Important Baby Proofing Tips for the Entire Nursery

By Kim Proulx

All parents want to make sure that their newborn is safe and comfortable. The best way to do that is to set-up the nursery as a baby safe zone by baby proofing from crib to entryway. Start with the crib, move around to dressers and shelves then baby proof along the walls and eventually get to the entrance, then you’ll have baby proofed everything in the room; creating the perfect baby environment. Knowing that your baby's room is 100% baby proof will give you piece of mind.

Crib Safety Tips

Your little joy will spend up to 16 hours snoozing in his crib so you'll want to make sure that the crib is completely baby safe. Since he'll be spending lots of time in the crib, this is where you should start your baby proofing efforts.

• Crib Slats: All crib slats should be no further apart than 2 3/8". Double check to make sure that your crib passes this safety requirement. This will ensure that your newborn doesn’t fall through or get stuck in the slats. If you have a used crib, measure the slats to be sure that they're safe.
• No Cutouts: Choose a crib that doesn't have design cut outs to guarantee that your baby doesn't get his head or arm stuck.
• Firm, Tight Fitting Mattress: Make sure that your crib mattress fits snuggly against the crib sides. This will prevent your little one from getting caught between the mattress and crib sides.
• No Loose Hardware: Check that all the screws and bolts and other crib hardware pieces are tight. If any are loose make sure you get a screw driver out and tighten them.
• No Bulky Bedding: Keep pillows, comforters, crib bumpers and all other bulky bedding out of the crib. These items can pose a suffocation risk to your infant.
• Tight Fitting Sheets: Make sure to get the bedding set that is made for your specific crib mattress so you're sure that the bedding fits snugly. When tucking your baby in at night, make sure that the sheet is pulled up only as high as your baby's chest.
• No Fluffy Toys: Keep stuffed animals out of the crib so your baby isn't at risk of suffocation.
• Teething Rail: As your baby gets older and starts to go through the teething stage he'll bite everything including his crib posts. We recommend you get a plastic teething rail to go over your crib railing to keep your baby from chomping on the wood or ingesting paint particles.
• Crib Placement: Keep your crib away from the window, dresser tops or dangling cords. If your mobile baby can reach something from his crib he's sure to grab it so keep all hazardous items at a distance and up high.

Cabinet, Dresser and Shelf Safety Tips

Even though your baby is little you'll be amazed at all of the things he'll need such as: clothes, diapers, wipes, pacifiers, lotion, towels, extra sheets and bedding, sleepwear, socks, baby toys and more. Once your baby is around six months old he'll start getting active and curious and all of those nursery items will suddenly be quite intriguing. He'll want to get his hands on everything and that's when it's important to make sure that all small accessories or ointments are stored safely away from your baby's reach.

• Drawer Locks or Latches: There is a wide variety of locks and latches that can keep babies from getting into drawers. It's important to put locks on drawers that are within your baby's reach to prevent your little one from getting to any dangerous objects or pulling a drawer on-top-of himself.
• Cabinet Locks: If you have a dresser or armoire that has a cabinet door that's baby accessible, then we recommend you get a cabinet lock or latch to keep your baby from exploring the cabinet contents.
• Shelf Height Make sure to position any wall or closet shelves out of your crawling baby's vicinity. This will ensure that your child doesn't pull shelved items on-top-of himself or keep him from teething on small objects.
• Furniture Straps or Wall Bolting: If you have any heavy dressers that your baby might use to pull up to standing, you should consider bolting the dresser to the bedroom wall or securing it in place with a furniture strap.

Nursery Perimeter Safety Tips

Get down on your baby's level. Look to see what your little explorer might find interesting and make sure to baby proof anything within his reach. He'll be interested in electrical sockets, dangling cords, heat vents, floor baskets or anything else that's low enough for him to grab. Once you've crawled around, you'll have a better idea of what you need to baby proof.

• Outlet Plugs: Make sure to put plastic outlet plugs in all the outlets around the nursery. For some reason baby's love to poke holes or stick objects into electrical sockets so it’s important that these aren't accessible to your tiny adventurer.
• Cord Covers: If you notice any loose cords from lamps, clocks or other electrical items, make sure to hide the cord or cover it with a cord cover. This will keep your baby's wandering hands from yanking the cord and pulling the light over and it will also ensure that your baby is safe from possible strangulation hazards. Cord covers should also be used on dangling window shade cords, or you can just put the window cord out of your baby's reach.
• Heating Vents: Double check heating vents so you’re sure they’re fastened tightly to the floor. You may also want to put a table or chair over the vent to prevent your cutie pie from an accidental burn from the metal vent.
• Clutter-free: Keep your nursery floor clutter-free to make sure there are no small objects in your baby's area that can pose a possible choking hazard.
• Window Wedge: Secure the screen on your nursery windows, but for double security you should also use a window wedge to keep the window from opening too far.

Nursery Closet and Main Door Safety Tips

Active babies love pushing doors, just because they can. The only problem is they don't know that it's really easy to pinch a finger or bang their head on a moving door. Keeping doors stationary is important.

• Safety Gates: If you want your child to have freedom to play in his nursery without the ability to wander around the rest of the house then safety gates are a great idea. You can place a wall mounted or pressure mounted safety gate across your baby's nursery entrance to keep your active youngster in his safe baby zone.
• Door Knob Covers: Another great option for keeping your baby from opening doors is to put a baby proof door knob cover in place. This keeps your little wanderer from being able to turn the door knob and make his great escape.
• Finger Guard: Finger guards keep doors from slamming and prevent serious finger injuries.

Final Recommendations

Just remember, your baby will soon become mobile and will want to explore every inch of your home. You'll need to keep a good eye on your wandering wonder. A baby monitor can help you know what your baby is doing even when you're out of the room. There are audio and video baby monitors that can be a real help in staying aware of your baby's whines and cries or hearing / seeing what's going on in the crib. Along with your baby watching duties it's also up to you to keep harmful items and substances out of your child’s reach. A one-time house wide baby proofing effort will ensure that your baby stays safe during home adventures and knowing you've created the ideal safe baby environment will alleviate your worries. You and your baby will also be happier having more freedom around the home.

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