My baby is becoming more mobile. How can I keep her from getting hurt?

Описание: You mentioned you have an 8 month old girl who's crawling, into everything, pulling herself up on furniture, and that's good. She's doing things she should be doing at this point, meeting developmental milestones. But with that comes a lot of other issues like child-proofing and keeping her safe. You're wondering how you can stop her from bumping her head. In addition to that, there's a few other things to think of. So let's start with that. When she pulls herself up on furniture, put furniture guards on sharp corners. When my kids were little, I often put a really soft blanket underneath things they pull themselves up on, so if they did topple down, they hit something a bit softer.

The best thing you can do is be attentive all the time. Be there with your baby. With that said, I know things happen in a millisecond. You turn your head for a second and that's always when things happen. It's inevitable. If you look at toddlers, they're called toddlers for a reason - they toddle around and they often have goose eggs on their head, because they fall down and hit their head frequently. The best thing you can do is be really vigilant about watching her and child-proof your house as best as you can.

Let's say you have a fireplace with a hard stone around it. Put a soft blanket or pillows around that, so if she falls, she won't hit her head on the stone. Like we mentioned, furniture guards are good. Think about heavy furniture you have at your house - TVs, entertainment centers, dressers - all of those things have been known to topple over and injure (or even be fatal to) small children. So anchor large furniture to the wall. Make sure everything is secured in place. Avoid using tablecloths or placemats, because babies (when they start pulling themselves up on things), if they pull on that, it makes them slip, and if anything was on the table, it gets pulled onto them.

Be alert and aware about what you're putting in your baby's reach, because until this point, you probably haven't had to think much about that. But keep everything out of reach that might be a potential choking hazard, sharp objects, glass, heavy things that are on tables that she might pull onto herself. As she gets taller, when you're cooking, be alert and attentive if you have something on the stove, because toddlers have been known to either touch the unit or pull pots of boiling liquid onto them and be burned severely. So it's good to start thinking about these things as she's beginning to get older and more mobile.

There's also things like matches, knives, chemicals - you need to keep all those things out of your baby's reach, and put cabinet locks on. Put covers over your outlets. If you have the right type of stove, put stove covers on the different units. That can prevent babies from being burned when they begin reaching up that high. Windows are also another hazard. Keep your baby's crib and large furniture away from windows so that they can't get up to the window. Go around your house and see where all of the blind cords are. If they're not really high, then you might need to adjust those. Set them up high, or cut them, so that they're not within your child's reach, because those have been known to cause harm to children. Stairs are an obvious risk to a child, so make sure that you have gates at all stairs. If you have slats in the railings and they're greater than 4 inches, then stuff them with something or figure out a way to baby-proof that so they can't slip through.

Another good idea is to take a CPR class. You and your husband should learn the basics of CPR, the heimlich maneuver, all of those types of things, so that if one of those situations arises, you know how to respond. Another thing to think about is grocery shopping. There have been many instances where toddlers and babies have toppled out of the top of the grocery cart, because they're not well-secured. There's even situations where older siblings do what I call "cart-surfing", they're on the side, holding onto it, it topples over and the baby falls out with them.

Many accidents are preventable, but not all. Do your best to baby-proof your house. Be attentive and alert with your children at all times. I had a son that was out of control. I was so happy when he turned 1, 2, and 3, because every time he had a birthday, it means that we survived another year. He required my constant attention from 8-24 months, did many death-defying things, and made my heart race a few times. But as longs you're attentive, then there's a lot of accidents that you'll be able to prevent, but not all. When accidents do happen, call your pediatrician if your little one is showing symptoms that you're concerned about. They'll be able to give you the best advice about whether or not further investigation or treatment is necessary. If their injuries are pretty obvious, you know they need help, seek immediate medical attention.