but something you might not think about once your little one starts to crawl. Keep an eye on the dog and cat foods! I am not sure why, but I used to find my very mobile daughter in the corner on the floor eating the dog food. ‘One for doggie, one for me’. I have photographic proof for later in life.
Related: Child Safety Fail: My Son Got Stuck in a Tire Wheel Well!
Rodent and ant bait traps
Obviously if you have them, it is because you need them, so don’t toss them, just place them in a corner your mobile baby can’t get to. Behind furniture is always a good bet. Heavy furniture, like a couch or chair, we don’t want any unnecessary injuries, crawling babies get into enough stuff! Purchase some tamper-resistant bait traps as well.
Safety latches
If you are unable to move all poisonous chemicals to a higher shelf, install safety latches on all cabinets (even the ones without poisons, you don’t want your crackers all over the floor when he gets into the snack cabinet). Don’t forget the drawers as well, crawling babies like to pull themselves up and pulling on drawers is fun, and the silverware makes a cool noise when it hits the floor all at once! You can pick these up anywhere really. Target and Walmart of course have them and some grocery stores might sell them in the baby section. You might be able to get a deal for a bunch on www.amazon.com but they typically are about $5 a package for 12. Don’t forget about the door knobs! They sell special knob covers to keep kids from getting into the pantry or outside.
Close tight
This may sound like a no brainer, but before kids, you may have just absentmindedly twisted the bottle cap on, and placed it back on the shelf or in the cabinet. You might want to double check all those caps! Make sure they are tight enough, if you can not find a higher place to store them, and even if you install those safety latches. You will soon learn (if you haven’t already) little kids are like mini Houdinis.
If this is your first time baby proofing your home, it might be a trial and error. You may find your precious little crawler gets into things you didn’t think he could. Parenting is a bit of a learning curve! I once found my daughter sitting in the bathroom playing Lincoln Logs with my tampons! (Don’t worry, there were no poisons in that cabinet).
If you have kid, toddlers at home always keep out of reach harmful chemicals, medicines, jewelry cleaners, and other cleaning materials that can be harmful for your kids.
I remember what a nervous wreck I was when my sons were crawling, walking and getting into everything. I baby proofed like a mad woman and was STILL paranoid about what they could get into.One night, when my oldest son was 16 months old, he crawled over to my purse, pulled out a bottle of antibiotics I was taking and started eating them like candy. I swear the whole incident happened within two minutes while I was getting his dinner ready. We rushed to the hospital. And, of course, everything turned out fine. I learned to NEVER leave my purse on the floor again. The tips you listed are super important. No parent of little ones should overlook this stuff.
I’ve heard from many friends how nervous they are about baby-proofing their home – especially when they have a particularly curious child. I have memories as a youth of my Mom putting cabinet latches everywhere and electric plug covers. One thing from your list that I would have not thought of is the dangers of dog food.
These are great tips for baby-proofing! Often times, it’s the little things that slip your mind that your baby finds, but your list is pretty great! I would have completely forgot about ant traps and such, if I would have had them. It’s all ways better to be cautious with things that could harm kids. I always keep my cleaners in a high, locked cabinet.
These are great tips. I have always made sure to put everything away and lock things up so that my girls didn’t get in to anything. We had to put away cat food before because they kept trying to dig in the food too. There certainly are a lot of things kids can get in to.
This is such an important topic! Latches are a must and what a great idea to switch cleaners. And the pet food…never ever thought about that. What valid points you bring up! Thanks for putting these tips together.
It is scary how fast kids can get into anything and everything. Latches are such a great way to stop kids from getting into the cabinets. I know when we babyproofed the first time it seemed like we kept finding places we missed as she got more mobile.
I love these tips! These are some of the things you never think about when having a baby for the first time. I never would have thought about the dog food until I was faced with it myself. Although I didn’t snap a picture like you did, I sure wish I had!
Great tips. Do they still make those green poison stickers with the yucky face on them?
These are great tips for experienced parents as well as new parents. As an ER nurse, I know first hand that some of these tips could same families a trip to the er. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thanks so much for sharing these tips. Even though many of them may seem like common sense, once we have a baby sometimes we just are not thinking clearly and we are so caught up in the cute little bundle of joy. This post right here will save many lives. Thanks for sharing.
There definitely many toxic cleaners. We also need to remember that organic and natural can me better but it doesn’t always mean safe.
Oh the stress of raising kids! There are so many adjustments we need to do to ensure a child’s safety. Thanks for these tips. They are really helpful specially for first time parents.
Mini humans are very inventive and they watch how to open doors, cabinets etc–my cat observed me and now opens every darn cabinet in my kitchen while I am sleeping! Door locks are your best bet!!
This is so important. Little ones can be so quick!
It is so important to do this when you have toddlers in the house. They get into everything at that age.
This is great advice, for sure! You can’t be too careful!
We don’t use much that could poison, but what we have is locked away! Pet food is one I struggle with, but we feed twice a day and the kids help, and then we pick up the bowls to avoid anyone touching/eating and getting sick!