As soon as you find out you’re pregnant, you have a list of things to think about and prepare for before baby’s arrival. One of the items on your to-do list is to keep your baby safe and baby-proof your home. Some families get on this task during their pregnancy, and others wait until after their baby is born and becomes more mobile. I will say that when your child becomes mobile, you begin to realize just how much trouble they can get into in a short period of time and how many things you have in your home that could be dangerous.
I know that baby-proofing can seem like a daunting task, and you might be worried that it will ruin your home’s aesthetic, but that’s not true! Having moved into three different houses in three years, I’ve seen and tested many different baby-proofing brands and products to keep our son safe. We’ve discovered Qdos and use their baby safety products in our home.
Why Do You Need to Baby-Proof Your Home?
Even if you supervise your baby every minute of every day, baby-proofing can give you peace of mind that your baby is safe in your home, even if you turn away for a second. By getting down on your hands and knees and seeing what your baby sees and what might interest them, you’ll notice that there are many things they can get into that could be harmful. Adding some baby safety products can prevent major injuries, even death, from occurring. There is truly nothing more valuable than your children’s safety. This is why baby-proofing is essential.
What Are the Most Important Things That Need to Be Baby-Proofed?
Go around your house, room by room, and make a list of things that could be dangerous for your baby. Common things are:
- Latch or lock any drawers, cabinets, doors, or cupboards that contain anything harmful. Think of cleaning supplies, sharp utensils, or anything containing chemicals or medications. It might be eye-opening for the expecting parent to learn that even things like dishes and glass mixing bowls can be dangerous. These should always be locked away or out of children’s reach.
- Cover all sharp edges on furniture corners with corner protectors.
- Install baby gates at the bottoms and tops of staircases.
- Get outlet covers and place them on all outlets. Don’t rely on furniture covering your outlets since some furniture can shift and be moved.
- Secure all heavy pieces of furniture and TVs by mounting them to the walls.
- Cover loose cords that are reachable.
- Install window guards on high windows — the second story or higher — to prevent your child from falling through if opened.
- Purchase cordless window shades or tie up the cords on your window shades so they are out of reach.
- While cooking on the stove, use only the back burners and cover the burner controls with guards.
There is even more to the list, but this is a good place to start. You’ll also want to make sure that your outdoor area is safe for your children, especially if you have a pool since drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4.1
Why Our Family Chose Qdos.
As I mentioned, I’ve tried several different baby safety brands. I’ve been either left confused and frustrated by the installation instructions, or I’m unimpressed with the look of it in my home. This is why I was ecstatic when I found Qdos! They offer high-quality, beautiful, and easy-to-assemble baby safety products. We have a 3-year-old and another little one on the way, so we definitely need to keep our babies safe in our home. I just didn’t want to sacrifice style for safety. (But I would if there were no other option.) And now I don’t have to! Qdos is committed to helping parents and caregivers keep children safe without compromising our home’s design aesthetic. Here are the items we have and love and why I recommend Qdos to families.
Qdos Products We’ve Tested and Love
1. Crystal Designer Baby Gate
Upstairs in our home is the kids’ area. That’s where their bedrooms and playroom are. Because we spend a good amount of our time upstairs, I knew the first thing we needed was a good baby gate. For all staircases, families need to have a safe, properly installed baby gate at the bottom and the top of their stairs. We wanted a baby gate that would be effective, safe, and wouldn’t require us to drill holes into our banisters. We had used the Qdos Crystal baby gate in our previous home, and I knew it would be a great option for the top of our stairs with their Stair Mounting Kit in our current home.
I really love the clean, contemporary modern design of this gate and how Qdos has a higher safety standard. Not only is it beautiful, but this baby gate also meets the toughest European Safety Standards as well as the US and Canadian Standards.
Another feature we like is that the double-action lock is easy for adults to open and close. It’s been simple for grandparents and friends to use but difficult for our 3-year-old and other children to open. To ensure the gate is securely locked, there is an easy to see At-a-Glance Indicator on the handle that shows green for lock verification and red for unlocked.
My husband keeps raving about this gate because it was so much easier to install than other gates we’ve tested. The Qdos FastMount® Rails provide the simplest installation of a hardware mount gate with just 4 screws. It also comes with adapters that allow correct installation over standard baseboards or quarter-round, so your baby gate is always installed safely.
The Crystal (Hardware Mounted) Baby Gate is 30.7” tall and adjusts to fit inside openings from 29.5” up to 39.8” wide. It can be installed at the top and bottom of stairs, within an opening/door frame, flush-mounted outside an opening, or mounted at an angle, making it extremely flexible. This baby gate proves that baby-proofing doesn’t have to be ugly! (Click here for installation instructions and videos.)
2. Universal Self Closing Outlet Cover
Every home with a baby needs to have outlet covers. Covering your outlets prevents your baby from sticking their fingers in or placing objects in them, preventing electrical shock or burn injuries. Instead of getting the outlet covers that plugin, I recommend getting the self-closing outlet covers. Adults can easily slide the opening back, but your baby will not. These self-closing covers instantly close as soon as you remove your hand or the plug away from the outlet. And if you have outlets that you never use, the Qdos StayPut Double Outlet Plugs are a great option because they stay in.
These universal covers fit both Standard and Decora outlets — whether installed with one or two screws. I also like that the plate is oversized for extra coverage to disguise any imperfections in the drywall cutouts, as well as missing or mismatched paint.
