2 Steps To Preparing Your Home For A New Baby

Having a baby, especially if it’s your first, requires a lot more work than just being a parent.

There are a lot of steps that you have to take in order to prepare your home for your new little one, from making sure you have all of the equipment and tools you will need, to ensuring that your home will be safe for a growing baby. You may have a few months before she becomes mobile, but you’ll be surprised at how quickly that time comes – you will want to ensure that you are ready to baby-proof your home so that when she starts motoring, you’re not scrambling.  

If you’re precious one is soon to arrive, but you still feel uncertain about whether your home is prepared, here are some steps you can take to ensure a safe, healthy, and well-equipped home to welcome your baby into.

Fix Any Preexisting Damage in Your Home

Before you bring home your new baby, you will want to make sure that you fix any existing damage that you already have in your home. This is for several reasons.

For starters, once you are raising a newborn, you will have financial obligations that you didn’t have before and will likely find yourself allocating your funds in a vastly different way, not to mention that your energy and time will also be allocated completely to the baby.

But some damages, such as water damage, cracked floor tiles, damaged windows or doors, could potentially create sources of health and safety hazards for your new baby in ways that you never even thought of.

For example, water damage can not only cause bad structural damage to your home, but it also can cause mold to grow, especially in humid climates such as Florida. Mold in the home can lead to bad health issues, like respiratory problems, especially in newborns. Luckily, there are a lot of expert companies that can perform property restoration in Florida and other states at a low cost, which will ultimately save you a lot of money and worry.

It is easiest to fix these preexisting problems before bringing your newborn home, rather than realizing the risks after she arrives and be unable to do anything about it.

Tie Down Furniture & Electronics

You might be surprised just how many things in your home need to be baby-proofed before you can let your new baby explore their space. Everything from bookcases, dressers, electronics, and furniture need to be secured in order to keep your baby safe.

One thing that you should do that you may not think of is to tie down your electronics and furniture. This is especially true for larger electronics such as televisions and for tall bookshelves or dressers that may easily topple over.

If your baby accidentally bumps into your television stand, you wouldn’t want the TV to fall on her. And as she starts scooting around, she will begin to pull herself up on things, like bookshelves – securing all of your furniture and electronics will save from both scares and serious injuries.

Fill in Those Light Sockets

Again, you may think you have some time before baby becomes mobile, and you certainly do, but you will be so consumed and distracted by her needs each day, that her mobility, and all it means, can certainly sneak up on you.

So, go ahead and by those light-socket protectors and get them in. Scan the whole house, especially her nursery and any other room you intend on letting her spend time in. Don’t forget to fill in the sockets in any power cords you have as well.

Better to prepare way in advance than get reminded that you need them the first time you see your baby belly-scoot over to a light-socket.

Pad Those Corners

Even before she’ll be walking, she will be bumping and falling – there’s just no way to avoid it. But, you can make your home a bit more hospitable for pulling up, falling, scooting, bumping, etc. by padding sharp corners on furniture.

Many stores have corner pads specifically for this purpose, or you can even create your own with a bit of creativity and a trip to the local hardware store. It will be worth it – a pad on a sharp, hard corner can make the difference between a few tears and a trip to the ER.

Breathe

Bringing a new baby into your home is such an exciting time in your life. You are getting ready to add a whole new life to your home. There will be a new, incredible love, new discoveries, new struggles, new adventures.

Taking these first steps preparing a healthy and safe home for your new baby will help you enjoy those first moments and days without any added worry and that peace of mind will be so worth the extra work now.