Take a close look around your home. Look at your home from your point of view and from your new baby’s point of view – this does mean getting on your hands and knees and crawling about! If you are heavily pregnant – get your partner to do this bit! You will notice different things this way – the cat’s litter tray, the waste paper bin, the stone frog sitting by the fire…. 

Child and baby safety – 13 things to look out for in your home:

1. Where are chemicals stored? Bleach, household cleaners etc
2. Toilets – can a toddler get into your toilet?
3. Taps – can a toddler reach them and turn them on?
4. Staircases – this sounds obvious – but don’t miss it out. You don’t need to worry about staircases until your baby starts to move about on her own – but better to be safe than sorry
5. Sharp edges on tables and other furniture – look for furniture at child height and below – like coffee tables
6. Electrical appliances – does your toaster or kettle cord hang over the worktop, can any appliances or appliance power cords be reached? Where do you keep your electric razor, curling tongs, hairdryer, mobile phone charger, headphones. In the modern world – the list is almost endless.
7. Plug sockets – it’s amazing how many you have – count them and count again – it is easy to miss one or two out – and they are usually at a perfect height for little fingers.
8. Heavy furniture that could fall on your baby – bookcases, lamps, entertainment units, CD towers.
9. Window blind cords – do they have loops that can get caught round a child’s neck? I was alerted to this danger when my cat got caught in the cord of my window blind!
10. Sharp utensils – where do you keep your knives?
11. Doors that lock on the inside – like the bathroom or toilet.
12. Choking hazards – anything that is small enough for a baby or young child to put in their mouth, do you have any decorative stones, pot-pourri, candles.
13. Look for broken items – these could be your things, or your child’s toys. Throw away anything that is broken.

Once you are aware of potential danger-spots -  you can remedy many of them simply.

Sometimes de-cluttering and tidying up will eradicate many of them. Removing items (if only until your child is old enough to not use them as a toy) and putting things out of reach are two more ways of child/baby proofing your home (remember anything that is moved higher up like onto a mantle-piece – make sure it cannot fall). Any toys or books that are for your child – make sure they can reach them easily.

Using child safety products does help protect our children and gives us peace of mind. Try these great safety products

See our other articles on baby safety.
Baby and child safety in the home – useful information
Child safety products that can help prevent injuries to babies and young children

Safety latches and locks for cabinets and drawers

To prevent poisoning and other injuries check the contents of all your cupboards and drawers.

Especially check kitchens and bathrooms, but also remember anywhere that you keep dangerous items. Knives, gardening products, medicines, to name a few.

Remember toddlers are good at climbing – even when you think they can not do something – they often can! Toddlers are curious and determined – they will use things to climb onto to get to where they want to go.

Tip: In the garage or storage shed, store all weed killers and chemicals in a locked cabinet and place the key in a location where your child cannot find it.

Corner and edge bumpers
Check any item of furniture that a baby or young child could fall or run into. Coffee tables, fireplaces, TV stands

Plug socket covers
Little fingers will investigate given the chance use covers to help prevent electrocution. My toddler showed me where a socket cover was missing, and told me it was ‘all better’ when I had put a cover on. But what if he wanted to play with it and not be so safety conscious?

Safety gates (also known as stair-gates)

These help prevent falls down stairs and to also help keep children away from certain areas at certain times. You can use them on their bedroom for example to stop them venturing out at night, or on the kitchen to stop them wandering in where there are numerous dangerous things at the best of times, let alone when you are cooking.

Door locks and latches
These help prevent children from entering rooms and other areas where there are potential dangers. Make sure any extra locks or bolts you fit are higher than a child can reach.

Door stops
These can prevent a door from slamming or trapping small fingers

Don’t forget a fridge/freezer lock or toilet seat lock

Don’t answer the phone or the door if it means leaving your baby / young child unattended.

Smoke detectors
Even without a baby in the house, these are an essential bit of home safety kit. If you contact your local fire brigade, their fire safety officer will often supply and fit a smoke detector for you.

Remember to check your smoke detectors regularly to make sure they’re working – a detector that doesn’t work is as useless as not having one.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) detector
Use these if you have any gas products in your home to prevent CO poisoning.

Window guards and safety netting
These prevent windows from opening more than a couple of centimetres, (they probably are a good security measure too) to help prevent falls from windows, balconies, and landings. Netting will help falls into ponds and pools.

