Baby Proofing Your Home
One things that all parents have to do when they have a baby is baby proof their home. Whether it is taking kick knacks down from the coffee table or nailing everything down in the entire house, baby proofing is very important. Some people start baby proofing the minute the baby is born, others wait until they become mobile. There are now even companies who will come to your house and tell you what you need to baby proof and even help you do it.
Do you need someone come out and tell you what and how to baby proof? No, but if you are a busy couple or know nothing about babies and what they are capable of getting into, this might be the route for you. Some companies charge nothing for a household consultation and others can cost a few hundred dollars. If you are interested in hiring a company to come out and evaluate your home, go to iafcs.com for a list of baby proofers across the country. Make sure you ask for references.
If you want to do it yourself there are a few things that every house hold can do to make their house safer for baby.
Make sure all outlets are covered.
Make sure sharp edges of tables, counters or doorways are covered.
Don’t leave knick knacks or sharp objects on tables or low counter tops.
Use baby gates everywhere there are stairs including outside.
Get a gate or fence installed around your pool and never leave standing water where a baby can reach it even outside in a bucket. Get locks for all the doors in your home, especially the bathroom.
For more tips on how and what to baby proof check out these sites.
baby proofing, babyproofing, baby proofing your home, new babies, parenting, parenting children, kids, toddlers, safety, keeping your home safe
February 27th, 2008 at 4:22 am
Great information about baby proofing your home. Another was to baby-proof your house is to remove all of the toxic items from the house before your baby comes home from the the hospital.
For all parents out there that are concerned about Lead and other harmful toxins found in our children’s toys, I wanted to tell you about a company that I own here in California called Inspect-A-Toy. We conduct in-home screenings of toys, jewelry & anything else you want tested (example: crayons, chalk, bibs, cribs, highchairs, etc.) in your home for the presence of Lead. We started the company because we were not only concerned and frustrated about all of the 25 million toys that were recalled last year in 2007, but were deeply concerned about all the future recalls of the toys our daughter is playing with now. In fact, the first toy we discovered to have high amounts of Lead in our own home was a yellow duck bath toy that hasn’t been recalled to this day. (we’re working on it)
As most parents know, Lead is a heavy metal that has no place in our children’s bodies. Lead Poisoning causes brain damage, loss of IQ points, leads to learning disorders, behavioral disorders, delinquency, hearing loss, it can slow down a child’s growth and much more. A child recently died from swallowing a Lead charm that was 99% pure Lead.
Our company uses a state-of-the-art, laboratory grade X-Ray Fluorescence detection device that accurately and safely reads how much Lead is in an object, whether it’s plastic, metal or wood (clothing too). We go room to room, item by item and record items that have passed and those that have failed and discuss our findings with our clients. Within a day or two, we’ll send you a spreadsheet of our findings for your records. (FYI: The Consumer Product Safety Commission, the same agency that recalls toys, recently announced that the at-home test kits for Lead that you can find online for around $10. are unreliable and inaccurate)
Since we launched the company last year, we have found dozens of toys both in our client’s homes and in retail stores that contain excessive amounts of Lead (We recently screened a child’s bracelet and found it to contain over 150,000 parts per million of Lead (15% Lead). The CPSC limits Lead to 600 parts per million!). Many of these items can be found on our website at http://www.Inspectatoy.com.
Our hourly service fee is very reasonable and our technicians work efficiently as they screen items throughout the home. We would rather do a volume of business at our low rate than have concerned parents not able to afford our service. We offer neighborhood discounts (call for details) and are very flexible with our scheduling, because like you, we are parents too! We also work with PTA’s, Mom’s Groups and MOPS groups for fundraising events. We’ll donate a portion of our proceeds to either your group or a local charity of your choice. We also offer a free demonstration of how we screen for Lead to groups throughout Southern California, just call and ask!
Inspect-A-Toy is a member of the Southern California Health & Housing Council and we work closely with the LA Division of the CLPPP (Childhood Lead Prevention Poison Program). Besides our in-home service, we also conduct screenings at daycare facilities, schools, retail stores (toy/pet), activity centers and importing companies. Yes, we also screen dog toys for Lead.
Please call or email us any questions that you may have regarding our service, how to find out which toys have been recently recalled, or to schedule an appointment. We can be reached at http://www.InspectAToy.com or by email at info@inspectatoy.com or by phone at 888-ISPYLEAD (888-477-9532).
We’ll do our best to keep you all up to date with our most recent findings.