How to Toddler-Proof a Room
Right now, my little Bebe is nearly 21 months old. She is at the age where she would climb anything and everything if we let her. I know it’s just a matter of time before she can climb out of her crib on her own - a moment I’ve been dreading since she was born. I know that once she can get out of her crib on her own, life as we currently know it will be forever changed, and her toddler bed era will begin. Not only will that mean that she is no longer a tiny little baby anymore (a fact I am forever grappling with), but it will also come with numerous risks that we haven’t had to deal with yet.
My paranoid mom brain has come up with all of the following harrowing scenarios:
Bebe gets electrocuted by one of the electrical sockets.
One of the pictures on the wall falls off and hits her on the head.
As she’s climbing out of her crib for the first time, she falls on her head and cracks her skull or breaks her neck.
She pinches herself with one of the closet doors and loses a finger.
She tries to climb her dresser and it falls on her, crushing her to death.
She tries to eat a tiny piece of something that was left on the floor, and she chokes.
As you can tell, I am no stranger to intrusive thoughts. That’s why I have put a lot of thought into how to best toddler-proof a room.
Here are some ideas I’ve come up with and/or researched and/or gotten from other parents:
Anchor all furniture to the wall. I recently watched a documentary about how several small children and babies have died because of Ikea furniture falling on them. Ikea’s response (despite many protests from consumers) has been for parents to anchor all of their furniture to the wall. Although we could make an argument that all furniture manufacturers should make their furniture tip-proof, I agree that anchoring is a good idea, whether you use Ikea furniture or not. Hell, if you have a 100-year dresser that was handed down from your great-grandmother, I would still suggest anchoring it.
Ditch the bookshelf if your child has one in their room. Or put it in another room in the house that your child won’t have access to at night. Although you may consider just anchoring it to the wall, the shelves themselves can often easily slide out and hurt your child. We store Bebe’s books in her closet. This leads to my next point…
Lock up the closet. Depending on what kind of closet door(s) your child has, this could simply mean closing the door, or you may need to get some kind of babyproofing mechanism for the door. Either way, make sure your child cannot wander in there at night.
Install a baby gate separating the hallway from the rest of the house. Right now, if our child were to wander out of her room somehow, she would be met with closed doors in the hallway and a baby gate that separates the hallway from the living room. You may not need to worry about your toddler wandering into the living room if they can’t open their door on their own yet, but they could learn at any moment.
Anything “loose” goes into the closet or another closed-off space at the end of the night. This could include toys, clothes, hair accessories, etc. The idea is to only have furniture (all anchored except for the bed), bedding, and maybe a rocking chair in the room at night. If your rocking chair reclines, make sure the reclining lever cannot be easily found by your child. The lever on our recliner is wedged between the cushion and the armrest, rather than being on the outside of the chair.
Ensure anything on the walls is too high for your littles to grab. This could include things like pictures, decorations, and even curtains. Make sure all of these things are inaccessible to your child. Also, make sure they are so secure on the wall that they can’t possibly fall. If you can’t be sure, better to remove them altogether and put them away.
Ensure all electrical sockets are inaccessible. This one is obvious - make sure every single electrical socket is covered and cannot be easily uncovered.
Ensure all cords are inaccessible. Right now, our daughter has a TV hanging on the wall in her room, which is plugged in normally. I would suggest unplugging anything like this at night and securing the cord somewhere that cannot be reached. You could even tape the cord up high against the wall if needed.
Make sure all drawers cannot be opened, or just put your child’s dresser in the closet if there’s enough room to do so. If your child has a walk-in closet, more power to you - I would put my child’s dresser in there if we could. But she has a normal-sized closet and we cannot put her dresser in there.
Put a nightlight in your child’s bedroom so that they can see what they’re doing and where they’re stepping if they start to wander around. But it’s better if the nightlight is battery-operated and can be mounted up high on the wall, rather than the traditional ones that get plugged in. This idea might be over the top, but I already admitted to being extremely paranoid about potential accidents, so…
Make sure to keep using your baby monitor and keep the volume UP. Right now, our baby monitor only points at Bebe’s crib but down the line, we will probably place the monitor at a broader angle to see Bebe’s whole room. We also keep the volume as high as possible because my partner and I are both quite heavy sleepers.
Make sure your toddler’s bed is comfy and inviting. This may seem like an unusual tip but think about it - if your toddler is uncomfortable in their bed but doesn’t yet know how to articulate that, they may be more compelled to get out of bed at night. Likewise, adorning your toddler’s bed with colorful bedding and cute stuffies may incentivize them to stay in bed. Sometimes (but not always), solutions can be incredibly simple.
XOXO, Alexis.