Pregnancy is an astonishing time. You'll feel elated yet exhausted, spoiled yet under huge responsibility, but most of all anticipatory of the huge change you and your partner are about to undertake. One of the most important things to get done during pregnancy is to baby proof your home. It can be done before baby learns to crawl, but bearing in mind how busy you'll be as a new mum it's best to get it done as soon as possible.

It might seem just a case of common sense, but there are a few methods you can use to do a thorough check of how baby proof your home is. The first is to get down on your knees and crawl around the house, seeing things from a toddler's perspective. Notice the saucepan handle hanging over the edge of the cooker? Toddlers will be tempted to yank those down, so keep them tucked away to avoid baby getting scalded. The second method is to take an empty toilet paper tube and go around your home, checking if objects within baby's reach will fit inside it. If they do, they pose a choking hazard.

Remember that your baby's cot is a place where your baby spends a great deal of time alone and unsupervised. This is a place that should be baby proofed right from the start, which means having no window dressings in reach, no cords, drawstring bags or loops nearby. Before 5 months there should be no stuffed toys in the cot as they pose a suffocation hazard, and no mobiles hanging over the cot after 5 months either.

Once baby starts to crawl the kitchen and bathroom are both dangerous places. Lock all hazardous chemicals, medicines, cleaners, bleaches etc. away or put them up high where they can't be reached and never have electrical appliances in the bathroom. Babies will try to turn taps on, so it's a good idea to set the thermostat to a maximum of 49°C, so even if they turn the hot tap on, they won't get burned.

Of course, other rooms can be dangerous too, so try to buy round edged cabinets and tables, use trunking to keep long wires from dangling and apply brackets to unsteady furniture if baby could possibly pull a bookcase down on them when they lift themselves to stand.

Homes are almost always a safe place for adults, but babies lack the knowledge of their environment that adults have gained and so need protection from it. There is no measure too extreme when it comes to making your home 'baby safe'.

Stan Tian

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