The Parenting Journal

The bedroom feels safe. It’s quiet, familiar, soft-edged. And that’s exactly why it catches parents off guard.Most of the serious hazards in a child’s bedroom don’t announce themselves. They look like furniture. They look like windows. They look like a...

Key Takeaways Plug-in caps are easily defeated by toddlers and create a secondary choking hazard when removed. Sliding plate covers offer always-on protection with no choking risk, ideal for renters. Tamper-resistant receptacles are the most reliable long-term solution for homeowners....

Most parents think about babyproofing the way they think about filing taxes: something to handle once, check off the list, and never revisit. But babies don’t stay still, and neither do hazards. The corner protectors you installed in March look...

My older daughter figured out the round doorknob cover at 28 months. She’d watched me open it a dozen times, and one afternoon she just sat down, worked both thumbs into the seam, and popped it off like she’d been...

Plastic plug-in outlet caps have been in the "babyproofing starter kit" for decades. They cost almost nothing, they ship in packs of twenty-five, and they feel like a solved problem. They are not a solved problem.A 1997 Temple University study...

Every year, the CDC estimates that more than 3.5 million children under 14 are treated in emergency rooms for unintentional injuries, and a significant share of those involve falls against hard furniture edges. Corner and edge injuries are common enough...

Most parents think of babyproofing as a project they’ll get to eventually. Then their baby gets up on all fours and covers six feet of floor in about four seconds, and "eventually" becomes this afternoon.Month seven is the deadline. Not...

Renting changes the math on almost every babyproofing decision you make. You can’t drill into the tile. You can’t mount a gate to the wall without risking your deposit. And yet the hazards inside a rental are identical to the...