Welcome to the world of parenthood; babies cry 24/7, and you probably won’t get much sleep for the next few years of your life. But all those come from a place of love and warmth, especially once you see your tiny bundle of joy smile because that can make all your exhaustion worth it.
Nothing will be able to beat the sense of fulfillment or pride that you’ll feel when you raise a beautiful child who is kind and knows how to respect other people. It’s exciting to imagine the person that your child will become, but you shouldn’t be getting ahead of yourself. After all, your kid is still a baby.
You have a long, long road ahead, and it’s best not to get stuck on what can happen in the future. The better approach would be to live in the now because kids grow up too fast. If you blink too much, you might miss parts of their childhood. So, try not to dwell on what could happen and focus on what’s happening.
Besides, you still have a lot to do now that there’s a baby in the picture. For one, you need to start babyproofing your house because many health and safety hazards can be dangerous for a baby. Your kid may not be able to crawl or walk yet, but you can never be too safe. Here are some tips you can use:
Start with the Big Stuff
Anything that may fall on top of your baby is considered big stuff, including the TV, standing lamps, flower vases, glassware, and other household appliances sitting on top of reachable furniture. The big stuff can also refer to doors and windows that your baby could open, get stuck in, or fall out of.
If you have stairs, then you’ll need to install baby gates at the top and bottom. This is so the baby could avoid accidentally falling when no one’s watching. Also, make sure to place latches on drawers, double-check locks on doors and windows, secure appliances on countertops, or mount the TV properly on your wall.
Remember to put bumpers or protective seals on all corners and sharp edges that your baby could run into when they start learning how to crawl. You can never be too sure when it comes to what your baby could grab or where they could go, so babyproof everything. But try not to go overboard.
Move to the Smaller Stuff
Aside from things that may fall over, you also need to babyproof intangible hazards like electrical outlets, slippery floors, or smoke and carbon monoxide. To do this, you must place safety covers on all your outlets, put non-skid liners on rugs, add texture to your bathroom floors, and install smoke detectors.
Babyproofing the house includes securing everything that may harm you while you’re holding the baby or stop you from protecting them. For instance, if you’re knocked out from carbon monoxide poisoning, then you won’t be able to bring your baby to a safe place. So, by protecting yourself, you’re also indirectly protecting your baby.
It’s also great to make it a habit to place anything with toxic chemicals out of reach. This includes laundry detergent, fabric softener, alcohol, lotion, perfume, dishwashing soap, or pesticide because your baby might be able to reach, eat, or drink these chemical solutions without you noticing.
Don’t Forget the Outside Elements
Latches and locks are all good for securing things within your house, but not so much when it comes to outside elements. Imagine pests such as ticks, mosquitoes, or rodents breeding outside and underneath your home without your knowledge. If they’re outside, there’s a big chance that they can get inside and put your baby in danger.
This is because a pest infestation is not only annoying to deal with, but it can also be a danger to your family’s health. Take, for example, if you bring your baby to the backyard to soak up some sun, but you’ve been too busy to cut your grass. Thinking that nothing’s wrong, you walk all over the grass and come back inside.
However, what you don’t know is that ticks often breed in tall grasses, and they can attach themselves to your skin for a long time. And if you’ve brought them inside while holding your baby, your baby likely has them too. Fortunately, you can stop this from ever happening by hiring professionals in tick multi-treatment services.
The best thing about babyproofing your house is that you only have to do it once unless anything breaks or becomes damaged. Other than that, you won’t have to worry about your house being a safety hazard for your kid. Even though parents never really stop worrying about their kids because that’s just what they do.
