Skip to main content

What you need to know when baby-proofing furniture

When your baby starts to crawl and become mobile, it’s an exciting time. It’s so wonderful to watch them grow, change, and become more independent.

However, while you’re thrilled to see their development progressing, a mobile baby brings up concerns regarding hazardous items in your home that could injure your moving munchkin. In the living room alone, there are sharp edges, heavy and tippable objects, as well as scads of electrical cords, all posing their own forms of danger to your little one. We’re going to go over what you need to know when baby-proofing your furniture in the living room so that your baby can be free to roam and explore safely.

Big furniture, big danger

Furniture is the biggest hazard to little ones, and it’s the most important type of item to baby-proof.

Protect kids from corners

The corners of your coffee table and end tables are particularly hazardous to your infant, especially if they are just starting to toddle around on their shaky legs. One little trip and their head could barrel straight into that corner and result in a bump, bruise, or even stitches. Protect your little one’s noggin by investing in some corner guards for those sharp edges. Edge protectors come in several different forms but are typically made with soft, foam materials. They adhere to the surface of your furniture, so prying little hands can’t pull them off very easily.

Anchor tall furniture pieces

Once your baby starts crawling, it’s only a matter of time before they’ll be able to pull themselves up onto their feet. Growing babies tend to pull themselves up on anything available, regardless of how safe it is to do so. That’s why it’s imperative to anchor your tall furniture, like bookcases, curio cabinets, and TV stands, to the wall so that they don’t come crashing down on your baby when they pull on it. To anchor these items in place, you can use brackets, cables, or straps intended for baby-proofing your tall furniture.

Install drawer and cabinet locks

If your TV stand, coffee table, or end tables are equipped with drawers, it’s a good idea to install child-proof locks on them to prevent your baby from accessing its contents. Not only could there be small items in the drawers that are choking hazards, but if the drawer itself is heavy, your baby could potentially pull it out of the table completely, and the drawer could fall on them.

Olesia Bilkei/Shutterstock

Don’t forget the little details

Little things we see every day but think nothing of can be incredibly dangerous for your kids. Don’t forget to jot these down when it comes time to prep your home for your mobile kids!

Tie up electrical cords

With your TV, internet modem, cable box, and your DVD player in the living room, a lot of cords are bunched all around in places that your baby can access. This poses a hazard since your baby could pull on the cord and possibly pull the object itself down. There’s also the risk of shock, especially since babies tend to put things in their mouths. Using velcro, cord sleeves, or even zip ties, gather hanging cords and tie them in a way that lifts them away from the reach of those little hands.

Block off hazardous items

Depending on the layout and amenities of your home, there could be certain larger items or locations that pose a higher level of danger for your little one. A hot radiator, a fireplace, or a staircase could certainly lead to a harmful and dangerous situation. To ensure the safety of your baby, you should always use fireplace gates, radiator covers, and baby gates in these hazardous areas.

Keep small or poisonous items up high

We know our babies love to put things in their mouths. It’s just an unavoidable part of their development, so it’s best to keep items that you should not ingest in high places that are unreachable to little hands. This includes small items that could be a choking hazard and substances that could be harmful if ingested, like your remote’s batteries or even poisonous plants.

As your baby gains the freedom of mobility, they might surprise you with how quickly they can move and how often they get into troublesome spots in mere seconds. Since you can’t depend on being able to keep both eyes on them at every second, it’s safest to be sure that the rooms in your home that are most often occupied, like the living room, are properly baby-proofed for safety. Once you’ve gone through the initial headache of transitioning your home into a toddler-safe space, you’ll be glad for the peace of mind.

Editors' Recommendations

Veronica Sparks
Veronica Sparks is a writer from Milwaukee, Wisconsin who loves writing about gardening, home décor, and DIY life. She’s…
The climate change risks home buyers are sleeping on, according to Zillow
Analysis: This climate change risk is the only one that home buyers are worried about
analysis of climate change risks for home buyers houses in houston suburb flooded from hurricane harvey 2017

Climate change is shaping the world we live in. From record-high temperatures to worsening hurricanes and the increase in frequency and severity of wildfires, homeowners across the country are facing more and more threats to the safety of their homes. But that doesn’t mean home buyers are necessarily thinking about these threats. According to a recent analysis by Zillow, there’s really only one risk home buyers are heeding — flooding.

Home buyers are paying attention to flooding risks
Completed in conjunction with ClimateCheck, a climate risk data provider, the Zillow analysis found that flood risks are having a growing influence on home buyers. While home values in areas prone to flood risks continue to increase at a faster rate than other areas, these areas are also seeing an increase in both mortgage denials and potential borrowers deciding to withdraw their mortgage applications.

Read more
This is what you should be planting in fall for a beautiful spring garden
Plant these seedlings in the fall and watch them grow in spring
Spring flowers forget-me-not

If you want a beautiful garden next spring, it's best to get to work now and start planting in the fall. Autumn is the perfect time to clear new garden beds, build pathways, add architectural elements, and of course, plant. Fall is also the ideal time to install cold-hardy plants because pest populations will dwindle, and plant growth patterns will turn in your favor.

The cooler autumn air is much more forgiving, and the still-warm soil offers an ideal environment for deep root development. And although your new garden plants will be going dormant soon, their roots will continue to grow through fall, until the ground freezes. This gives them an immense head start, as they'll have two seasons (fall and spring) to deepen and strengthen their roots ahead of next summer’s dry heat. As you plan your garden for the year ahead, consider planting these seedlings right now.

Read more
Can you paint in high humidity? What you need to know
Painting in humid weather: How to make sure your paint job is still gorgeous
the best white acrylic paint

If you're planning a painting project and you're concerned about humidity levels while you paint, you've come to the right place. Since paint needs to dry properly to have a beautiful and smooth-looking result, moisture in the air is certainly an issue. So, is painting in humid weather possible? While the answer to that question is yes, we're going to discuss some of the concerns and tips for dealing with humidity and painting indoors or outdoors.

How does humidity affect your paint job?
Moisture in the air means that there's moisture on the surface you're about to paint. A damp surface is not ideal for painting, and you will find that your overall result doesn't look as great as you'd hoped. Let's dig into the specifics of how high humidity negatively impacts your paint job.
Moisture could lead to mold growth
When you're dealing with high humidity, surfaces tend to dry slowly. When you're painting indoors, for example, you always want to wash your walls before slapping down a coat of paint, so high humidity could slow down the drying process. If your walls are damp when you start to paint, this could lead to mold growing between the wall and the paint. The mold will eventually grow through the new layer of paint, and you will need to clean the area and paint again.
Paint will struggle to dry
For a coat of most paint types to dry, the water in the paint needs to evaporate more quickly than the solvents. In high humidity, the water struggles to evaporate, making for a gunky, gel-like layer of paint. Eventually, when the humidity level falls, you'll find that this type of consistency will dry with a wavy texture since it has not been set properly, and you won't be satisfied with the result.
Wood surfaces could swell
As you may know, moisture on wood causes it to swell. If you're painting wood when there's a lot of moisture in the air, the wood could start to swell a bit after you've put on a coat of paint. This swelling could cause cracks or chips in your coat of paint which will eventually lead to the surface needing to be repainted.
Paint may not adhere to metal surfaces
Painting metal objects can be difficult enough, since paint doesn't adhere to them as easily as it does to wood. Humidity can worsen this, so if you're trying to paint something metal, it might be best to leave that for a drier day.

Read more