8 Home Modifications Every New Parent Should Make

Having a baby is a thrilling moment for you as a new parent. But it would help if you adequately prepare because you’ll have to adjust your home to be comfortable and safe to raise a child in. Children often grow fast and soon start crawling around, which might be risky because they’re curious about the environment and will explore virtually every nook and cranny. So, it would be best if you modified your home to create a child-friendly environment.

Below are eight necessary home modifications you should make:

• Babyproofing

The most important thing you want for your baby is safety. Thus, it would help if you did babyproofing to safeguard your little one from danger. It can also assist you in having some peace of mind when your baby is moving around. Some tips on babyproofing are as follows:

• Place Safety Latches: Do this in every area in your house with handles, including the kitchen and the main doors, to prevent your toddler from opening the door. You can also install appliance locks, drawer lockers, or toilet lid locks.
• Seal Electrical Cables: Babies are usually curious, and when they see any electrical wire, they’d like to unplug it and play with it. It’s dangerous; your child can get electrocuted if they touch a live wire. It’s also hazardous for the child to insert metallic objects into the wall sockets. Therefore, seal all electrical outlets using window blind cords or rubber covers.
• Put Up Gates: You can start by putting baby gates on your stairs, so your child doesn’t fall off. Also, place the gates if you have rooms with open spaces so your baby doesn’t crawl and harm themselves.   
• Make a Sturdy Crib: A sturdy crib with a functional lock prevents your kid from wandering away after waking up from sleep.

If you have other family members, it would be best to engage them. This way, they know what to do when the baby is around.

• Decorate Your Rooms

Colorful wall and ceiling decorations can easily brighten up your little one’s face whenever they’re at home. So, choose pop colors when decorating your baby’s room. You can also put scribblings on the walls of hilarious animation characters.

• Secure Your Furniture

If you have racks or bulky furniture around the house, ensure you fasten them to the wall so that they don’t fall over and injure your child when they mishandle them. Ensure you put anchors in your baby’s nursery so that they don’t fall over when they try to go up on them. You can also put up a child-proof window to restrain your child from crawling to open the windows to peep outside. Also, remove any furniture with sharp edges that may hurt your baby.

• Install Door Latch Cover

You can install door latch covers to muffle the noise when opening the doors. If your baby is a light sleeper, any little disruption, like opening the door, can quickly wake them up. So, take a piece of cloth cuttings and two elastics and sew them together, then slide them through every doorknob, and your door will close quietly.

• Conduct Repairs

Look for all the possible broken furniture and repair them earlier. You can fix the kitchen areas, sitting areas, or bedrooms so that you get rid of all the broken furniture that may cause an accident in the house. You can also replace the worn-out hinges and damaged chairs and refurbish the cabinet doors.

• Change The Lighting

You must pick the proper lighting for your child’s nursery that won’t affect your baby’s eyesight. The following are tips to help you choose the appropriate lighting:

• Use a dimmer light to help your baby sleep.
• Use a soft glow to decrease the disparity between light and dark.
• Don’t put floor lamps because your kids can destroy them when crawling.
• Regulate the natural light in your baby’s nursery because it may distract your child. Consider installing light-proof curtains for your child.

Having proper lighting can help protect your child’s eyes and enable them to enjoy a sound sleep.

• Install Changing Stations Around The House

You can set up different changing stations around the most frequented areas of your house, including the sitting room, bedrooms, and kitchen. It eliminates the need to move from one corner of the house to a faraway room simply to change the baby’s clothes. Remember, your baby will need to have numerous changes within the day. So, the quicker you can do it, the better. Ensure every changing station is stocked with wipes and diapers.

• Refinish The Floor

Babies crawl a lot on the floor, sometimes messing it up. Thus, you can upgrade your floor to a simple-to-clean finish. Don’t wait for your child to start crawling to make changes because you may not have the time to do it perfectly. Floor finishes need adequate time to cure, and your baby may also get affected by the smell of the finishes. It would be best to make this change before the child’s birth.

Conclusion Children are innately born to be curious and will explore every corner of your house. So, you must ensure you prepare your home for their arrival to guarantee their safety. So, take your time to do repairs, clean, or modify fixtures that could harm your child.

Kenneth

Kenneth is a proud native of sydney, born and raised there. However, he pursued his education abroad and studied in Australia. Kenneth has worked as a journalist for almost a decade, making valuable contributions to prominent publications such as Yahoo News and The Verge. Currently, he serves as a journalist for The Hear Up, where he focuses on covering climate and science news. You can reach Kenneth at [email protected].