One of the simplest ways to extend the life of your child is to fit a safety gate on stairs. Every year children die or are permanently injured after a tumble down stairs. After seeing people fall down stairs in the movies or on tv it’s easy to think a fall is no big deal. First, they’re stunt professionals, and second children are more likely to sustain an injury. A safety gate helps keep toddlers who’re at the crawling, walking, or riding on toys safe near stairs or other areas that are unsafe. Protecting little hands from fire places, heaters, or hot ovens is also an essential.

Here’s some tips for buying a safe baby gate:
Makes sure the gate mounts to a door frame with solid hardware. Stay away from flimsy fittings (remember the gate will need to stay in place for probably a couple of years or more). Make sure the fittings are snug and without gaps that would allow little fingers to probe and get stuck.

Photo by treehouse1977Make sure there are no sharp edges on any of the fittings, including if the screw heads had burred up during the installation.

Friction-fit (pressure fit) gates that mount on the door frame are unacceptable. Kids will rattle the gates, or bang into them on wheeled toys, or the materials in the gate could shrink with wear – over time the gate could move, and a child could push the gate open. The resulting fall could be fatal.

Makes sure the gate opens away from the stairs. This way if the catch fails the child’s weight against the gate will help it stay closed. If the gate swings the other way the risk of a fall is much higher.

The gate needs to be mounted two inches (50 mm) above the floor to ensure little fingers/toes don’t get stuck between the bottom of the gate and the floor. Note to parents/older people climbing up the stairs – the gap is a wonderful opportunity to ‘post’ toys and other items through. They disappear in a highly satisfactory manner – and represent a real hazard underfoot. Take care.

Photo by sean dreilingerMake sure the gap between the bars/barriers in the gate are too narrow to admit a child’s head. A maximum gap between the bars of about 2 inches (50 mm) is likely to be safe.

The bars/barriers need to be vertical, otherwise you’re providing a ladder for the child to climb up. Having a narrow gap between the bars/barriers helps reducing the chances that a child will be able to get a foot in and try to climb the gate.

You’re likely to need the gate for around a couple of years – when your child’s standing height has reached about three quarters of the height of the gate (probably around age two) it’s time to introduce the idea of training the child in stair safety. Once the idea of taking care around the stairs has been bedded in it’s time to remove the gate, although you might like to keep the gate handy for birthday and other parties. Accidents happen when kids are excited and run around – chasing games can end with nasty surprises. You could help stop that with the temporary use of the gate.

Photo by mnd.ctrl

Baby Health ideas
Perfectly practical health care products are ideal. Obviously a healthy baby is off to a terrific start, so some gift lines work just fine. They don’t have to be boring either – you can repackage items like baby wipes, q-tips, and disposable diapers in beautiful boxes or lidded jars that can be reused after baby has grown on from that stage. Baby body lotion, baby powder, baby safety pins, baby thermometer, diaper bags, and disinfectants – they’re all essentials worth stocking up on – and if you combine the essentials with some little luxuries everyone will love it.

Photo by absentheroBaby Feeding ideas
Who knew a baby would need so many different food related things? Thank goodness, it gives us a great opportunity to come up with gifts for the immediate and longer plan. Many people keep their baby mug or plate all their lives – so go for classic, long lasting products. Here’s some ideas – feeding spoons, bottles, bibs (you can never have too many), baby formula, bottle holders, bottle brush sets, bottle sterilisers, breast pump, tipper cup, nipples, baby burp towels, bathrobes, and plastic baby dishes.

If you’re thinking longer term there are the classic ‘Bunnykins’ and Beatrix Potter (Peter Rabbit) designs – beautiful. If you’re going for bottle brushes you might want to get a number of similar brushes so they can be discarded to help maintain hygiene.

It might sound a little scary, but you could think about building a little survival/emergency kit for baby. Sure, crazy scary. Think about it though – if there was a snow storm/weather crisis/earthquake/fire how easy would it be to get safe food for baby? Put together a kit of formula and pure water with a few diapers and other essentials – how much less stressful for the parents if they can just grab baby and the kit and head for safety. OK, so there’s no need to panic, but what about having a lazy Sunday morning and “oh-oh we’ve run out of formula”? You’ve come to the rescue.

Baby Clothes ideas
Photo by Sew Katie Did
You’re never too young to be fashionable – and there’s some fantastic clothing available for babies. They need clothing immediately – go for practical and fashionable. The list is almost endless – undershirts, sleepers, blankets, diapers, socks for starters – and then you can really get going. If you’re new to picking out clothing for baby, here’s the big clue – go for clothing that’s easy to put on and take off from the baby. Go for timeless elegance and don’t locked into the old ‘blue for boys and pink for girls’ routine either – pastel colours always look great. Simple clothes are best – keep the number of buttons or snaps down to the minimum – too many will drive busy parents nuts. And of course, look twice at the laundry instructions – make sure the clothes can be easily laundered.

Bath ideas
Photo by litlnemo
Baby shower? Baby bath! Bath time is great time for bonding with baby and it’s great fun for everyone. Think: soothing, relaxing. Kids (of all ages) love having a few bath toys – admit it, even you’d love to have a cute little duck or two for your bath. Here’s some other ideas – towels with hoods, baby lotions, soaps, shampoos, baby brushes, bath toys, washcloths, anti-skid bathtubs, and baby bath supports. Bath toys are pretty easy (and fun) to pick out – just go for something that are age appropriate, and maybe mix and match up with towels, bath oils, bath bombs, and some essential oil fragrances for Mom and Dad.

Baby Room ideas
Most parents will have put aside some space – perhaps a whole room for the nursery. Look for items such as wall pictures and picture frames, lovely stuffed animals – everybody needs at least one teddy bear, nursery lamps, night lights, a dresser, a changing table, bouncy seats, furniture, ceramic or wooden letter with the baby’s initials, and don’t forget gift certificates. Toys, toys, toys. Indulge yourself, and the baby.

It’s not really something for the baby room, but you could consider a piggy bank, or set up a commitment to credit a bank account for the baby’s bank account – if you contributed on a consistent amount over – say – 20 years, that lucky baby will have a tidy stash to start to explore their world.

Photo by tommayncThis is a real time of celebration – important changes are about to happen for Mom and for Dad, and if there are other children their world is about to change forever too. You could decide to treat Dad and the other children (if there are any) with a few gifts as well. They’re about to take a back seat to the new baby – it’d be nice to remember them too.

The baby shower is a great opportunity to bring family and friends together, and of course, bringing useful and beautiful gifts will mean that Mom and Dad will remember you when they use the gift. A baby shower is a great opportunity for a celebration, but it is more than that. Not only is it an expression of love, joy, and congratulations; it’s a chance for everyone to offer their on-going support to the baby – after all, it takes a village to raise a child.