The Best Childproofing Kits to Keep Your Baby Safe Around the House

According to Dr. Seran Kim, a pediatric emergency physician, it’s best to put safety measures in place before your baby starts crawling. “They’ll be on the move as early as six months—and it happens fast. So be sure to prep your home well in advance to help prevent household-related injuries.”

And if you’re reading this with a baby already on the move, no worries—most childproofing items take only a few minutes to install (and usually without the need for power tools), so you can get things secured quickly and easily. But the sooner, the better.

When you really start to think about it, there are probably quite a lot of things in your home that can pose hazards to curious little ones. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has a full list of potential hazards, but the average home includes everyday things like medicines, bleach, alcohol (both the drinking kind and the disinfecting kind), beads and buttons, heavy furniture that can topple over—all the things you want to keep secure while your child is still little enough to not understand what’s dangerous and what’s not.

Making your home baby-friendly doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Childproofing kits like the ones above make it easy to tackle the most common hazards. To make your home as safe for your baby as possible, pediatricians recommend the following items, which may or may not be included in your childproofing kit:

• Drawer locks: Safety latches on cabinets and drawers secure items in kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms and more. Dr. Kim recommends putting locks on all lower drawers and cabinets that contain anything that’s hazardous when dropped (like heavy or breakable dishes) or ingested (like cleaning supplies).

• Corner guards: “Falling and hitting a face or head on the corner of a coffee table is a very common injury we see in the Emergency Department,” Dr. Kim says. These cushions, usually made of plastic, silicone or foam, soften the hard edges of furniture and countertops. 

• Outlet covers: These inserts prevent little fingers from poking into sockets and getting an electrical shock. “Because we as humans are good conductors of electricity, this can be very dangerous—or even fatal,” Dr. Kim says, so it’s important to cover all outlets that aren’t in use. There are also box-style outlet covers that prevent electronics and appliances from being unplugged.

• Door knob covers: These gadgets make it difficult for small children to turn a doorknob and enter a room (or exit the house). If your doors have handles instead of knobs, you can use adhesive handle locks. 

• Door guards: Little fingers sometimes don’t know to move out of the way of a closing door, which can mean painful pinch injuries. Most anti-pinch door guards go on the handle side of the door and, when the door is closing, create a gap so that the door doesn’t close all the way (and trap little fingers with it). Some childproofing kits like the ones on this list come with this type of door guard, but Dr. Kim also recommends using a pinch guard for the hinged side of the door, too.

• Stove knob covers: Stove and oven knobs are often within reach of toddlers and babies who can pull up to stand, and they’re pretty easy to turn, which can lead to either a hot burner, an open flame or gas. That’s why Dr. Kim also recommends using stove knob covers that are tough for babies to take off but easy for parents.

• Furniture anchors: Anti-tip kits prevent furniture or TVs from toppling over in the event of an earthquake or if your little one is a climber. They’re not usually included in childproofing kits, so be sure to get some separately.

• Baby gates: These temporary gates go at the top and bottom of stairs to prevent falls, and you can also use them in doorways to restrict baby’s access to a room while still keeping it open for adults. You’ll definitely need to buy baby gates separately from a childproofing kit, but they’re still an essential part of maintaining a safe home—especially if you have stairs.

And remember to childproof your baby’s bath area, too—bathtub thermometers and faucet covers are important for baby’s bathtime safety. Be sure to check out the full childproofing checklist recommended by Dr. Kim, and along with childproofing your home, there are even more steps you can take to make sure you’re totally prepared for baby’s safety.