9 Places Not To Leave Your Baby Alone

You must have noticed the warnings on various products or places that forbid your child from using it, ingesting or inhaling certain stuff or even warnings of you not leaving your baby unattended even for a moment.

Now, most of these warnings make sense when some parents out there fail to apply common sense. Else the parental instinct is enough to let one know when or when not to leave one’s baby unattended. Otherwise, you need to have the commandments chalked out by your grandmother, mother or other expert parents if you are too preoccupied with managing other children of yours.

In This Article

1. You don’t want a Humpty-Dumpty of your child

Your toddler falling from five feet height is the number one woe. We know how babies are evolving. They attempt doing things you can’t imagine of their age. Don’t be surprised if a one-year-old can indeed climb over your dining table. So if you are not watching, your baby might as well try alighting with no support – he is too fast for you to come and save him in time – much like a silverfish. Hanging on to him under all circumstances, even if it becomes one of the most tiring of the jobs, makes sense. So, taking a chance by leaving him on the couch while you want to check the oven, is a total no-no.

2. There’s nothing worse than leaving your baby in its bathtub

Whoever told you that your baby would be fine in the bathtub while you are away even for a moment? For one, you baby might not be able to balance itself in water. Do you know something called buoyancy of water? If you have a toddler who can sit in the tub, you will still fool yourself into thinking that he can take care of himself. What about the suds? Ingesting chemicals of any sort or getting soap in the eyes is quite an unwelcome thing.

3. Letting your baby in the vicinity of choking hazards

Why don’t you just stitch those stuffed toys when you know that the cotton inside keeps showing up? If you can’t, then it might be ideal to dispose of the toy. I often wonder how mothers can keep stuff like cotton, playdough, paints and other hazards – both chemical and non-chemical in nature – in the proximity of their babies.

4. Letting your toddler hang out in the kitchen

You might not have noticed, but your baby already knows how to reach the kitchen counter. So any hot objects must be far away from the edges of the counter. The burners must be turned off. Cutlery like forks and knives should be stacked deep in somewhere, your porcelain ware must be hidden high up, and all the spices and chilies be far from their reach. While cooking, when you need to pull out all these, make sure you stack them in somewhere at the earliest. Most of all, keep an eye on your toddler who might still try to outsmart you. And don’t ignore the kitchen cabinets where your child could have his fingers caught (shriek)!

5. Never let your baby alone by the staircases

Be spiral or linear, you don’t want your baby to dangle around the staircase or go up or down the staircases without an escort. True, you adore their scrambling about, but staircases are not the place for it all.

6. The shopping carts

We know how cool it is to let your baby be seated in the shopping carts. But something as unexpected as your baby standing up and trying to jump out is a real possibility. You don’t want to wait until it happens! Nor do you want a passerby to come up to rescue making you feel like an irresponsible parent.

7. Escalators

I would never allow my toddler to stand on the escalator even as I hold his hands. If you are agile enough, it might be a good idea to carry your child on the escalators. Or simply use the elevator, lady!

8. Toilets and changing rooms

Never let your child be by himself in the washroom. There is a reason the baby changing rooms exist. You could escort your child in there and do the necessary cleanups than letting your child go in to explore on his own.

9. Letting your baby linger around the danger zones

Electrical points, door hinges, your driveway are just but a few examples. You know your surroundings better, and so we trust you also know where not to let your baby start getting naughty.

It takes an awfully lot of effort to ensure the safety of children. As parents, we must keep our parental instinct at work all the time.

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