Making Home Safe for Baby

Before your child arrives you need to baby-proof.

"The best way to do that is to actually get down on the floor and crawl around and look at things from a little kids angle. As soon as
kids are old enough to reach and bring it and stick it in their mouths they’re going to," says Julie Davis, Muskingum Valley Red Cross.

There’s a lot you need to look for.

"Put your medicines where they can’t go at it. Buy those plugs that go into your outlets, electrical outlets, so you don’t have to worry
about kids sticking their fingers, keys, whatever into those kind of things," she says.

Install guards around fireplaces, radiators or wood-burning stoves. Put corner guards on sharp furniture edges. Get rid of poisonous plants. Secure curtains, blind cords and window locks.

You should also safeguard your lower cabinets.

"You need to about what you got around on the floor. Get your cleaning supplies up and away, not underneath the kitchen sink where everyone thinks they should be or lock them put baby locks on your cabinets so they can’t get into it," says Davis.

Also, Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz says guns need to be put away.

"Guns should be kept secured either in gun safes or locked boxes or they can have the trigger locks placed on them so that if a child
does pick that gun up there’s a trigger lock in place to where the trigger can’t be pulled," says Sheriff Lutz.

Make sure your fire extinguishers and smoke detectors are working and put away the lighters and matches.

"If you go to any house where a parent smokes and you ask the kids where are the lighters and the matches? Even if they think they’ve hid them the kids still know where they are, most fires started by little kids is with the matches and the cigarette lighters," says Davis.

Make sure grandparents and baby-sitters also child-proof their homes.