Learn More About Your Pregnancy
Baby Safety Checklist
Bedroom
- Place your baby to sleep on his or her back on a firm, tight- fitting mattress that fits well in a crib that meets current safety standards. Placing babies to sleep on pillows or folded quilts can result in death by suffocation.
- Do not place pillows or thick quilts anywhere in a baby’s sleep environment due to the risk of suffocation.
- Do not use any crib that has missing, broken, or loose parts.
- Tighten hardware from time to time to keep the crib sturdy.
- Never place baby’s crib near window blinds and curtain cords due to risk of strangulation.
Bathroom
- Never, ever leave your child alone in a bathtub or near water – even for a moment.
- Remember: bath seats or rings or other bathing aids are not safety devices.
- Keep medicines and cleaning products with child resistant lids locked and out of reach of children.
- Install non-slip stickers or mats to slippery bathtubs.
Kitchen
- Do not leave baby alone in a highchair.
- Always strap baby into the highchair.
- Keep matches, lighters, knives, and cleaning products locked and out of reach of children.
Around the house
- Use safety gates to block stairways and other dangerous areas. Avoid older gates that can collapse and entrap babies.
- Keep all small objects, especially round objects such as balls, magnets, and marbles, away from children.
- Keep older sibling’s toys out of reach of children under 3 years of age, especially magnets, toys and games with small pieces, and balloons.
- To avoid falls, secure windows with window guards – these attach to your windows and make it so the window cannot be opened more than a few inches.
- Secure furniture and TVs to the wall to avoid tip-overs.
- Place bumpers to sharp edges of coffee tables, television stands, or other furniture where baby could fall and hit their head.
- Install smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
- Change alarm batteries every year.
