Baby Room Ideas Worth Knowing

Decorating your first nursery can be a fun, but daunting experience. Picking out your theme and color scheme is always exciting, but we often overlook the most important part of decorating – our child’s safety.

All of the safety devices available on the market often confuse many first time parents today. Baby proofing can become a scary and sometimes expensive task. If you feel that you are overwhelmed, there are child safety experts you can hire to come to your home, inspect it, and tell you their recommendations of what should be removed, locked up and replaced. This can be expensive though, and many of us feel we can do it ourselves if we have some general guidelines to go by.

Keeping It Safe

When picking out décor for the nursery, look for soft items. Stay away from glass and heavy objects that could tip over or fall on them. Stuffed animals, plush toys and pictures are a great way to accessorize a room.

When buying bedding, most doctors agree that heavy blankets and pillows are more dangerous than useful. Instead, dress your child warmly at night and help prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Cover them with one blanket at night and during naptime.

Have any bumper pads be tied to the sides of an approved crib. The four corners and the center of any crib bumper pads should be tied securely, where baby can’t reach them to untie.

Only an approved crib should be used for baby. Crib slats cannot be wide enough to let a soda can pass between them. This is to make sure that baby’s head will never be stuck in between the slats, causing suffocation or death.

Any type of cording should be wrapped up and or locked with a safety latch, for example, blind cords, electric cords, and phone cords, which can be strangulation hazards.

Safety covers or boxes should cover all electrical outlets.

Babies and toddlers learn by sticking items in their mouths, so anything that is smaller than your child’s throat should be removed from their room.

Where to Buy Safety

Stores like Babies R Us and Baby Depot have dozens of inexpensive childproof kits, locks and gates available. You can also purchase safety items at home improvement stores, department stores and in the house aisle of a grocery store.