Childproofing Your Home in 8 Simple Steps

Raising a toddler is so much fun and so hard all at the same time. It’s so fun to see them develop their own personality, likes, and dislikes. But watch out – they can be very particular! And once they start walking, nothing in the house is safe!

When my oldest son became mobile, I remember thinking how clean my house was…only to realize that it only felt clean because I had just moved everything from the floor up onto the couch, table, and bed. Although this way of childproofing didn’t completely solve all of my problems, I’ve learned a few tricks over the years that have kept my little ones out of trouble.

We’ve got solutions to keep exterior doors locked using a child lock at the top of the door frame and the best way to keep young children safe from dangerous items with just a few childproofing hacks and diy solutions!

I received samples and compensation in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own.

Childproofing Your Home in 8 Simple Steps

1. Use plastic covers on outlets – Outlet covers are a very inexpensive way to protect your child from sticking items and their little fingers inside of outlets.

2. Lower crib – Once toddlers start walking, they might try and climb out of their crib. To protect them from getting hurt, make sure their crib mattress frame is lowered to the lowest setting possible.

3. Move everything up – Moving all dangerous and breakable items to higher cabinets makes life so much easier. This includes making sure all cleaning products, dish soap, and laundry items are out of reach. Instead, store items like plastic cups, hot pads, etc in drawers that your child can reach.

4. Turn water heater temperature down – Toddlers tend to be fascinated with running water. Keep them from getting burned by checking the temperature on your water heater. 120 degrees is the most common safety recommendation.

5. Keep cupboard doors shut with hair elastics – Who would have ever thought that hair elastics could be such a great childproofing tool? Keep the double doors on cupboards shut by placing a rubber band on the pulls. It’s easier than cabinet locks and you’ll never lose that magnetic key! You can also wrap them around your toilet paper to keep your child from unrolling the whole roll. Simply slide them to the side when you need to use the toilet paper, then back on to secure everything in place.

6. Use stair baby gates – This might seem obvious, but the second my children start crawling, the child’s safety gates go up!

7. Move heavy objects – Go around your house and move all heavy objects that could potentially fall on a child. This could include picture frames, vases, candles, etc. You can also secure dressers and heavy pieces of furniture to the wall.

8. Childproofing door locks with The Door Guardian – My anxiety always heightens when my curious toddler learns how to open doors. The Door Guardian Lock helps reinforce in-swinging doors, keeping your little one safe indoors. It’s super easy installation, inexpensive, and an added safety measure that will give a new parent peace of mind.

Childproofing Door Locks is Easy!

Recently, my two-year-old little girl learned how to open doors all on her own. Although she’s very excited about this newfound independence, I’m constantly having to watch her and keep her out of trouble. She’s very much into the “I do it myself” stage. Now that I have The Door Guardian Lock installed on my front door, I don’t have to worry about her making a surprise visit to the neighbor’s house.

Not only do I love that The Door Guardian keeps my child in, but it also gives me comfort knowing it keeps others out; making it a great security feature. When I first got our Door Guardian, I had it on the counter so I could wait for (and remind) my husband to install it. However, after watching the simple installation video, I decided that it looked simple enough for me to install myself – and I was right!

10 minutes later and The Door Guardian is installed. I put it high up enough so my determined toddler can’t get to it (even when she gets smart and uses her stool), but my older kids can still use it when necessary. I love that it uses 3M adhesive tape and screws for added strength. With the spring action function, I never have to worry about it locking by itself.

There are also Door Guardians perfect for sliding doors, windows, out-swinging doors, and more. Childproofing your home just became SO much easier thanks to The Door Guardian($19.99).