Creating A Functional Home

if you have a baby on the way, you no doubt have a checklist of a million different things you want to do in the 9 months or less in order to make your home the perfect environment to raise your new child. But in addition to building a nursery or a crib, you should take a step back and look at your home from a safety standpoint as well. One area of your home you want to make sure is ready for the arrival of your newborn from a safety standpoint is your electrical system and any electrical appliances that are in reach of children. Here are some tips to help you get control of the situation.

Secure Every Outlet

Kids love to stick their fingers in or around anything they are curious about. Don't let one of those things be an electrical socket. Any unused sockets should be closed off with plastic inserts. You can buy these at the local hardware store. But you may also want to take it a step further for the outlets that you do use. One way you could do this is by hiring an electrician to install safety outlets throughout your home. These outlets make it much more difficult for foreign objects to be inserted.

Clean Up Those Extension Cords

One your child is old enough to crawl, they'll be scampering all around the house. If you have extension cords just lying on the ground anywhere in your home, this is a dangerous situation for your baby. Secure all cords so that they cannot be picked up easily by taping them down. You can also consider hiding them under furniture. The point is, don't allow them to be easily accessible to your infant. Any frayed cords should be eliminated completely.

Keep Your Baby From Unplugging Things

While an electrician can adjust an electrical outlet so that nothing but the plug can be inserted, that might not stop your baby from yanking on a cord that is already plugged in. This could still present a dangerous situation if there is a spark when the device is unplugged, and there are probably electronics in your home that will suffer damage if their plug is suddenly yanked while the device is turned on. To fix this problem, you could install, or hire an electrician to install, plastic outlet covers. These covers make it much more unlikely for a plug to get yanked out of the wall if your baby should encounter one despite your best efforts.

If you have a baby on the way, his or her personal safety is, of course, at the top of your mind. Don't forget to childproof your home's electrical outlets. You can use plastic inserts or safety devices to keep a baby from trying to plug something in, and a plastic outlet cover can help ensure that the plug stays in the wall. Also be sure to remove any worn down extension cords and make sure any cords you keep are locked down with tape. For more child safety tips like these, contact your local electrician or a company like C & R Electric, Inc.