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As you welcome a new baby, prepare for toddlerhood, or relocate to a new home, it is important to provide a safe environment for your child. The resources below can help with that process.
General Guidance
- Create a Safe Environment for Your Family
This booklet provides information on childproofing, harmful house products, safe plants, outdoor safety, and child safety resources. - Childproofing Your Home – 12 Safety Devices To Protect Your Children
This resource, from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, provides a list of inexpensive child-safety devices that are easy to find and easy to install. Also available in printable PDF. - Injury Prevention Starts at Home
This resource, from the Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center, provides information for families on how to prevent injuries at home. Also available in a printable PDF in English and a Spanish. - Childproofing Your Home – HealthyChildren.org
Before or as soon as children begin crawling or walking, parents and caregivers need to take extra steps to make sure harmful items are out of reach, out of sight, and locked up if possible. Also available in Spanish. - Childproofing Your Home – National Safety Council
This article provides information on suffocation, high-risk zones in the home, safety tips, and suggestions to help families prepare for the unexpected. - A Helpful Guide for Parents and Caregivers – Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
Common causes of accidental childhood injuries include drowning, falls, fires or burns, poisoning, suffocation and motor vehicle crashes. This guide, intended to spark conversations with caseworkers, covers health and safety concerns and avoiding risks. Also available in PDF in English and Spanish.
Checklists
- Childproofing Your Home: A Room-by-Room Safety Checklist
This checklist, from Georgia Extension, includes basic tips, broken down by room, to help make your home safer for the whole family. Also available in printable PDF. - Childproofing Checklist by Age
Learn important safety measures you can take to childproof your home, based on the age and development of your child. Also available in printable PDF. - Is Your Home “Baby-Proof?” Safety Checklist
Protect your baby from unnecessary injury; check your home for these safety hazards. This checklist focuses on infants and young toddlers. Also available in Spanish. - Home Safety Checklist: Keeping Kids Safe, Room by Room
This checklist, from SafeKids Worldwide, shows tips to keep kids safe, room by room. Also available in Spanish and Portuguese.
Videos
- Home Safety Webinar
View this webinar from the National Center on Health to discover safety risks and injury prevention tips for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Explore some home safety checklists that families and staff can complete together. Learn new ways to engage families in a conversation about injury prevention. Additional Safety and Injury Prevention Resources are provided in multiple languages. - How to Childproof Your Home – This Old House
This short video demonstrates quick, effective ways to safeguard children around the home. - How to Add Childproofing to a Home – Ask This Old House
This short video provides a parent with tips to keep a baby safe around the house by using cabinet locks, a baby gate, outlet covers, and securing a television.
Additional Resources
- A&H Childproofers
This Chicagoland group provides education on and installation of child safety products to help families create safe spaces for children in their homes. - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The CDC provides comprehensive lists of safety information for families with infants and toddlers, and children ages 4–11. - Consumer Product Safety Commission
The commission provides many free safety resources, including alerts, posters, brochures, handbooks, and other materials that you can use to help spread consumer product safety information in your community. Also available in Spanish.
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