It’s one of the greatest ironies that parents are exhausted and tired—with ever-waning levels of energy—and are responsible for taking care of children whose energy levels and proclivities toward mischief only increase with age. And just when you think you’ve gotten the hang of it, things change.

New parents get through the stages of taking care of a newborn, thinking they’re on top of everything, only to realize what comes next is something they’re not entirely prepared for: the crawling, walking, exploring stage that suddenly turns everything in the house into potential disaster zones. But don’t worry! Those disaster zones can be altered to significantly reduce the risk of danger.

Childproofing any and everything that might be risky for your kids takes time and effort, but it’s worth it in the long run. Take a look at how to childproof your house room-by-room below.

Bedroom

Bedrooms don’t have as many hazards as other parts of the house, but there are still areas you can childproof.

CRIB

Double- and triple-check your crib to make sure it’s set up properly. Most cribs come with a mattress-lowering feature you can implement once your child is old enough to sit up. You’ll want to make sure that’s taken care of so your child can’t fall out of the crib.

BLINDS

Make sure the blinds in your child’s room and in all the bedrooms don’t have cords. Cords pose a danger to young children—they can get tangled up very easily in them. If your blinds have cords, consider replacing them with a cordless option.

WINDOWS

You’re going to want your windows to have window guards. That or you can rig the windows so they can’t open more than a few inches. Children like to push and pull on things. If your child is messing around with a window, you’re going to want a guard there to make sure nothing happens.

LIVING ROOM

The living room has a few more hazard areas to be aware of.

FIREPLACE

If your living room has a fireplace, cover it up so that any young children or kids can’t fall into the space. You’ll also want to make sure any type of choking hazard is cleared away. For fireplaces, this can mean bits of wood or the small rocks that often come with artificial fireplaces.

TV

The safest way to protect your child and your TV is to mount the TV on the wall. A kid can climb on a TV stand and cause the whole thing to fall. Avoid this by putting your TV somewhere a child can’t reach it—such as on the wall.

DECORATIONS

If you have any type of framed photos or other delicate decorations, move them so they’re far out of reach of young kids.

Kitchen

The kitchen is likely the room in your home that needs the most childproofing. With all the appliances and drawers, there’s a lot to keep in mind when it comes time to tackle this area.

GATE IT

You can always begin by gating off part or all of the kitchen so that your child can’t even enter the area.

LOCKS ON LOWER CABINETS

Try installing magnetic locks on the lower cabinets in your kitchen—the ones your child is more likely to mess around with. The magnetic lock only responds when you hold the key to the cabinet, so no child will be able to open the cabinets.

COVER OUTLETS

Prevent any sort of potential danger involving the outlets in your kitchen by simply covering them up. You can use clear outlet plugs or a homemade option.

STOVE KNOBS

If your child is tall enough to mess around with the stove knobs, just remove them.

LOCK DISHWASHER

Prevent the potential of your child swallowing the detergent by locking up your dishwasher when it’s running.

Childproofing with Cabinet Corner

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