Children can injure themselves in the house or bedroom in a number of ways. The most posible cause of injury in a bedroom for children arises from crawling out of the crib, and either falling and injuring themselves in the fall, or crawling out of the crib and then gaining access to the house unsupervised. Children can also climb up the changing table, climb up their dresser, or other pieces of bedroom furniture. They can either fall off or have the dresser fall down on top of them, causing serious injury. Children could also climb up to the bedroom window and then fall out. It is important to make a child's bedroom as safe as possible and to be aware of the potential hazards.
Steps
1. Make your baby's crib safe. When you're putting together the crib, you need to make sure it is safe.
* Note the safety bumpers around the perimeter of the crib and the little ties on them. Those ties need to be able to push up and down, so make sure that this can happen. Do not tie them to a rung on the crib to prevent movement - they must move so that baby cannot use them as a stepping stool to climb on and fall out of the crib. As there are concerns about regular bumpers restricting airflow in the crib and increasing the risk of SIDS, the best option is to use a mesh bumper which will pad the side rails of the crib, but will also allow free flow of air to the baby.
* Remove the bumpers as your baby grows. If you are concerned about your baby bumping their head, this is both less likely (as an older baby can move away) and it is also the lesser of two evils when compared to the injury that might occur if the baby falls out.
* Early climbers under two years of age need a crib tent installed. This can prevent the child from falling and injuring himself or herself, or even dying, which has unfortunately occurred as a result of such falls. Keep the baby in the crib, safe and healthy. Alternatively, you may decide to take the crib down and put the crib mattress on the floor or else get a toddler bed.
2. Prevent your baby from being injured while inside the crib. Make sure that you buy an appropriate mattress. There are many different types of mattresses that can help combat SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
* It is important to make sure that the crib mattress is been placed in the top position when you bring your baby home from the hospital. This will make it easy on your back when you need to lift the baby out of the crib and then later when you put him or her back.
* In order to prevent injury when your child starts sitting up, make sure that that the mattress is placed all the way down to the bottom position. This will keep the baby from falling out of the crib.
* Be mindful of where the outlets are in the room. Usually parents don't even realize that there is an outlet behind the crib until they've moved that mattress down to the bottom rung. Your baby now has access to it, so make sure that you put a sliding cover over that outlet.
* When your baby is sleeping, make sure that there is no pillow, no stuffed animals, no toys in the crib. All that should be in the crib is a loose blanket and your baby. It may seem to go against your wishes to keep baby cozy and snug but it is more important to keep your baby safe. This is highly recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics to prevent injury.
* Remove dangling objects. Many parents like to have mobiles or nettings over the crib. While objects such as these create beautiful and stylish nurseries, once your child is old enough to grab and pull them down, they can pose strangulation hazards and can be very dangerous to your child. Remove them from the crib, and place them in another part of the room out of reach.
3. Purchase a baby monitor. Purchasing a baby monitor is a must-have for any parent if your home is large enough that you cannot hear your baby from one end of your home to the other. This enables you to be aware of what your child is doing when you are not near them. You will be able to hear if your child is crying, and you'll be able to reach him or her immediately. If your child is in the crib playing and having a great time and safe, it is because you've followed all the safety rules outlined in this article. By doing this, your child isn't in any type of danger, because a baby monitor allows you to let your baby play and enjoy free play time in the crib.
4. Select a good baby monitor. The audio quality is extremely important, as well as the range. When purchasing a baby monitor, it is important to follow these considerations:
* Be sure to keep your receipt. Some monitors work like a charm and some don't.
* You need the best audio possible.
* Make sure that the channel is set for your home because you might be picking up the frequency from your next door neighbor's home. They also pick up cell phone frequency or landline frequency, so you need to be mindful of that.
* If your monitor is not working when you bring it home, just change the channel on your home landline and then on your baby monitor landline.
* Assess how far you can take the monitor. Does it work with one of the monitors being up in the baby room, and, say you want to be out on the front porch, does it work all the way out there?
