Babies and toddlers especially have a knack for getting into mischief and a Caribbean home dressed for the Holidays may not be the safest place for them to explore.
To keep the littlest family members safe in the home this year, Loop is sharing some childproofing tips.
Kids are going to touch, grab, pull, push, crawl, hop, skip and jump around the house, so let’s make it child-friendly where we can.
Here are six ways to childproof your space:
1. Do not decorate the bottom of the Christmas tree
People may find it weird but your answer is – THA BABY!
2. Avoid glass ornaments, or if you have glass and breakable ornaments, keep them to the top of the Christmas tree.
Placing the fragile ornaments at the highest points of the tree is you literally putting them out of reach of your babies and toddlers.
3. Secure the tree
If you can tie a string around your tree and anchor it around a wall hook or even to a chair or a stand nearby, that would be a good idea too. The baby may have no decorations to grab at the bottom but he or she could try holding on to the tree to pull up himself or herself and that could spell Trouble with a capital T.
Hack: Use fishing-line and no one will see what’s holding up your tree.
4. Block the tree
The NFL may be on to something with blockers. Even in basketball players talk about setting up a screen. So what can you do? Protect the tree! Got heavy books or a couple of boxes and some rocks? You can make a gate of huge presents around the tree – fake heavy gifts. That’s right! Wrap some old textbooks or some shoeboxes and biscuit boxes with rocks inside to prevent your young one from getting to the tree.
You can also use a baby gate, but that’s not as festive or creative.
5. Avoid table runners
If you have a menorah (Hanukkah) or a kinara (Kwanzaa), these are the candle holders, then try to avoid placing them on a table runner. If the tassels or edges are within reach of a kid, he or she could pull the runner and that should be avoided at all costs.
Extra Tip: Consider a flameless battery-operated or USB-charger LED Kinara or Menorah. They actually have such!
6. Keep cords hidden
All the extension cords and Christmas lights cords, keep them out of the way. Do not let your children plugin nor “plug-out”, that is unplug if you’re not Bajan, the lights without your supervision.
Loop wishes you a safe Holiday Season especially if it’s your baby’s first!
