Babies are so playful and curious, right? It’s very cute to watch how they do naughty things and play around with their environment.
However, the cute could quickly turn into dangerous, especially in the kitchen where there are many sharp, toxic, and hot items and appliances that could seriously injure your baby.
So how do you baby-proof your kitchen efficiently?
Fortunately, there are quite many things you could do for that. And we’ll be talking today exactly about that!
Store away your cleaning chemicals
If you are using any detergents, pesticides, or cleaning products containing toxic elements, make sure to lock them up in a place that is out-of-reach for your baby.
Aside from storing away harmful chemicals, you might want to consider switching to something safer. For example, use non-chlorine bleach, mineral oil, vinegar, borax, and other products.
Still, you would need to make sure that you keep them away from the baby since those safer solutions could be harmful anyway, albeit much less than the more harmful chemicals.
Buy products with child-resistant caps
A child-resistant cap is a good way of restricting the baby’s access to stuff that he shouldn’t be touching. However, it is more of a last-resort thing since babies could figure out how to open them anyway.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission even once stated that the child-resistant packaging is the parents’ last line of defense, so don’t just rely on buying a product in a child-proof container.
Store dangerous items as high up as possible
Cutlery, plastic bags, boxes of cling wrap, aluminum foil, and other hazardous items should be kept as high up as possible. If you just store all those dangerous items in a floor cabinet, your baby might be able to easily reach them.
Instead, make sure to put all those items in wall cabinets.
Unplug your appliances when not in use
You may be too lazy to unplug your appliances after using them, but that’s a thing that you should definitely do.
First of all, your baby could trip over the wires. Not only will he fall down, but he may also get injured from the appliance coming down on his head.
Aside from that, your baby may injure himself while playing with a plugged-in blender or coffee maker.
So, don’t be lazy and turn off your kitchen appliances after use.
Never leave glassware or hot food unattended
Even if it’s just for a few moments, never leave glassware, china, and hot food and beverages unattended. Besides, don’t use tablecloths in the kitchen since the baby could just pull on them and then get injured from whatever falls down on him.
Put latches on the knobs and doors of your appliances
All those knobs on your oven or stove sure could be of great interest to your child. While he may not injure himself directly while playing with them, he could cause a serious fire hazard that could end very badly for your home.
To make sure that this doesn’t happen, use knob covers and/or latches on the knobs that you don’t want your child to play with.
Use the back burners of your stove
Whenever possible, use the back burners of your stove so your kid doesn’t have access to them. If you have got the stove crowded and have no other choice than to put pots in the front, make sure to turn their handles inward so your baby can’t grab onto them.
Use a safety gate to keep your baby out of the kitchen
Possibly the most efficient way of keeping your baby away from all the kitchen hazards is just not letting him accessing the kitchen. If he simply doesn’t have any access to the kitchen, then how possibly could he injure himself with a knife or a stove?
As great as this method is, you may not be feeling right about not allowing your baby to explore the house. In fact, he should do that, so you may want to opt for the other options we have talked about.
In the end, even if you go for restricting your baby’s access to the kitchen, you should probably still use all the other child-proof stuff: if your child manages to get into the kitchen in spite of all the baby-proof gates you put, he will still be safe because your kitchen is baby-safe.
Cover all the power outlets in the kitchen
It just sometimes seems that there is some kind of a magic connection between babies and power outlets. Some mysterious force just urges them to stick their fingers in.
You have to prevent that.
Cover any outlets in the kitchen that you don’t use with baby-proof outlet plugs. You should also do this for every outlet in your house as well.
Set up a special corner for your baby in the kitchen
It is an excellent idea to dedicate one cabinet in your kitchen for your baby to open and explore. This cabinet should be located far away from your kitchen appliances.
Fill that cabinet with interesting and safe objects that would keep the baby occupied so he doesn’t even think about playing with stove knobs. And besides, such a playing space would allow you not to put any restrictions on your baby’s access to the kitchen.
Never leave your baby unattended
Regardless of how many safety precautions you take, never leave your baby unattended in the kitchen, not even for one second. Your baby may still be able to figure out ways to bypass all the mechanisms that you’ve put to stop him with.
You should never rely on all those baby-proof measures since they could just not work when they are necessary. They aren’t 100% fail-proof, though they still are able to do a great job.
Instead, perceive the safety precautions in your kitchen just as some kind of a helping hand. If you have looked away for just a second, your baby probably won’t be able to bypass all the restrictions you put.
But if you just leave him in the kitchen unattended, he will have all the time in the world to do some stuff that could end up badly.
About the Author: Hey all, I am Morgan & I run my own home blog, Tools Inside. Being a mom and a home-maker, I get to play with a lot of tools and I review them on my spare hours.