5. Put the baby monitor in the right place. The most effective place to put a baby monitor is near the crib, but not in the crib; many parents make that mistake. When your child is sitting up and a little bit older, make sure that the baby monitor is not within your child's reach, because if he or she gets hold of it, this means he or she can also access the electricity, the batteries, and can suffer a burn or shock. It is fine to have anywhere that is near the baby, but not within the baby's arm's reach.
6. Childproof the windows. If you live in a multi-level home, childproofing the windows on the second or subsequent levels is very, very important to ensure that your child doesn't fall.
* Use window guards to childproof windows. These come in different colors and can match the design theme of the room. When you are choosing a window guard, be sure to find one that has an emergency latch. It's an emergency release latch so in the unlikely event of a fire, you're able to get out. Then you can grab your safety ladder from underneath the bed, throw it out of the window and everybody's safe.
* If you have a one-level home, or a single story home, you can use different types of window locks to childproof windows.
There is an aluminum device that can be attached to the base of the window to childproof it;
or
Use a suction cup device which works well with sliding glass doors or just large picture frame windows, as well as small windows. These can be used to childproof double-hung and any different type of window. This is a great way also to keep the window open, perhaps 3 1/2 inches (8.5 cm), so that you have a breeze coming in and out, but the stoppers are there to prevent the child getting access to out.
* Please be advised that screens are not baby-proofing devices. Children will look out of the window and press their faces against that screen and with their little nose and hands, looking to see daddy or doggie or whatever else; in doing this, the screen's going to give and the child is going to fall. So, do not think of the screen as a child safety measure under any circumstances.
7. Make sure the dresser cannot fall. Children are climbers, and they want to climb up a dresser, a changing table, any piece of furniture that you have either in your bedroom, or in your home. You must make sure that that furniture stays put, and that it's not falling on top of them, and crushing them.
* Install a furniture anchor to prevent furniture falling, and they can be many different types. Nylon ones are good because there's a lot of flexibility, so if the stud isn't perfectly, exactly behind where the piece of furniture is, you can move it, and the furniture is still secure and will not fall. Another great thing is, if you're moving, you just remove the device from the wall, and keep it attached to the furniture, move to your new home, and then install it on the new wall. This is a great way to keep the children safe from falling furniture. Just remember - children will climb, so you have to make sure that you just prevent the danger and the accident.
8. Ensure all window blinds and curtain tassels are completely out of reach. Blinds and tassels can pose a strangulation hazard to your children. You need to make sure window blinds and curtain cords are tied up out of reach of your children, by using something as simple as a blind cord cleat. It's a dollar or so and can be installed right next to your curtain. It is very quick, simple and something you can do yourself.
9. Use doorstops and door holders to prevent child injuries. Little fingers get pinched in doors all the time. Products such as doorstops and door holders can prevent such an injury.
* Get either a door mouse, or something that can be installed right in the door jamb, to keep the children from getting their fingers pinched, to keep them from closing the doors on their hands.
* Single piece doorstop
Be aware, however, that doorstops can pose a choking hazard. If you look around your home, you might find that there are spring doorstops with the little small rubber stopper on the end. That rubber stopper can be removed and can be ingested or choked on by children. So it's important to install a single piece doorstop so that the door isn't hitting the wall, but is not posing a strangulation or choking hazard to your child.
Tips
* Note that some hospitals and midwives, especially in Australia and New Zealand, recommend that crib bumpers not be used at all. They may present a possibility of suffocation if baby gets stuck under them while sleeping.
* Some families cannot afford, or choose not to have, a separate, furnished bedroom for their baby/toddler. You can put the crib in your own bedroom to facilitate night nursing, or you can have your baby sleep with you using a safely installed guardrail or "sidecar" crib next to your own bed. In this case, you will need to childproof your own bedroom using many of the suggestions given on this page.
* Because of choking hazards from older children's toys, be careful in timing the move of a toddler/preschooler to join an older sibling in a bedroom. These toys may have choking risk!
Warnings
* As always, make sure that what you use is safe for your child. Safety is the most import priority when childproofing a room.
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