Time and again I am told that certain people don’t baby proof their homes. They teach baby not to touch. From what I have noticed, this normally mean hitting the child, or scolding, or some other form of fear induced obedience. I can’t help but think this is setting the child up to fail. Either they will stop listening to their inner instinctive drive to explore and love learning, or they will find ways to do so when they think someone they fear is not looking. I have seen both cases in other children and it saddens my heart.
So this month when I received the box of goodies Earth’s Best sent my little ones and I and the reminder with great tips about child proofing the home I was very happy. I think child proofing is setting a baby up for success. They can learn when they are older the logical reasons not to touch certain things but when they are little, their job is to explore, and our job it so help them thrive in doing so while also keeping them safe and health.
While our home is not 100% baby proof, I am not sure any is, we accept as parents that what we leave accessible to the baby and what happens to it is our own fault. Such as the back of controllers being broken, books meeting an ugly end, and walls that end up with sharpie on them. All these things happen. No big deal in our eyes. What is a big deal though are the messes. They pile up and quickly. I love that Earth’s Best makes nursery wipes, they are not full of harsh chemicals like kitchen wipes tend to be but they make sure the job gets cleaned up and is safe for baby to again touch and play with. Have you seen these?
Here are some great tips that Earth’s Best has to share:
Spills can happen at any moment, not just meal time. Keep a bottle of Earth’s Best All Purpose Nursery Cleaner in an easily accessible area of the house for those unexpected messy situations. Earth’s Best All Purpose Nursery Cleaner is formulated using natural and plant-based cleaning agents to help you clean up any mess, while keeping your baby’s safety a top priority.
Keep cleaning tools organized! Knowing ahead of time that you have a specific place that you store each needed item will help make the process less stressful!
Earth’s Best provides an extensive guide featuring 12 basic tips to follow that will help you baby proof your house to keep your little one safe: http://www.earthsbest.com/resources/articles/infants/babyproofing
I hope you will consider setting your baby up for success by baby proofing your home and keeping things as chemical free as possible. There is so much time for your child to experience the harsh things out in the world, let home be the soft place to land as my husband puts it. The place where people can be who they are, supported, and feel safe.
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ENDS: October 30th 2012
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We have the house about half baby proofed. Our biggest challenge now is our son climbing up and pulling everything down (from everywhere!) Aside from not having anything up, we’re not sure what to do.
We have to keep locks on our cabinets, otherwise our little guy empties them!
Baby Proof tip: keep electrical sockets plugged up with safety plugs.
tarter95 at hotmail dot com
We cover all the outlets, and my biggest challenge right now is climbing on chairs.
We had lots of cabinet locks.
I think you have some great points! I have always thought you should baby proof as much as you can.
I’m expecting my first now, but I’m planning on keeping the kitchen and bathroom cabinets locked
Cover the outlets and sharp corners
Make sure you have outlet plugs before you think you need them
watch for sharp corner edges on tables and put plastic cover for them