Baby proofing decks and balconies

Kimberlee Mitchell, Child Safety Expert, shares advice for parents on how to properly childproof your deck and balcony in order to keep your child safe
Baby Proofing Decks And Balconies - Kids Safety Advice
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Baby proofing decks and balconies

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When childproofing your deck, balcony, terrace, it's important to make sure that you start with making sure that that area is not accessible by your child, not freely accessible. So make sure that that perimeter door leading to that area is locked. Two locks, two barriers of protection would be recommended. Next, I would make sure that the railing once you go outside is up to your state's code. You don't want your child slipping through or getting stuck. If the railing is criss-crossed or sometimes they are kind of like a ladder, think ahead, think of what your child will inevitably do, climb up that ladder. So you want to make sure that you install plexiglass or some kind of deck netting so that your child can't get a foothold and climb up and over. So it's important to remember that the toys that your child brings outside are often stackable, and they're little geniuses and they do anything to be able to peak up and over. So they'll stack their toys and they could potentially fall. So keep very close supervision and be mindful of the toys you allow your child to bring out to that area. In addition to that, be mindful of the table and the chairs and the patio furniture that you have. I need to recommend that you don't have any furniture because they climb up really, really quick. When they're tiny, it takes a while but they can get up there really fast. So make sure that you have close supervision on your child out there in that area when it comes to climbing. If you have a barbecue, the best way to keep your baby safe would be to put up a heat-treated hearth gate so that your child has no access to that super hot barbecue.

Kimberlee Mitchell, Child Safety Expert, shares advice for parents on how to properly childproof your deck and balcony in order to keep your child safe

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Kimberlee Mitchell

Child Safety Expert

Kimberlee's callling is to be a wife and momma to two amazing kids. As a national child safety expert, in the unintentional child injury prevention industry, her mission is to educate parents as to how they can arm themselves with critical informaiton and the best practices to keep their children safe from needless serious injury. She hopes to help curb injury and death due to parents overlooking both common and hidden child safety hazzards in the home, yard, and car. The best protection is prevention....get ahead of the curve and childproof during pregnancy!

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