The day your baby starts crawling, the house you thought you knew becomes a completely different place. The gap under the oven. The cord behind the television. The corner of the coffee table at exactly eyebrow height. None of these registered before. Now they're all you can see. Babyproofing is the process of systematically addressing them before they become problems — ideally a few weeks before baby becomes mobile enough to reach them, not the morning after the first close call.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that home injuries send more than 2.2 million children to emergency rooms each year, with the highest rates in children under 5. The majority of these injuries are preventable. This room-by-room checklist covers the interventions with the strongest evidence for preventing serious injury.
When to Start Babyproofing
The answer most pediatricians give: earlier than you think. By 4 months, begin assessing the home. By 6 months, have the major hazards addressed. By the time baby is crawling — which can happen anywhere from 6 to 10 months — you want the house ready, not in the process of being prepared.
A useful frame: do a lap of the house at floor level. Literally get on your hands and knees and move through each room. The hazards visible from this height are the ones a crawling or cruising baby will encounter.
Living Room & Common Areas
- ☑ Anchor all tall furniture to the wall: Bookshelves, dressers, TV units, and wardrobes. Furniture tip-overs kill approximately 22,000 children annually in the US according to CPSC data, and 71% of those involve a child climbing or pulling. Furniture straps cost under $20 and take fifteen minutes to install. This is non-negotiable.
- ☑ Secure the TV: Mount flat screens to the wall, or place on a low console and strap to the wall. A pulled TV is one of the most dangerous piece-of-furniture hazards in a home with a toddler.
- ☑ Pad or remove the coffee table: Corner and edge guards on hard tables, or replace with a padded ottoman. The corner of a glass or sharp-edged table is at precisely toddler-forehead height.
- ☑ Secure cords and cables: Blind cords, electrical cords, curtain pulls. Loose cords pose strangulation risk. Retractable cord organizers, cord covers, and cord cleats are all appropriate solutions. The CPSC specifically recommends cordless window coverings in rooms used by children.
- ☑ Cover electrical outlets: Tamper-resistant outlet covers or replacement outlets with spring-loaded safety shutters (more reliable than plug-in covers which can be pulled out). Check local standards — most new US homes now require tamper-resistant receptacles by code.
- ☑ Remove or secure floor lamps: Easily pulled over; can cause burns and cuts.
Kitchen
- ☑ Cabinet and drawer locks: Specifically for any cabinet containing cleaning products, sharp items, heavy pots, or breakables. Magnetic locks (requiring a magnetic key to open) are the most effective and least intrusive option for frequently-used cabinets.
- ☑ Oven and stove knob covers: Prevent baby from turning on burners. Knob covers that require a squeeze-and-turn adult action are available for most major appliance brands.
- ☑ Stove guard or knob covers: A stove guard creates a barrier at the front of the stovetop, preventing handles from being reached and pulled.
- ☑ Refrigerator and dishwasher latches: Baby-proof both. The dishwasher in particular contains sharp items in the lower basket at crawling height.
- ☑ Move cleaning products to a locked high cabinet: Or use a locked under-sink organiser. Accidental poisoning from household chemicals is among the most common pediatric emergency call types.
- ☑ Secure the rubbish bin: A bin with a foot-pedal lock or a bin stored in a locked cabinet. Babies are profoundly interested in rubbish bins.
Bathroom
- ☑ Install a toilet lock: Young children have fallen headfirst into open toilets. A toilet lid lock costs under $15.
- ☑ Set the water heater to 49°C (120°F) or below: At 54°C (130°F), scalding occurs in 30 seconds. At 60°C (140°F), in 5 seconds. The AAP recommends 49°C as the maximum to prevent tap water burns.
- ☑ Add a non-slip mat to the bathtub: And never leave baby unsupervised in the bath, even for a moment.
- ☑ Store all medications and vitamins in a locked cabinet: Including "safe" items like vitamins and topical creams. Medication poisoning is the most common cause of fatal poisoning in children under 5.
- ☑ Install a door handle cover or latch: To prevent self-locking in the bathroom.
Stairs & Doors
- ☑ Install stair gates at top and bottom: The AAP recommends hardware-mounted gates (screwed into the wall) at the top of stairs — pressure-mounted gates are not safe at the top where a fall could follow a gate displacement. Pressure-mounted are acceptable at the bottom.
- ☑ Door pinch guards: Soft foam guards that prevent doors from closing fully, preventing finger-pinching. Particularly relevant for any door baby can push open independently.
- ☑ Doorstops on wall-mounted door knobs: To prevent door handles from going through drywall when a door is pulled open hard.
Bedroom & Nursery
- ☑ Safe sleep setup: Firm, flat mattress, no loose bedding, no bumpers, no soft objects in the crib. This is the most important safety intervention in the nursery from birth.
- ☑ Secure any furniture near the crib: A baby who can pull to stand can reach items on nearby surfaces and can in some cases climb crib rails toward adjacent furniture.
- ☑ Anchor chest of drawers and wardrobe: Dressers are one of the most common furniture tip-over hazards when children pull out lower drawers to climb.
- ☑ Keep the crib clear of the window: Once baby can climb, window proximity creates a fall risk. Window stops that prevent windows from opening more than 10cm are available and recommended by the AAP for rooms above ground floor.
Garden & Outdoors
- ☑ Pool fencing is not optional: Any body of standing water accessible to a mobile child requires a four-sided fence at least 1.2m high with a self-closing, self-latching gate. This applies to portable paddling pools — empty them after each use. Drowning can occur in inches of water within seconds. See our baby swimming safety guide.
- ☑ Check garden for toxic plants: The RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) and the American Academy of Pediatrics both publish lists of toxic plants common in domestic gardens. Many common ornamental plants — foxglove, lily of the valley, lantana — are highly toxic if ingested.
- ☑ Secure shed and garage: Tools, pesticides, fertilisers, and fuel — all require locked storage inaccessible to children.
- ☑ Gate the driveway: Any direct access from garden to driveway or road.
A Note on What Babies Wear While Exploring
As babies start crawling and pulling to stand, what they wear matters more than it did when they were stationary. Socks without grip soles on hard floors are a genuine slip hazard. Loose, long-hemmed clothing can catch on furniture or floor-level edges mid-crawl. Fitted, comfortable clothing with natural movement — and soft-soled shoes or grip socks once they’re cruising — keeps an exploring baby safer and more confident. For age-appropriate outfit guidance, see our guide on when babies start wearing shoes.
For developmental context on when to expect crawling and walking, see our crawling guide and our walking guide.