Baby Safety -- You Can't Put your Baby in a Bubble

As parents, we cherish our little bundles of joy. We look forward to raising them to be happy, successful, people. And to make sure they get to that thriving age, we need to be aware of baby safety. As we mentioned in our title, you can't put your baby in a bubble. But there are certain simple things you can do to keep your baby safe.

Baby safety isn't restricted to one area. Especially as babies grow up and become more mobile, baby safety rapidly expands to every area where your baby can go, and every area where you take them.

So let's look at those areas one at a time.

Baby safety in the bedroom

Since your baby spends much of its early life sleeping (thank God -- so you can rest, too!), it spends a lot of time in the bedroom, whether it be it's own nicely-decorated nursery, or in your own room.

No matter where the baby sleeps, it needs to be protected.

Baby cribs have been a source of many accidents and injuries, and even deaths. But that's changing now, with the new safety regulations baby crib manufacturers have to follow. There are no more posts sticking up, or sharp edges, or wide spaces between slats -- all these past causes of injuries.

However, there are still some guidelines you need to follow. First of all, always put your baby to sleep on its back, on a firm crib mattress that's made to go with that particular baby crib. And don't use any soft bedding, like quilts or comforters. In fact, nothing plush should ever be left in the crib with your baby.

You also need to make sure that your baby's crib is secure, with no missing or loose hardware. And where you place your crib in the room is important, too -- never near window blinds or cords.

If you have a changing table, make sure it has edges high enough to prevent your baby from rolling off. And get one that has drawers and shelves for the things you need to change and wash your baby. That way, you won't have to turn away, and your baby will remain safe.

Baby safety in the bathroom

Although you probably don't spend too much time with your baby in the bathroom, there are a couple of bathing guidelines you need to follow.

Water temperature is your primary concern when bathing your baby. There are some really cool bathtub toys available now, in the shape of ducks and the like, that also have a thermometer in them. So you just leave them in the bath as it runs, and check them before putting your baby in the water.

That's great -- one less thing for you to have to think about!

And obviously, you should never leave your child unattended in the bathtub.

Baby safety in the kitchen

Probably the area where you need the most attention in the kitchen is the stove. But before your baby's able to get around, it spends most of it's kitchen time in a highchair. Again, don't leave them unattended. And always strap them in.

As they begin to get around, make sure you always use the back burners on the stove, and keep pot handles turned around out of reach of curious children.

You'll also need to pay more attention to where you keep knives, matches, cleaning products and plastic bags -- all well out of reach of your baby.

Baby safety in other living areas

Here's a safety tip that applies not only to your baby, but to your whole family -- use smoke detectors! Smoke detectors save lives. It's been proven over and over again.

There are so many sad stories of people who've died in fires because they didn't have smoke detectors. And there are also many happy stories of people whose lives have been saved by smoke detectors. Use smoke detectors -- they work!

So make sure you have smoke detectors strategically placed around your home, especially near the bedrooms. And check the batteries at least once a year.

Before your baby learns to crawl and walk, your safety measures are fairly simple. But once they start getting around -- look out! And we mean that literally -- you always need to know where your baby is. And once they're mobile -- there are a number of areas you need to baby-proof.

One of the most important places to block is stairways. There's a wide variety of attractive and effective safety gates available, to keep your baby from falling down the stairs.

And safety plugs are imperative, to keep your baby from getting electrocuted. And of course, wherever you are in your home, keep small toys that could choke your baby, out of their reach.

Baby safety outside the home

The most obvious place for a need to focus on baby safety when you're out, is the vehicle. Improperly installed infant car seats are a major cause of baby injuries and deaths.

So make sure you have an approved car seat that meets legal standards. And always follow the instructions. Even if you're in a hurry, it's worth your baby's life to take the time to properly secure them in their car seats, isn't it?

A great new concept -- the baby safety shower

In the United States, the CPSC (Consumer Products Safety Commission) has teamed up with Gerber Products Company to introduce a wonderful new concept called the Baby Safety Shower.

Instead of the regular baby shower that we all love, they've added a safety theme in order to increase public awareness of baby safety.

The CPSC has a website that gives you all the guidelines to follow, complete with printouts, games and instructions on how to throw a successful baby safety shower. They're designed for a day of laughter and learning, for 20-200 people. Sounds like fun!

Baby safety is simple

Remember, as it's been often said, the greatest gift you can give your baby is a safe environment.

There's nothing complicated about baby safety. Most of it is common sense. And there are all kinds of baby safety products on the market today to help you along the way.

If you're outside, you can get specially-formulated baby sun screen, or anti-bug cream. If you're in the bathroom, you can get a flood alarm, If you're in the kitchen, you can get a stove guard that has automatic shutoff.

If you want to monitor your baby while you're busy with something else, you can get a video monitor. And to make sure your baby doesn't stray too far from you, you can get a child distance monitor that'll alert you if when they get a certain distance away.

There's a wide array of helpful products that'll help you with the sometimes stressful job of raising your baby safely. So take advantage of them -- make your life simpler.

And then, one day, your baby will grow up to be the wonderful adult that you raised. And you can sit back and be proud that you did such a good job of baby safety!

About the Author:

Arden Mellor is a successfully published freelance writer, one of experience and diversity. The knowledge brought to you through Arden's articles has been designed for simplicity. The world is much too complicated, and Arden's contribution to the world is to bring the complexities of life into a simpler arena, one that anyone and everyone can understand and use. Arden writes many informative articles on such topics as discount portable cribs, Cosco baby stroller and child potty trainer chairs, and our wishes are that you benefit from the wisdom presented in these articles in making life simple.

This article on the "Baby Safety - You Can't Put your Baby in a Bubble" reprinted with permission.

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