Baby crawling: Here’s how to keep them safe
Once your little one starts crawling, they will start to tear around in no time, here’s how to keep them safe
So your little one is showing signs they are ready to crawl? Once they start there’ll be no stopping them so you may want to pre-empt any little accidents and prepare your home.
1. Make wires safe
Little adventurers can't resist the pull of a loose wire, particularly if they’re attached to heavy lamps, kettles and irons. Once your little one is crawling, it's important to unplug such electrical appliances when you are not using them.
It's also important never to run leads or cables under carpets or rugs – it makes it too difficult to tell if they are damaged. Keep your eyes peeled for signs of loose wiring, faulty plugs or sockets - scorch marks or flickering lights as these will warn you about potentially damaged wires so you can be quick to replace worn, damaged or taped up leads and cables.
2. Protect yourself
Once your little one is on the move, everything is fascinating to them and they will try and grab, and throw if at possible. Think about protecting yourself, maybe don’t wear those super dangly earrings when you’re spending the day with your baby or casually place your glasses on the coffee table that they can now reach. It may be the last you see of them!
3. Block off the stairs
If they can get to the stairs, they can attempt to go up or down them and they are not ready for that. Baby stair gates at the top and bottom of staircases are essential. They can also be used to stop your baby getting into a particular room you may not want them to.
4. Say goodbye to plants
Gravel and soil in pot plants is too tempting to crawling baby and you may not be aware but some house plants are poisonous when eaten. Given that this is impossible to explain to a baby, make sure you remove any they may be able to get to or put them high and out of reach.
5. Keep Floors Clean
Sounds an obvious one, but worth running the hoover and mop over even more often when your little one is crawling as anything on the floor can be a hazard to your baby. Anything smaller than a tangerine needs to be up and out of reach also ask people to take off their shoes in your home.
6. Make sure furniture is secure
All furniture will act as a walker for your little one as they find their feet, so make sure heavy furniture is stable and not at risk of toppling over. Use furniture straps or brackets to secure bookcases, dressers, and side tables to the wall. Apply corner guards to coffee tables, TV stands, windowsills, and anything else with sharp corners.
7. Keep hazardous products locked up
Any cleaners, laundry products, dishwasher tablets should always be locked away or way out of baby’s reach to ensure they can never access them and potentially ingest them. Some mums suggest getting down on all fours yourself to see what your baby can see as an extra precaution.