Getting your home ready for your new arrival should be about creating a safe, comfortable and baby-friendly space. Here’s our practical advice on how to baby-proof your home, organise your space, and create a welcoming environment for your little one.
Baby room ideas
Your baby’s room will be a space where they sleep, grow, and where you’ll comfort, bond with, and feed them. It’s also where practical tasks like nappy changing and getting them dressed will take place. Focus on creating a nursery that’s safe, calming, and welcoming. Begin by choosing a neutral yet warm colour scheme to make the room feel cozy and inviting. Layer different neutral tones to add interest and bring texture through furnishings and accessories to avoid a bland look.
By starting with a neutral colour base you also create longevity - so as your child grows you won’t need to paint it again, simply switch up the decor. If you have a small room avoid bulky furniture and use clever storage to keep it clutter-free and calm. Consider wall storage to save floor space and multifunction storage furniture, such as a changing table that also works as a chest of drawers. Think about how you position your furniture too - position your cot for a better sleep, by facing it away from the window and radiator to maximise sleep.
Stock up on bathtime safety essentials
Keep a bath thermometer in your bathroom cabinet, so you can make sure their bath water is at a safe temperature. A bath support or bath seat can help you to make sure your baby is more secure in the bath. Angelcare’s Soft-Touch Bath Support is designed for younger babies (up to around 6 months) and provides a worry-free bath time for all. Its smart design keeps baby secure, snug, and comfy in quickly warming soft-touch material that holds baby safely leaving your hands free to wash them. When they get older (6-10 months) you could try the Angelcare Soft Touch Baby Bath Seat. It fits nicely into your bath and is securely held in place by four extra strong suction cups, meaning bath time is less of a fuss.
New baby safety tips
To keep an eye on them as they sleep, keep an ear out for little sounds or monitor their movement, breathing or heart rate for extra peace of mind, try a smart baby camera or baby monitor. Our range includes models from the most popular smart baby monitor brands to monitor your little one at night or during naptime. You'll find simple audio monitors to listen out for sounds, or video smart baby monitors with enhanced audio, night vision and lullabies. Use a room thermometer too – it’s an easy way to make sure where they sleep is the optimum temperature for safe sleep. Choose one with an added night light to help them feel safer as they get used to sleeping in their own room too.
How to baby-proof your home
Making your home safe for babies isn’t something you need to strictly do on day one- during your baby’s first few days and weeks a baby can barely move unaided. However gradually they will learn to roll, sit up, crawl and then toddle, so the sooner you can get some safety measures in place, the more prepared you’ll be when they surprise you with a new milestone. As your little one grows and becomes more active, you'll need to find ways to baby proof your home to keep them safe. Sharp corners, doors and cupboards and stairs can all pose potential risks to your little one, so find products that are designed to limit these risks. Baby safety gates can give you peace of mind that your little one isn’t reaching places in the home where they can be at risk of getting hurt.
Products that help keep your baby safe are important, but they aren’t the end of the story. You need to be vigilant about what you leave out at home, particularly when you have a baby that’s crawling/toddling around, a toddler or young children, who can be particularly susceptible to the potential dangers of many household items. Just a few things to consider are: loose change and button batteries – both are potential choking hazards; household cleaning products and medication can be poisonous and even lethal; pot handles containing boiling hot water can be reached and grabbed; mugs of hot drinks can be knocked over and scald; cords (phone chargers, blind chords, baby monitor wires) can be a strangulation hazard. Always keep these far out of reach of little hands and mouths.
