Am I Supposed to Toddler-Proof My Home?

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Do I need to actually toddler-proof my home? I did the baby proofing thing, but do I need to lock the toilets or cabinets or anchor my furniture? Is this overkill? I’m almost tempted to let it go, but my mom is stressing me about it.

—Delilah Ann

It can feel like there are almost an infinite number of things you need to do to baby- and toddler-proof your home. Locking cabinets, covering outlets, and securing the toilet seat (this last one is often a challenge for adults to get through).

The challenge here is figuring out which of these to prioritize. It is, for example, possible for a toddler to drown in a toilet, but it is incredibly rare (toilet drowning deaths are rare to begin with, and they are mostly in younger babies). Similarly, there are deaths every year for children under 5 from unsecured window cords or draperies. But the numbers are incredibly small — an estimated nine deaths in a population of 24 million children.

Ultimately, we would like to limit risks where possible, but also recognize that we cannot avoid every possible risk, and we have to balance risk reduction with reality. The other important consideration to keep in mind: children vary. Some kids are very cautious and not inclined to try to open every cabinet. Others are more mobile, so ultimately, how much of this you do is going to depend on your kid.

With that said, there are some priorities. Roughly, you should focus your toddler-proofing on areas where something very bad could happen if you look away briefly. These include:

Stairs: falling down stairs is a common source of injury. Baby gates or some other barrier are a good idea.
Poison: Better than locking cabinets is moving anything poisonous (cleaning supplies, etc.) to high shelves so even if a child got into a cabinet, they wouldn’t have access.
Smoke alarms: you should have these, and they should have batteries! This is for you as well as your children.
Anchoring furniture: The number of injuries from furniture falling on children is small, but anchoring furniture is also a one-time, easy-to-do activity. Especially for furniture in your child’s room (like a dresser), put in an anchor.

Most other things — covering every outlet, locking every toilet — are lower priority and may be unnecessary.