"Parents
will say, "I never take my eyes off of the baby,"
but it's nearly impossible to watch them every minute. "
Contact
Alandale's Life & Health Agent...Jay
Apfeld
The
Annual Baby Boom
Babies
will surprise you. They can break
plastic safety locks, open a bottle of
cleaning solution and squeeze through a pool
gate - all faster than you can say,
"boo."
That's
why baby proofing your home is vitally
important. Remove all potentially
dangerous items from the baby's level, and
accidents will be less likely to occur.
Parents
will say, "I never take my eyes off of
the baby," but it's nearly impossible to
watch them every minute. This is
especially true with multiple children, as you
can't be three places at once.
Baby
proofing your home should be part of prenatal
planning. Here are some suggestions:
Crawl
room to room. Identify dangling
cords and reachable surfaces with
dangerous items that might attract a baby.
Don't
rely on safety locking systems. Put
cleaning solutions and potentially
dangerous items in cabinets higher than a
toddler can climb.
Remove
medicine and other poisons from the
medicine cabinet. Keep them in a
lock-box or locking file box on a deep,
high counter.
Store
cleaning solutions in the garage.
Out of the house, they're less of a
threat.
Make
sure household plants are not poisonous to
children.
In
addition, beware of simple situations that can
bring on potential problems:
Problem
Solution
Leaving
the room to change an infant, and your
toddler is unsupervised.
Take
the toddler with you or put him/her in a
swing or a bouncer chair.
Household
cleaning materials are left in the open.
Carry
all cleaning materials with you as you
clean.
Visitors'
belongings are left unattended.
Put
visitors' purses and other belongings
out of child's reach.
Every
day occurrences - the phone, the door
bell - divert your attention.
Always
take the child with you, or keep him/her
in eye-sight or in a safe restraint.
