All parents want their kids to grow up healthy and happy, and for the first few years of their lives, the responsibility for making this happen rests solely on your shoulders. You baby relies upon you for food, shelter, warmth, and other creature comforts, as well as love and attention. And while you can provide for all of these needs, it’s also important that you create a home environment that is as safe as possible for the youngest member of your family. This doesn’t necessarily mean installing a home alarm system or surveillance cameras, although this is certainly an option to protect your home and everyone that lives there. It means looking at your home from the level of a baby in order to spot the hazards that tiny tykes are likely to come in contact with, and then addressing any issues you find. And here are just a few ways to get started.

Baby gates and bumpers. What you’ll quickly discover is that there are certain areas of your home that you want to keep your baby away from, especially as he starts to crawl and walk. You may also find that your furnishings are a source of potential hazard for your child. And this is what baby gates and bumpers are made for. You can put gates across stairwells and in doorways to rooms that your baby shouldn’t enter (the kitchen or bathroom). And bumpers can go on the corners of furniture (like a glass coffee table) in order to ensure that your accident-prone baby suffers only minor bumps and bruises rather than dangerous cuts. For heavy furnishings that you baby might use to help him stand, you should also add safety straps and consider affixing items on top (wobbly lamps that might fall, for example) with Velcro tape.
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