So it’s happening—a baby is brewing and the clock is ticking down to the arrival day. You’re understandably getting a bit restless, and you want to make sure you’re doing everything you can to baby proof your apartment.
Whether you’re just moving into a short-term apartment rental or you’re putting your long-term apartment on baby lockdown, it can prove difficult. Often you’re not at liberty to make major changes to your home, so you’ll need to improvise. Let’s take a look at some of the best ways you can get baby-ready today.
1. Get Down On Their Level
Before you know it, your baby is going to be rolling and attempting to shove any manner of toys, dirt, and other choking hazards directly down their throat. Fortunately for you, you can prevent these baby booby traps but getting down on your hands and knees (and lower) to see what they see. Pick up small objects like bobby pins, tiny toys, and food items.
While you’re down there, do a little surveillance on your power outlets. Are they within baby reach? Throw on a few outlet covers to prevent them from sticking anything inside. If there is anything they can grab onto and try to pull themselves up? Secure furniture and TVs to prevent baby from getting a hold of them and yanking them down.
2. Watch Out for Sharp Edges
Once your baby starts crawling, pulling up, and inevitably walking, every sharp edge or corner is going to be a full-time hazard. You can cover edges on a coffee table or even replace it with a rounded, safer table. Blind cords are another hazard that you wouldn’t even think about unless you had kids. They can pull the blinds down on them or choke by wrapping the string around themselves.
3. Put it On Lock-Down
When it comes to cabinets (like the ones in the kitchen and bathroom), a baby can get into chemicals or dangerous areas faster than you can react, even if you have a close eye on them. Secure your apartment by using safety locks that latch and are childproof. You can generally find child locks that secure with adhesive and won’t damage your apartment’s cabinets.
4. Baby Gates-Ahoy
Baby gates help keep your baby safe and give you peace-of-mind. You have to block off stairs and entryways without doors, and a baby gate does a stellar job of that. Your apartment needs safe play areas that are cut off from rooms like the kitchen and bathroom. Babies also seem to love locking themselves in. I have known more than one person whose child locked themselves in a bedroom or locked family out of the house, so avoid having door handles with simple turn locks that lock from the inside without a key.
5. Decorating a Nursery
You should watch out for painting and hammering nails into the wall of a family friendly apartment. Aesthetics and comfort are two pillars when it comes to designing a nursery layout. Like parents babies also enjoy rocking chairs and that’s a good investment in the apartment. Keeping a baby board is a wonderful idea where you can keep photographs, memories and notes which will keep track of your baby’s development.
Everything on your finger tips makes it much easier to handle things. Apartment should be well organized before the baby steps in. Keep lots of basket in each room with specific items that are convenient and easily accessible. It’s a good advice to keep storage bins with lids that helps organize all the clutter in the house.
Cover Image credits: Photo by Jessica Lewis from Pexels