Get down on the floor, literally
The audit that works is done on your knees. Move through each room at the height of a nine-month-old and note what you can reach, pull, open or tip: outlet slots, cords hanging off counters, drawers with medicine, the wobbly bookcase. From an adult height half of these are invisible.
Write the list per room. Childproofing a whole house in one weekend burns people out; one room done properly beats five rooms done halfway.
The order that makes sense
Stairs first, if you have them, because falls on stairs are the worst outcome on the list. Then the kitchen, where cleaners, knives and hot things live at toddler height. Then the bathroom, then outlets and furniture in the living areas, then the nursery itself, which is usually the least dangerous room in the house because you built it around the baby.
Travel gear can wait until the first long drive, with one exception: the car mirror, which you will want from the first ride home.
What each stage of mobility adds
Rolling adds nothing to the hardware list but changes where you can leave the baby. Crawling activates everything at floor level: outlets, cords, door gaps, the dog bowl. Pulling to stand activates edges, drawers and everything that can tip. Climbing, which arrives shockingly early in some children, activates whatever you thought was out of reach.
Fit the hardware one stage ahead of where your child is. The gap between first crawl and first speed crawl is measured in days.
Worth remembering
- Do the audit at toddler height; standing adults miss floor-level hazards.
- Order of installation: stairs, kitchen, bathroom, living areas, nursery.
- Fit hardware one mobility stage ahead; stages change faster than shopping does.
- Hardware buys an adult reaction time. It never replaces the adult.
Childproofing is not a product, it is a habit with products attached. Start earlier than feels necessary and go room by room.
