Becoming a parent is a life-changing experience. You have to make a lot of changes in your life, your home, your schedule, and habits to accommodate the newest family member. But where to start, there are so many things in your home alone that could be a death-trap for your toddler, from your beautiful spiraling staircase to your toilet. Children are an unpredictable, spryly and mischievous lot, you get your gaze off them for a second, and you will find your house in a shape as if hit by a hurricane. So you have to be extra careful about everything you buy for your house and how you arrange stuff around the house. Here we have got some useful tips to get you started:
Spilled Milk and Rugs are Not Funny
Rugs are one of those few home accessories that are safe for your child, plus they’re a nice and comfy place for your child to play while you are doing house chores. But keeping them clean is a nightmare. Before buying a rug, ensure that they are of dark colors or elaborate patterns to hide any stains. Persian and natural fiber rugs can do the job. You can also get these machine washable woolable rugs that are really kind to your child’s sensitive skin.
Make Your Staircase Child-Friendly
When your child starts crawling, they want to explore the entire world on their tiny knees. Particularly the stairs, they love to climb up and down as if it’s their very own mount Atlas. But this penchant for climbing adventures can be dangerous.
There are a few safeguards you can place for your child, starting with Baby Gates. Baby Gates prevent your child from accessing the staircase without your supervision. You will have to make sure to drill the Gates into the banister or a wall nearby, so the baby cannot overcome a loosely installed gate.
Another thing you could do is to add carpet to your staircase, so by any chance, your toddler slips on the stairs, the carpet is there to cushion it.
Parental Controls for Your Home Devices
Your toddler demands more energy and attention as they grow up, they just cannot seem to get tired. So you hook them on the tablet or smartphone, connected to the internet, so they are occupied while you do your chores. But your child often picks up bad habits from something they watched on YouTube. What you can do is put parental controls in place when you buy a cable and internet package. Choose the ones that are child-friendly. You can also connect your smartphone to the wall-mounted television so that you’re easily able to monitor what your child is watching on TV while you work around the house.
Deter Risky Explorations with Child Locks
While you cannot keep a hawk’s eye on your curious child 24/7, you can employ safety measures around the house to keep them out of harm’s way.
Install childproof locks to prevent your child from opening doors, particularly to a place like the pool area or outdoors. There are different types of locks depending on the design of your doors i.e. sliding door lock, top door lock, and doorknob covers. Use cabinet locks to keep knives, wine, and other sharp tools out of their reach. Toilet lid-lock to keep your child from exploring the filthiest item in your home.
Also, to prevent your child’s finger from being pinched by the door, use foam stopper or the door monkey.
Protect the Wall
Now that your child can hold a crayon, they want to show off their artistic skills to the entire world by drawing on each and every wall of the house. While you don’t want to thwart their discovery of art, you want to keep your walls clean. There are huge drawing paper rolls on the market, which you can mount on the wall for your child to explore their artistic side without vandalizing the walls. You can also hang a tray nearby, to keep all your child’s stationery in one place.
Photo Credit: Inspirations Deco
Niftily Store Toys
With the arrival of your child, arrives the clutter. Everywhere you go, you step on to at least one toy. And when there’s an unexpected guest over, you quickly rush around and throw away those toys anywhere the guest can’t see, in the kitchen, the laundry room.
Place pretty baskets or boxes in the corner or shelves of your living room, to help quickly stow away toys. There are so many clever ways you can store your children’s stuffed toys in plain sight. You can acquire furniture that can double as your storage like the low-tiered coffee table or a trunk-like table.
Photo Credit: DigsDigs
Hang them on the wall
Its time you do away with all those heavy vases and photo frames, prettily decorated on your shelves and tables. Or place them on higher places, out of the reach of your children as they love to get their hands on them and create their own version of a tornado. You can try getting accessories and photo frames that you can easily hang on the wall or get shelves on which you can place your favorite artifacts on top and your child’s toys at the bottom.