Remember to check windows that are close to the ground, like patio-doors and French windows – - could a running toddler or small child break them?

Cut window blind cords

There seem to be more and more horrific stories in the press of young children getting trappein window blind cords. Don’t let your child get caught – it is much better to cut the cord or replace it with a safer method like safety tassels.

This article is intended as food for thought only. It is every parent’s responsibility to make sure their child is safe. Please take home safety seriously – but remember – DON’T HAVE NIGHTMARES!

Using child safety products does help protect our children and gives us peace of mind. Try these great safety products

See our other articles on baby safety
Baby and child safety in the home – useful information
Child and baby safety – 13 things to look out for in your home

Remember that young children and babies still need to be supervised even if safety devices are installed. You’d be surprised at how inventive kids can be!! Our son tried bashing the newly fitted stair-gate with his toy hammer – that desperate he was to try and open the gate to get up the stairs! Of course I was alerted to him doing this by the sound of ‘bang, squeak’ ‘bang, squeak’ with the toy hammer going at full pelt.

The first thing I would recommend you do is take a close look around your home. Look at your home from your point of view and from your new baby’s point of view – this does mean getting on your hands and knees and crawling about! If you are heavily pregnant – get your partner to do this bit! You will notice different things this way – the cat’s litter tray, the waste paper bin, the stone frog sitting by the fire…. Have a look at our articles  on child and baby safety in the home and child safety products.

Once you are aware of potential danger-spots you can remedy many of them simply. Sometimes de-cluttering and tidying up will eradicate many of them. Removing items (if only until your child is old enough to not use them as a toy) and putting things out of reach are two more ways of child/baby proofing your home (remember anything that is moved higher up like onto a mantle-piece – make sure it cannot fall). Any toys or books that are for your child – make sure they can reach them easily.

No amount of de-cluttering will be enough though, some things will need child safety products fitting to make them safer.

Using child safety products does help protect our children and gives us peace of mind. Try these great safety products

See our other articles on child and baby safety
Baby safety products that can help prevent many injuries to babies and young children
Child and baby safety – 13 things to look out for in your home

Buying a car seat is one of the most important purchases you will ever make for your baby.

It will probably first be used to take your new baby home from the hospital. Nervous as you might be about taking your new youngster home – you don’t want to worry about whether you have the right car seat. 

The most important thing to remember when buying you baby their car seat is; safety, safety, safety.

It is easy to look for a seat that has passed European safety standards, but this alone is not enough. (Car seats must conform to the European safety standards ECE R44.03.)

Not all car seats fit all cars and a secure fit is crucial. If you are buying your car seat online, make sure your car is listed as a model that your chosen car seat will fit in to.

You can test the seat at many large superstores , these stores often help with the installation of your new car seat, as will many smaller independent shops.

Children up to and under 1.35metres (and under 11 years) need to use either a car seat or a booster seat.

For more information on the rules that came into force in September 2006 on car seats, see the Child Car Seat section of the Department for transport website

Some car seat safety tips

• NEVER use a child’s car seat on a passenger seat where there is an air bag fitted
• NEVER travel with a child unless they’re strapped into a car seat.
• NEVER strap your child into your seat belt with you – in an accident, you would crush them.
• NEVER  modify a child seat, it’s fitting, the harness, or buckle to make it fit your car.
• NEVER use a rearward-facing car seat on the front passenger seat
• Your child seat should rest firmly on the main seat, with little or no movement.
• Check that you cannot get more than two fingers between the harness straps and your child’s chest: tight enough to be sage, but still comfortable.
• The harness buckle should lie on your baby’s pelvis, not tummy.
• Regularly check fixed car seats to ensure that they haven’t worked loose. Pull on the harness of the seat to test thoroughly.
• NEVER modify a child seat, it’s fitting, the harness, or buckle to make it fit your car.
• NEVER buy a second-hand car seat – as you do not know for sure the history of the seat.
• NEVER use a seat that has been involved in a crash, no matter how minor.
• Watch out for unsecured objects in the car that could be dangerous – in an accident, a tissue box flying off the back shelf has the impact of a house brick.
• If you have to use the front seat with an older child, (who is in a forward-facing seat) push the passenger seat as far back as possible from the dashboard.
• Use a car seat for all journeys, however short. Even if you don’t own a car you’ll still need a car seat for when you get a lift from friends or take a cab.