3. Top Drawer/Door Adhesive Latches
My son constantly wants to open our drawers and “play” with items that he shouldn’t. This is why we absolutely needed drawer latches in our home. I really love these Top Drawer/Door Adhesive Latches because it requires no drilling, no screwing, which means no hassle! We have tried other drawer latches from other companies, and these from Qdos have been our favorite. Their latches are the only latches that meet the new European Standard requiring a consistent, safe opening size to keep kids’ hands out. Other latches create too big and unsafe openings, leaving room for small hands to reach into drawers and cabinets.
Included in the package is a Perfect Installation Tool. This tool eliminates the difficult guesswork of lining up the catch and the latch. There are no additional tools required!
These Qdos latches are made with a SureCatch® circle design rather than a hook, making it easier to catch, ensuring slip-proof security for drawers and cabinets. Their plastics are also engineered for superior memory function. They will always return to their original position and won’t wear out over time. These specific latches fit top drawers and cabinet doors directly under countertops in Standard Framed cabinets–not frameless (Euro) cabinet drawers or doors. For lower drawers and cabinet doors, check out Qdos’ Lower Drawer/Door Adhesive Latches
4. StayPut® Corner Protectors
One of the most common injuries babies and kids experience is falls and bumps. Protect your tiny explorers from bumps and bruises with Qdos’ StayPut Corner Protectors! These protectors have a solid inner core and a shock-absorbing overmold for optimal impact protection.
Many parents don’t know that many other corner protectors on the market can easily be pulled off by small children, which actually creates a choking hazard. Let’s not create a new issue when trying to keep our babies safe. That’s why I recommend these SecureHold adhesive corner protectors. They offer a high-performance and durable bond specifically designed to secure the corner protectors to your table or furniture. The good thing is they can be removed by adults when they are ready without damaging most surfaces.
Parents also need to consider protecting the top corner of the table and the bottom of the corner as well. Babies love to explore, crawl, and pull up on furniture, so corners create hazards from both above and below. The Qdos StayPut Corner Protectors come in a pack of eight. Parents can use one packet on the top and another on the bottom for all four sides of a table. Also, babies like to put their mouths on everything. These Qdos StayPut Corner Protectors are made with non-toxic food-grade materials, which I love, so they are BiteProof and Choke Safe, exceeding European and US bite test standards. These are available in white or gray.
5. Adhesive Flexible Multi-Lock
There are other places in our home that our toddler wants to get into — the dishwasher, the washing machine, and the dryer. He wants to be our big helper, but these spots can be dangerous. This is where the Qdos Adhesive Flexible Multi-Locks have come in handy. It’s a great solution to prevent access to many dangerous locations throughout the home, even the toilets!
The Qdos Adhesive Flexible Multi-Lock secures with a locking guide and dual spring catches, making it easy for adults to operate with one hand yet difficult for kids. I like that it has a triple-action lock to keep our little guy safe and away. And I also like that no tools are needed to install it. It installs with Qdos SecureHold Adhesive, which creates a high-performance and durable bond that stays on until you’re ready to remove it. By following the removal instructions, Qdos SecureHold Adhesive can be removed without damaging most surfaces. They’re available in white or gray.
6. Zero-Screw Furniture Anti-Tip Kit
According to CPSC, tipped furniture or a falling TV sends an injured child to the emergency room about every 30 minutes, and every 12 days, a child dies from a tip-over accident.2 This is heartbreaking and why mounting furniture is a necessity. Although I understand that no one really wants to screw into their furniture or their walls to mount these items, I am thankful that Qdos offers a solution! Qdos developed the first-of-its-kind patent-pending Furniture Anti-Tip Kit that can be installed completely without screws, yet it still holds up to 200 lbs! This gives me great peace of mind because that is heavier than the weight of two children climbing on the furniture at the same time.
Qdos SecureHooks® only makes holes the size of a picture hook, minimizing damage to our walls. They do provide screws should you prefer to screw into the studs in your wall or the back of your furniture. Another benefit to the award-winning Qdos Furniture Anti-Tip Kit is that you won’t have to worry about moving your furniture to another spot in your home just to find a stud to attach it to. It’s perfect for dressers, bookshelves, large mirrors, and other furniture. It’s available in white or slate.
7. Finger Slam Guards
Another thing parents need to think about is doorways. My son often wants to open and close the pantry door in our kitchen, looking for another snack. I’m always worried that his little fingers will get jammed or even worse if I don’t see him while closing the door. This is why we put in a Qdos Finger Slam Guard on our pantry door. These guards are made of strong shock-absorbing materials that won’t compress like soft foam pinch guards. All you have to do is place it on the top of the door or the side of the door. If you place it on the top, it should be within 12 inches from the edge of the door. If placing on the side of the door, it should be out of reach of the child, as high as the parents can reach.
Some other great features of Qdos Finger Slam Guard:
- Qdos uses a unique material with non-slip properties and good ‘memory’ to stay in place. Other finger guards made from foam-type materials tend to fall off doors over time.
- BiteProof® & choke safe! It’s important to know that soft is not always safe. If your child gets hold of a Qdos Finger Slam Guard, you don’t have to worry about your child biting off a piece. They are also made with non-toxic, firm, food-grade material.
- It comes with an adhesive post for temporary storage. This post keeps it out of children’s hands and right where parents or caregivers need it when you need it.
- They fit most standard doors from 1.25″ to 1/75″ thick.
- Available in white or gray.
That’s How I’m Keeping My Babies Safe and My Home Beautiful
My children’s safety is my priority. That’s why I’m really thankful to have found Qdos. They make quality products that keep my babies safe and complement my home’s style. After installing and using them in our home, it’s obvious that they create innovative solutions with high-performance materials instead of the typical commodity-type plastics found in most baby-proofing and home safety products. Their items are designed for easy, frustration-free installation to make sure they are installed quickly and safely – the first time. That’s the Qdos Higher Standard of Safety®.
