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A Homeowner’s Guide for Effective Baby Proofing in Walpole, MA
Are you anticipating welcoming your bundle of joy sometime soon? Before the classic stork delivers your baby bundle and you celebrate this joyous milestone and a new beginning, you must prepare for its arrival. We best recommend new mothers and parents-to-be start preparing for a new baby in their second trimester so they aren’t scrambling at the last minute as they are about to get ready for their delivery. Most new parents think of baby products from breastfeeding, formula feeding, diapering, and blankets galore–but there’s much to consider in terms of home improvement. In fact, one of the most significant aspects of best preparing for a new family member is to baby-proof your humble abode.
If you find yourself overwhelmed in arranging and rearranging your house for your new arrival, you can always ask for extra help from a professional handyman. By relying on a qualified, licensed, and fully insured Walpole handyman from Central-Eastern Norfolk County & S.Shore, you can bypass the stress and frustration of baby-proofing your home with a professional who can perform the ultimate ready-for-baby checklist. Let us handle all the minor details, including repairs, installations, and maintenance, whilst you spend your precious time designing your newborn’s nursery. Plus, you need all the downtime and rest you can get before pulling all-nighters for any disruptions you are bound to face after childbirth.
Our expert and experienced team members can guide you through a baby-proofing process for baby-proofing of your living spaces. You need only ask. But first, it’s best to educate yourself on what baby-proofing entails based on assessing each interior living space of your home.
What Is Baby Proofing & Why Is It Fundamental For Safety Purposes?
Baby proofing is the process whereby you have the basic safety essentials installed in your home, including any upgrades through home renovations you need to make. This ensures an optimal living environment for your tiny tot. You’d be surprised at the sheer number of safety hazards that are contained within your standard household. As an infant, a house seems like a gigantic playground. So there’s no telling what crisis scenario the baby may encounter. For example, from a wobbly bookcase to a freestanding LCD TV to a glass coffee table with sharp edges, to an open window without grills–there’s no telling how many ways a baby can trip, tumble and topple only to get seriously hurt. By baby-proofing, you protect your baby from these risky pitfalls by accidentally injuring themselves while allowing them to play and being open to exploring their surroundings. Walpole parents-to-be are best advised to begin baby-proofing their home at least three months before the due date. Being proactive about babyproofing, Walpole homeowners can always expect to be many steps ahead as their child becomes increasingly hyperactive and mobile as they start to take their first steps as a toddler.
Living Room And Common Areas
The vast majority of your clunkier furniture is situated within your main living room, including your couch, coffee table, bookcase, nightstand, end tables, cabinets, hutch buffet, drawers, TV stand, and even decorative pieces such as wall art, amongst other showpieces. This may make your main lounge area pleasant and inviting, but it’s an absolute labyrinth full of bobby traps for a baby. As a result, you need baby-proofing. Walpole property owners must refurbish their houses according to the following guidelines:
No Entry: Prevent Access To Stairwells With Gates
The most common baby-proofing hack is to install safety gates. A baby gate or child safety gate is a protective barrier and safety mechanism specifically designed to prevent babies and toddlers from accessing banned areas of the house, such as the stairway or kitchen. Because very small children are wide-eyed, wandering everything and anything will pique their curiosity. So you need to have a basic safety gate to prevent them from stumbling and fumbling down the various stairwells of your house. Even if you live in a small cottage-style home or a one-story dwelling, we will recommend a safety gate, especially in the kitchen area, as there are so many perils abound given the amount of electrical and gas appliances and sharp utensils you have. So it’s best to restrict access and participation to this area as well.
Here are the various type of safety gates or fences available:
- Gated Fence: If you find hopping over a generic safety gate is a nuisance for you, and you don’t want to be bothered to keep removing it to pass through–you need something more versatile. We suggest opting for a gated fence. This comes with a latch you can unlock, allowing you to swing open the door. For added convenience, you can remove the entire gate to get to the other side.
- Extendable Fence: Do you have a specific area of the house, such as the entryway or larger kitchen area, that needs to be separated? Or are you trying to create a separate play area for your toddler for play dates? An extendable fence is useful as it’s flexible and can accommodate a lengthy distance based on its hinged panels that can be adjusted to your preference. Compared to a generic safety gate which only accommodates a standard-sized doorframe, an extendable one is more versatile.
- Pressure Mounted Fence: If you’re hesitant to drill unsightly holes into your wallboards or are looking for a more temporary solution when you’re visiting the grandparents for the baby, we recommend a pressure-mounted gate. This type of safety fence has suction cups that can adhere to any solid surface and won’t leave any imperfections behind.
Shackle About: Securely Fasten Furniture
For baby proofing, Walpole homeowners who forgo any baby proofing whatsoever can expect unfortunate incidents to occur more often than not due to unstable furniture. That’s why it’s necessary to securely fasten big and smaller-sized furniture pieces alike to prevent them from accidentally toppling onto your child. A skilled handyman can attach and fasten furniture to your walls by using L brackets or anchors to hold them in place. Safety latches, drawer latches, and cabinet locks are also useful items to consider to keep your living area baby safe.
