Safety First
How to Safety-proof Your House in 8 Easy Steps
by Christen Claytor

1. For your bathroom, you may want to consider purchasing and installing toilet lid locks—babies tend to be drawn to water.
2. As for your doors, you’ll need to put sticker decals on any sliding glass doors you have so that your baby will not run into them—yes, believe it or not, it can happen. Also, you should invest in doorknob covers for doors that you don’t want your baby to open.
3. You don’t want your windows to be able to open more than 6 inches—window guards will eliminate this problem. Don’t place furniture or anything that can be climbed on near a window.
   
4. Cover all unused electrical outlets with safety plugs that snap into outlets so your baby cannot place their fingers or small objects in the outlets and get burned.
5. Once your baby starts to crawl, install gates to block off rooms and areas that you don’t want your baby wandering off to.
   
6. Keep all drawers closed completely so your baby can’t close their fingers in them or climb them.
7. Keep all medications and cleaning products in a locked cabinet so that your baby cannot get to them and drink any toxic products.
8. When you’re cooking, use the back burners if possible and turn the handles of pots and pans toward the back of the stove or counter. It’s also important to teach your child that the oven is “hot” and not to touch or go near it.