As parents, we can tell you that there is no greater joy than seeing your baby reach his or her first milestones. First solid food, first words, first steps…they all pale in comparison to that exhilarating moment when your child opens their first cupboard or drawer. Not! Depending on what you store in your cupboards and drawers that moment can be absolutely terrifying. We recently upgraded our baby-proofing gear because our son is now climbing to reach those off-limit spaces so we wanted to write a post covering the basics of getting the home ready for that mischievous explorer in your life. For those of you who have someone going around opening drawers; pulling out utensils, clothes, and God knows what, or even attempting to climb TV stands or dinning tables then this post is just for you. Here are five basic contraptions that you’ll need to baby proof your home, along with a glimpse of what they look like in our house and a shopping list of the specific products we went with.

1. Safety locks for keeping those adorable fingers out of drawers, cabinets, appliances, and trouble!

2. Flat TV straps to prevent your television from tipping forward and causing a serious injury (God forbid).

3. Edge and corner covers to cushion the blow when your child’s head collides with the furniture (because there’s a high chance it will…more than once).

4. Baby safety gate(s) to keep your little ones contained and away from the danger of stairs.

5. Outlet Protectors…because the last thing you want to be worrying about are fingers and objects getting jammed in sockets.

Baby Proof Shopping List
1. Safety locks: Sure Basics & Babies R US
2. TV Straps: QuakeHOLD
3. Edge and Corner Covers: Roving Cove
4. Baby Gate: Summer Infant
5. Outlet Protectors: Safety 1st

This is by no means a comprehensive list but we have installed all of these products and have found life with our hobbit to be much more manageable. They’re not the most stylish looking contraptions but they are easy to install and definitely get the job done. Of course, nothing works better than your own two eyes so being alert and using common sense is the best way to eliminate any baby hazards in your home.

What are your must-have baby-proofing gadgets? Let us know in the comments below. And as always…

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