Fitting the car seat – things to remember

• Read the instructions carefully – remember up to 80% of car seats are fitted incorrectly
• Always try before you buy to make sure it fits your make of car
• Practice fitting theseat a few times before you need to use it, you don’t want to be wanting to take your new baby home from the hospital, but are delyaed because you can’t fit the car seat!
• Fasten the seat into the car as tightly as possible. There should be no slack or loose seatbelts
• Adjust the harnessfor a snug fit against the child’s chest
• When correctlyinstalled, the car seat should not move or slide around excessively

For more information on children’s car seats and safety have a look at the RoSPA website http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/

Great deals on car seats and carriers

Other related articles:
Baby car seat jargon buster.
Baby car seat – quick guide to ISOFIX car seats.

What is ISOFIX? 

• ISOFIX  is a standard for installing child seats into cars and is intended to make fitting child seats quick and simple.
• Car manufacturers and car seat manufacturers build ISOFIX points into their product. You can then easily plug an ISOFIX car seat into ISOFIX points on a car.
• All new cars are fitted with ISOFIX points. But it is important to make sure that any ISOFIX seats that you use in your car are suitable for that car. It is not yet the case that any ISOFIX seat will fit in every car with ISOFIX points.

Why is ISOFIX recommended?
Many car seats are fitted incorrectly – this is dangerous and potentially fatal.
ISOFIX makes it easier, safer and often quicker to fix a car seat correctly and securely into your car.

How does ISOFIX work?
The ISOFIX system works by attaching the car seat directly and securely to the car itself. This is opposed to fitting the car seat with adult seat belts, as in traditional car seats.

Does my car have ISOFIX?

• Your car manual, dealer or manufacturer will tell you whether your car has ISOFIX mounting points.
• Not all cars with ISOFIX anchorage points fitted will necessarily fit your chosen seat.
• Can you return your seat if  it doesn’t fit, or try before you buy? For example, a friend of mine has a car that SHOULD fit my baby’s ISOFIX seat, the manufacturers guidelines say it will – but it doesn’t.

Types of ISOFIX

Universal
Three isofix anchorage points. For forward facing car seats (Group 1 and above).
From Feb 2006, every car produced will have Universal Isofix anchorage points.

Semi-Universal
Two Isofix anchorage points with supportive leg.
It is a car specific solution, so you should refer to a compatibility listing to ensure it fits your car.

Rearward-facing car seats (Group 0+) can only be semi-universal.

Car Specific
Two Isofix anchorage points which can be converted to ‘Universal’ by using a top tether strap.

Do all ISOFIX car seats fit all cars with ISOFIX anchorage points ?

• This is the idea, but it hasn’t happened yet. Check compatibility with your car and the seat you intend to buy.
• Your car manual, dealer or manufacturer will tell you whether your car has ISOFIX mounting points, and the manufacturer of the car seat will tell you which make and models of car will be suitable for each car seat.
• Many of the child seat manufacturers have a fitting list on their website that tells you which cars their seats will fit in.

MaxiCosi and Britax are market leaders in the UK for producing ISOFIX car seats, follow these links for a list of cars their seats are suitable for.

MaxiCosi
http://www.maxi-cosi.co.uk/maxicosi/default.aspx?language=gb-en
Britax
http://www.britax.co.uk

Why is ISOFIX  safer than traditional car seats?
You may have seen reports where most children’s car seats are fitted badly.
As you don’t need to use adult seatbelts to fit the car seat, ISOFIX greatly reduces the risk of fitting the car seat badly.

This was my primary consideration when looking for a car seat. I knew we were going to use one seat in several cars, therefore it seemed sensible to have a car seat that didn’t use adult seatbelts.

Other related articles:
Baby car seat – first things first – safety.
Baby car seat jargon buster.

For more information on individual ISOFIX car seats and bases, have a look at the products below. Click on the images and there are has useful customer reviews, great prices, and items are delivered right to your door.

You can use the box below to search for products or just browse.

• Even when pregnant, you are required by law to wear your seat belt.
• Wear your seatbelt with the diagonal strap across your body between your breasts and the lap belt over your upper thighs. The straps should lie above and below your ‘bump’, not over it. The belt will protect you and your baby.
• Avoid long trips and avoid jolts (travelling in old cars, or over bumpy ground etc).

