The only safety products parents need for childproofing the home are affordable, durable, and for long-term use.
Parents are often lulled into a false sense of security by fancy, expensive, one-off products, but ultimately it only takes a few simple items to make your home safe for infants and toddlers.
Essential Safety Products for Childproofing
1) Cabinet Sliders: For high-use cabinets, simple plastic slider locks work best. No need to drill holes in the cabinet, and you can get in and out easily. However make sure you re-secure after use.
2) Cabinet Locks: For glassware and hazardous storage, use locks that cannot be easily undone. These work best on cabinets that are not often used, but need essential protection from little hands. Even better: Move all hazards to high-reach cabinets that children cannot reach.
3) Door Knob Covers: Make sure doors leading outside, and to the garage are secured. You can also use them on bathroom doors to keep little ones away from the toilet (which is a much easier option than locking the toilet itself!)
4) Outlet Covers: Make sure all electrical outlets are plugged. Avoid ‘fancy’ plug covers; the cheap ones work just fine.
5) Cord Protectors: Keep your electronics cords organized and away from little hands.
6) Hands-Free Baby Gate: Forget gates which require hands. If you’re juggling a baby, bottles, and toddler, these simple step-open gates are by-far the easiest to use.
7) Retractable Gate for Stairs: Avoid pressure gates or swinging gates on stairs. These retractable ones hide easily when not in use. The downside is they require hardware installation. However, you’ll be using a stair safety gate until children are at least four years old…..and longer if you have additional children, so the hardware is a good long-term investment.
8) Pinch Guards: Try using these pinch guards to protect both your child’s fingers and your doors from being slammed.
