When your home is a minefield

 

Your home is a minefield for babies just crawling or learning to walk. There are so many obstacles and potential hazards – from the carpet to the table lamp, electrical sockets and stairs.

Each one of these things, and several more, could risk your child getting electrocuted, falling or getting burnt.

May Hwong, executive director of Safe 'n Sound, says there is not much preparation initially because obviously the baby can't walk yet. You just have to make sure that it's a practical environment.

She adds that having a baby involves a change in lifestyle.

“You want to make the places where the baby will be cared for something easy to manage. For example, many parents get the baby room ready and during the day when the baby is cared for downstairs, they will have to prepare a space there. Some people use a small cradle or a bassinet – it has to be somewhere that is safe and won't easily topple over,” she says.

According to Hwong, the actual babyproofing only begins when baby starts crawling and exploring the environment.

She advises parents to then get down on their hands and knees to see what dangers await their baby.

“Things look very different from down there,” says Hwong.

Firstly, you should get the electrical outlet covers because you don't want the little one sticking his fingers there.

Secondly, you need to tidy up any cords on the floor. If baby spends a lot of time crawling in the hall or living area, then it would involve the TV area, any table lamps or the computer area.

Hwong advises parents to tidy up the table lamp cords or put them out of reach.

“Or even take the table lamp away. Babies at that age like to pull themselves up to a standing position so if you take away the table lamp there is no risk of them pulling on the cord,” she says.

If there are sharp corners on tables, you might want to cover those with corner cushions which are available in various models for glass and wooden tables.

You would want to remove table cloths and anything else that a baby can pull on. This includes anything that's loose and not secured down.

Small decorative items, glassware and anything that baby can get a hold of and put in their mouth need to be put away.

Rugs, carpets, the floor

“Rugs and carpets tend to trap dust and dust mites and if they're not washable, if you just vacuum them, that's not such a good thing. Babies pick up all sorts of things on the floor so you can imagine what they will pick up from the carpet. It might be better to use something that is washable or that you can wipe that the baby can just roll around on. You could use play mats, for example. It might be PVC but it's something they can crawl safely on or roll around on. There have been issues with PVC in general because some have been said to emit fumes but there are non-toxic PVC play mats in the market now. I think parents have to shop around,” says Hwong.

She adds that there's nothing wrong with a bare wooden floor as long as the floor is clean and dry to prevent babies from slipping. This means using floor cleaners that are not slippery.

Hwong warns parents against using floor cleaners that are too harsh.

“When you have a baby who is on the floor crawling, all the residue from the floor cleaner could stick onto their skin. One way you can overcome that is by using lotion on the baby's skin after a bath. That creates a barrier to protect the skin so that it doesn't react to any residue from the floor,” she says.

Toilet and bathroom

It is best to keep the toilet and/or bathroom doors shut at all times. These are places where there are wet floors, buckets of water and cleaning detergents. Hence, no baby or toddler should be left unattended in these rooms.

If your toddler has learnt to open doors, then you'll want to consider a door knob cover and even possibly toilet lid locks. You should then also get cabinet locks for the cabinets in the bathroom if they are within your child's reach. Then, there should be non-slip pads for the shower cubicle or the bathtub.

Easiest and cheapest of all is to just shut those doors and keep them shut.

Because baby is at risk whenever he or she is near any water, parents are advised to make sure they have everything they need within arm's reach before bathing baby. Never leave baby unattended anywhere near water or on a high surface (changing table).

If you need to iron the clothes, it is best not to iron when the child is in the room otherwise put the child in the playpen when you are ironing.

When you're done, put the iron in a safe place out of the reach of your child.

Kitchen

There are a lot of things you can do in the kitchen. The easiest is to use the safety gate and not allow baby into the kitchen.

Or you could get cabinet locks and drawer latches. There are many types in the market today. Apparently this is because as children figure out how to unlock one type, parents will need other types.

As for the oven, there are oven locks which are heat resistant. You are not encouraged to get the normal cabinet locks and use those for the oven as they are not heat-resistant.

If you're boiling water, Hwong advises not to have any cables dangling for the child to pull at. Make sure it's all out of the child's reach. If you have pots on the stove, the handle should be facing the wall or farther away from the child's reach so that it doesn't stick out and the child can't reach out and pull it down.

Cots

Hwong informs that currently there are no safety standards for cots in Malaysia. However, if you're shopping for baby cots, do look out for the foreign safety standards – UK, Australia and US.

Basically, these standards will ensure the distance between the cot bars – not more than 6cm. This is to prevent the child from sticking his or her head through the bars. The foreign standards should also ensure that non-toxic paint and varnish are used. These standards also ensure the mattress base is attached securely with no gaps where the child's fingers can get stuck as well as have the right distance between the base and the top of the railing.

“Some furniture shops have cots with bars that are very far apart and you know the baby's head can go through it easily. That is an obvious sign that it doesn't meet the required standards for safety.

“Not all baby shops carry safe cots either. This is something that parents need to have some basic knowledge about.

“Don't just buy a cot because it looks good or because the wood looks nice,” warns Hwong.

When it comes to buying mattresses, parents need to check for non-toxic and non-flammable types.

Miscellaneous items

Stairs – You would want to get gates for the top and bottom of the stairs. You need to get a gate that is certified to be used for the staircase. It has to be something that is very firm and won't give way with a push. There are specific height standards to look out for and these gates need to be installed properly.

High chair – It's good to get something that you can strap baby in because somehow or other baby will want to climb out. If the model of the high chair doesn't have a strap you can get it separately.

Lighting – You don't have to change your lighting in the rooms but you might want to have a night light in baby's room.

Mosquito repellant – You need to get something non-toxic and without a strong scent. To avoid using mosquito repellant, Hwong advises parents to keep the home mosquito-free and to use a mosquito netting.

Cloth detergents – Use the baby clothes detergent and make sure you don't use too much of it. Properly rinse out clothes so that not much residue is left on baby's clothes. If the chemicals are too harsh they may irritate the baby's skin especially when he or she starts to perspire or gets his/her clothes wet.

Toys – Look for toys that don't have small parts that come off and make sure the toys are non-toxic. Everything goes into baby's mouth somehow. You have to keep that in mind. Whether it's wooden or plastic, you have to get good quality toys with lead-free paint.

Baby bottles – Get BPA-free bottles. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical used in the production of plastics and is feared to produce toxic chemicals when heated to high temperatures.

Baby shampoos and bath liquids – Watch out for SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) which may cause allergic reactions.

Conclusion

There really is no better way to babyproof your home than to crawl around and examine your home from the child's eye level.

“You actually have to go around the whole house and think like a child because they just want to explore and pull and open everything. So when you go around your home, you have to think what could happen and the worse case scenario.

“You can't brush it off and think it won't happen and your child won't climb into an empty box and hide there because it can happen and it has happened,” warns Hwong.