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.