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Childproofing Your Kitchen With 3 Easy Tips

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Your small, immobile baby will grow up a lot faster than you think. One day this bundle of joy will start tossing and turning on her own. Before you know it, she'll be up and about, grabbing on to furniture and kitchen counters.

Those dreams of your child sitting still long enough for you to catch up on sleep will slowly start to fade away.

Childproofing your kitchen is one of the first "chores" you'll need to tackle when your child becomes mobile. If your child slips and falls or bangs her head on the corner of a countertop, you'll quickly regret your decision not to childproof your home – trust me.

There are a lot of aspects of childproofing to cover, but these few tips will help you get started:

1. Install Magnetic Locks on Reachable Cabinets

A tip from kitchen cabinets Canada is to install magnetic locks on your cabinets. Lower cabinets take top priority, and you want to avoid the string or plastic loop locks that are easy for toddlers to figure out. Toddlers are also very smart when it comes to the sliding catch locks, so you'll want to stick to magnetic locks.

Safety 1st sells locks that attach to the inside of the cabinets and open only when a magnetic key is touched to the spot on the door. One key will open several locks, so it's a practical option for lower cabinets. You'll also be able to keep pots and pans from falling on your child.

2. Secure Freestanding Shelves and Furniture

Kids have a tendency to grab on to freestanding furniture and shelving. These small pieces of furniture often sit nicely in a pantry or corner of a room. But when they're left unsecured and unattached, this leads to a major problem: tipping over.

You'll want to secure your freestanding items to the wall.

Some items can be fastened to the wall with screws, or they can be attached using some other method. Research how to fasten your furniture to the wall to prevent a tipping-over catastrophe from occurring.

3. Safely Put Away Breakables and Other Items

Lower shelves make it easy to grab your favorite items: towels, glassware and other breakables. But when you have a child, you'll need to rearrange these items for the time-being. This means putting your items somewhere your child cannot reach.

I recommend higher shelves or closets for breakables.

Parents also don’t have to go crazy with childproofing their home. You may not need burner covers or covers for electrical sockets when they're way out of reach of your two-year old. You'll need to childproof these items in the future, but not when your child is still struggling to reach the top of a countertop.

Take a strategic approach to childproofing, and don't be afraid to make a special space for your child to play in and relax. Oftentimes, this space will provide your child with the safety and entertainment she needs to stay out of mom's way when she's in the kitchen.

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