New Parent Home Safety Guide
When you bring home a new bundle of joy you've basically put all your eggs in one basket.
Now you've got one job: Watch that basket.
It's the most important, all-consuming job you'll ever have, one where the stakes couldn't be higher. Job No. 1 is keeping the baby safe. We're here to help.
Assess
First, take a critical view of the entire house. Bring a notepad. Jot down every potential for injury, including window treatments, cupboard doors, sharp furniture edges, cords and outlets, items on shelves, tchotchkes that could be swallowed, cleaning supplies, anything that could tip, including television stands and bookshelves. It might sound weird, but crawl through the house to get a child's eye view of lurking dangers.
Turn the notes into an exhaustive checklist and mark off every item as you make it safe. Secure stands to the walls, remove things from shelves, cover outlets with safety plugs, put child-proof devices on toilets and cupboard doors.
Check out the newest products
Your mom possibly let you ride in the front seat as a toddler while eating a popsicle. She may have had a few pregnancy martinis and a cigarette to relax. In other words, times change.
Check out these hot new child safety devices, including a whale that protects little heads from sharp faucets in the bathtub, a wrap that prevents doors from slamming on tender fingers, a toilet lid lock, a sharp edge softener.
A doorknob lock keeps them out of a room altogether, which is perfect for offices and other sensitive areas.
Install the car seat correctly
It may be more difficult than you anticipate, so make sure to leave plenty of time to get it done. Don't do it while the baby is waiting in the arms of a nurse in the hospital lobby to go home for the first time.
Read the manufacturer's instructions carefully and follow them to the letter.
You can also watch videos on the installation process here.
And remember, you can always stop by your local Fire Department or police station and ask a safety professional to inspect it.
Stop worrying
Listen, there are a lot of things you could worry about. But you don't have to.
The calmer you are, the calmer -- and happier -- your baby will be.
"Many new parents have overblown physical reactions to spitting up, vomiting, and other things a baby does," Leon Hoffman, MD, director of the Pacella Parent Child Center in New York, told Web MD. "And the baby picks up on that anxiety."
Hoffman told the website parents can waste the entire first year of their baby's life by worrying about the small stuff. Is he having too many bowel movements or too few? Is she spitting up too much? Is she getting enough to eat or too little? Does he cry too much or not enough? Any of that sound familiar to you?
"This worry gets in the way of being spontaneous and enjoying your infant's first year of life," Hoffman says. "Babies are far more resilient than we give them credit for."