• Have lots of breaks
• Airbags. Safety experts recommend that you should move your seat as far away from the steering wheel as possible as this will allow room for the airbag to inflate correctly.
• Be prepared! In case of breakdown, take food, water, blankets, warm clothes and a torch in the car.
• Carry a mobile phone with you at all times.
• Have details of your breakdown recovery service, (or join one if you aren’t a member already)
• Don’t drive yourself to hospital when you are in labour. If you know there won’t be anyone to drive you to hospital when you go into labour, discuss this with your midwife in advance. If you find when the big moment comes, that your partner cannot be there to drive you, use a taxi or call the hospital if it seems that an emergency ambulance is needed.

Travelling by train

The least tiring mode of transport! (in theory, I reckon they are very stressful when really full at rush hour!)

Tips when travelling by train

• Travel with your back to the direction of travel, so any sudden stops will not send you into the table – unless of course travelling this way round makes you feel sick!
• Make sure loos are easily gotten to – when pregnant you will probably make more trips there!
• Check to see if a porter can help you on and off with your luggage
• Make sure you have booked a seat, sit back, sip some bottled water and relax.

Other related articles
Health and beauty in pregnancy – what should I avoid?
Exercising, sports and other activities while pregnant – what should I avoid and why?
Can I fly and go abroad when I’m pregnant?

In a normal, healthy pregnancy, some exercise is good. However, you should check with your GP, or midwife, that exercising won’t be a risk for you, also ask them about the particular exercise that you want to do.

Recommended sports.

• cycling (but not after the second trimester – after 26 weeks – due to the risk of falls)
• exercise bike
• walking
• swimming
• yoga

Avoid dangerous and strenuous activities

Most of us would not consider the following at the best of times, least of all when pregnant – but some people can’t get enough of them. Knowing you have to stop must be hard!! Nevertheless due to the risk of miscarriage or premature labour, some activities should be avoided.

Basically, avoid activities that involve high altitudes due to the changes in oxygen levels that might trigger a premature labour or those which can involve a decrease in oxygen:

• mountaineering
• hot air ballooning
• hiking
• scuba diving
• alpine skiing

Avoid activities where there is a risk of hard falls, or where you might be thrown off balance:

• horse riding
• gymnastics
• water skiing
• hang-gliding
• skydiving
• hockey
• skiing
• bungee jumping

This is not an exhaustive list (just exhausting!) always consult your GP or midwife if you are pregnant and want to exercise.

Complications – always seek immediate medical advice if any of the following happen if you are exercising and are pregnant:

• dizziness or headaches,
• chest pains or heart palpitations (when you notice an irregular heartbeat),
• severe or rapid swelling or your hands, feet or face,
• vaginal pains, bleeding, or contractions, or
• having difficulty walking.

If any of the above happen – stop exercising and seek medical advice immediately.

What activities should I avoid during pregnancy?

Fairground rides

Fairground rides such as roller coasters, can be dangerous if you’re pregnant because the rapid stops and starts may cause damage to your womb (uterus). Most rides at theme parks and funfairs have signs that advise pregnant women not to go on them.

Work hazards

If you work in an environment that exposes you to chemicals, radiation, X-rays or lead you may be putting your baby at risk. The same is true if you have a job that involves a lot of heavy lifting.

If you have concerns you should discuss them with your GP, midwife, occupational health nurse, union representative or Human Resources department.

If your work involves a known and recognised risk it may be illegal for you continue, and your employer must offer you suitable alternative work on terms and conditions that are not substantially less favourable than your original job. If no safe alternative is available, your employer should suspend you on full pay for as long as necessary to avoid any risk.

If you are working during pregnancy you may find that you get very tired during the first and last weeks of pregnancy. Try to use any break to rest, relax and eat.

If you are currently working 9 to 5 it may be a good idea to ask your employer to modify your hours so you do not have to travel during the rush hour, which can prove stressful and tiring for some women.

Some women are worried that exposure to VDUs (Visual Display Units on computers) may affect their baby. The latest research shows no evidence of any risk.

Other related articles
Tell me about driving and travelling by train when pregnant
Health and beauty in pregnancy – what should I avoid?
Can I fly and go abroad when I’m pregnant?