Don’t Go Haywire: Cover Electrical Outlets, Tie Up Loose Cables
We were all taught electrical safety basics 101 in grade school, like not sticking a metal conductor such as a fork into a toaster. The same reasoning applies to a baby sticking their fingers or limbs into electrical outlets or receptacles only to get accidentally electrocuted. You can purchase these plastic covers from most home hardware stores, and you simply need to insert one into an outlet. This is the most effective solution, as you can simply remove the outlet cover plate when you need to plug in an appliance or charger and replace it when you finish your task.
Moreover, if you have a bunch of electrical cords snaking this way, it’s crucial to tidy up your living space by wrapping them up so they’re out of sight and out of mind. If not, your child may yank them every which way, resulting in potential injury. It’s a good idea to adhere your long, loose cables to the floor using duct cord covers which allow you to thread multiple cords through a plastic or silicone cover that remains fastened to the ground. This also allows your living space to be neat, tidy, and clutter-free of random cables. During your session for baby proofing, Walpole clients can expect their tactile handyman to give them useful pointers.
Lasso And Tie Up Loose Ends: Wrap Drapery/Blind/Curtain Cords
Any loose, spiraling extension is always a safety risk for younger kids. Especially if your curtain or drapery has drawstrings to pull them open and closed, this is a danger waiting to happen. If anything, your baby can get knotted in which makes it a potential hazard. Any dangling cord from the drapes needs to be either removed or relocated. For example, you can install cord winders or tie points higher up on the window that keeps the cord neat, tidy and organized, and well out of the grasp of any wandering child.
Appreciate Only From A Distance: Mount TV
Regardless of whether you are a film fanatic or not, you don’t want to leave your television lying around on a stand even if you barely use it. If you don’t have the advantage of a TV cabinet or a designated space within your walls for the TV, you need to securely fasten the TV to the wall with a mounting bracket or plate. If not, your baby might accidentally bump into the TV stand once they crawl and knock it onto themselves. Apart from not having to crane and flex your neck to watch the TV, you also declutter your living room and save space by mounting your TV.
Kitchen Area
Next to your living room, a kitchen area is a maze of incidents waiting to happen as there are baited traps and other dangerous items everywhere you look. This makes sense as it’s a primary area of the house that contains the most plumbing fixtures and electronic appliances. Through babyproofing through our knowledgeable handyman, you can readily avoid any crisis scenario.
Neat Freak: Rearrange Products, Appliances, Dishware And Cutlery
Stow away cleaning products, cooking utensils, eating cutlery, and electronic appliances in designated spots that can’t be easily accessed. By default, most Walpole homeowners stow about chemical sprays and cleaners underneath the kitchen sink, which is not advised. The higher up you store any products which emit chemical fumes or appliances with sharp corners, the better it is for baby-proofing.
Baby Banned: Add Safety Locks To Cabinets
Another popular baby-proofing hack is to add safety locks, so your baby can randomly open and set ajar cabinets only to remove and play with the pots and pans. As comical as that is for your next photo-op, this is something to take seriously for baby-proofing, as your child can easily grab sharp cutlery and utensils or have larger dishware hit them smack dab in the face resulting in injury. That’s why a safety lock is a basic staple for baby-proofing. Walpole parents will find that these safety guards and locks will prevent their young child from snooping in off-limits areas.
Bedroom Area
A bedroom is more laid-back in terms of potential safety hazards where there are minimal electrical appliances, but it’s still a risk nonetheless, which requires baby-proofing. Walpole homeowners must acknowledge the following:
Barrier Force Field: Protective Window Grills And Mesh Screens
Again it may seem cartoonish but curious babies can trip and tumble out of open windows. That’s why we recommend installing grills and mesh screens to deter this. Not only will this reduce the likelihood of an accident, but you also bolster your indoor air circulation, prevent pests from invading and enjoy the added advantages of improved security and warding off suspicious intruders.
Safety First: Carbon Monoxide Detector
Whether your home is pre-owned or newly built, every bedroom should ideally have carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors to detect smoke in case of a house fire, including a potential gas leak, regardless if you are baby-proofing or not. Your family member’s safety matters, so be sure to ask your Walpole handyman to install these devices and ensure you swap out the batteries once in a while.
Welcome Your Newborn A Safe And Prosperous Humble Abode For–Mr. Handyman Can Guide You!
They say new parents-to-be are more often than not sleep-deprived as they adjust to a new lifestyle and a newborn baby. But it doesn’t have to be frustrating tying up all these loose ends if you depend on a trustworthy contractor for home upgrades for baby proofing. Let’s face it–the sooner you get any home remodels done, the better you can spend your precious moments with your new family member. Perhaps you want to build a safe little playroom for your grandkids!
If you are expecting sometime soon, we advise you to reach out to one of our courteous contact care representatives who can answer your questions, comments, and concerns. Apart from Walpole, we also serve nearby areas of Duxbury, Marshfield, and Quincy.
Since you are inquiring about baby proofing your house, why not ask about our other residential home improvement services, from furniture assembly, including custom shelving and bookcase, to light fixture installation to other remodels and painting services–all of this we can do to help you set up your dream nursery as we excitedly await your response!
