Christmas is an incredibly exciting time for a baby. A real treat for their senses, suddenly their home is filled with new smells, lights and colours! Whilst your baby’s first Christmas can be a huge milestone worth celebrating, if baby is crawling or walking and curious, it can also introduce a number of new hazards into your home which you need to baby proof against.
Here are some hints and tips on how to make your home safe for your baby at Christmas:
Christmas Tree
Without a doubt one of the biggest challenges at Christmas with a baby is the presence of a Christmas Tree. Whether it’s real fur tree or an artificial brightly lit tree with hanging ornaments – it is like a magnet to curious hands.
The location of your tree is crucial – you may want to consider putting your tree in a corner behind furniture which makes it harder for them to reach, raising it up high on a table or creating some kind of blockade that means you its more challenging for them to get too close.
When using ornaments, you may want to consider placing them higher up on the tree (avoiding the lower branches) and use shatterproof ornaments where possible, so that they won’t smash and break if dropped. You should hang glass or sentimental ornaments higher up and avoid baubles with beads or small parts that if dislodged could cause a choking hazard.
If your tree is particularly tall or large, you may also want to consider mounting it to the wall to prevent a topple hazard, or ensure that the base is sufficiently weighted down.
Lights and Candles
If you are hanging fairy lights internally, make sure they are out of reach and without trailing wires that could be pulled or tugged on by a crawling or cruising baby.
If you are wishing to light festive candles or candelabras, do so with caution. Either wait till the children are in bed before lighting them, or keep them up out of reach and don’t leave the room unattended in any circumstances. For a safer option you could even opt for battery powered / solar candles that create a similar effect without the hazards associated with a naked flame.
Presents
Presents are incredibly fascinating for babies and toddlers – who doesn’t love opening a surprise parcel? With glittery, bright coloured paper, ribbons and bows, you can hardly blame them for wanting to investigate further!
My personal advice would be to avoid putting Christmas presents under the tree until Christmas Eve unless you want them to be opened before the big day. All that textured paper to peel away and reveal is far too tempting for little hands.
On the big day itself, get a large bin sack to gather up recycling cardboard and plastic as you open, ensuring that no small pieces of packaging are left behind.
If you have older children, it’s also really important to ensure that when their presents are opened, smaller parts are removed or placed out of reach that could be a choking hazard to a cruising baby.
One thing is for sure, Christmas will be a little different in 2020, we hope you all manage to stay safe and well and bring back a little of the magic where possible!
