Safety and your baby: what to expect

Your baby’s love of exploring will kick in now, motivating her to find new stimuli so she can learn about the world around her. This means biting, sucking and chewing on everything within reach – and sometimes swallowing. This can be tiring for parents but it is an important part of how babies learn about the world.

Rapid growth in these months also means that your baby might move from a bassinette to a cot, from a baby capsule to a child car seat and from lying in a stroller to being propped up.

The second six months is even more physical. Babies learn to sit up on their own, and to move around by scooting on elbows and bottoms, wriggling on their bellies, commando crawling or crawling.

During this time, your baby will pull up to a standing position. He will start to master fine motor skills by picking up tiny things such as the dog hair off the floor. He will also start learning how to manipulate small objects.

This time of exploring, watching and learning will be much less stressful if you make your home safe and put away as many forbidden or dangerous objects as possible. As well as creating a safe environment, keep an eye on what baby’s up to. And it’s never too early to start teaching your baby about safety.

Specific safety hazards for this age

• Choking
• Equipment (specifically high chairs and walkers)
• Falls 
• Strangulation and suffocation 
• Inhalation of small objects  
• Burns
• Drowning
• Sun protection

Many of these will continue to be safety hazards throughout early childhood. Supervision is always the best protection for your child. But if accidents do happen, it’s great if you can give some basic first aid.

Things you can do to keep your baby safe

• If you take your eyes off your baby when changing her, make sure your hands are on her. Also make sure everything you need is within reach, so you don’t have to leave baby for a moment.
• Keep your baby safe in the car by using a car restraint properly, and by adjusting height straps as he grows.
• Keep your baby covered when out of doors, use sunscreen on any unprotected skin, and keep out of direct sunlight especially between 11 am and 3 pm (4 pm in summer). This will help your baby avoid sunburn.

Baby’s room

Reduce the risk of strangulation and suffocation by:

• making sure that the cot is safe, with bars spaced between 50 mm and 85 mm
• taking cot bumpers, pillows, fluffy toys and other soft things out of cots. These are unnecessary for your baby’s comfort and increase the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
• removing dangling mobiles from reach and making sure the cot is not within reach of blind cords or curtain cords.

Also keep cot sides up whenever your baby is in the cot.

Around the house

• Babies can fall when they lean forward and pull themselves up on furniture. They can also pull over any furniture that is not sturdy and could topple over. Now is the time to attach bookcases and shelves to the wall, and move any chairs, coffee tables and other furniture that is not sturdy.
• Always supervise your baby with food or a bottle. Save chunks of raw apple, carrot or celery until your child is four years of age – cooked or grated is fine.
• Babies will now grasp anything that interests them, including hot drinks. To avoid scalds, make sure all hot liquids and foods are out of your baby’s reach.
• As your baby becomes mobile, the risk of burns from fires, heaters and other hot objects increases. Fireguards need to be in place and heaters should be up high. Great care should be taken in the kitchen during meal preparation.
• Be aware that the safe gap between cot rails, playpens and stair guards is between 50 and 85 mm – so your baby’s head will not get caught between the bars.
• Choose baby furniture and equipment with care. The main pieces of furniture and equipment that you might be considering at this age are a high chair, cot, change table, bouncinette, baby walker or jolly jumper.
• Keep an eye on little bits and pieces left around the home – anything small enough to fit inside a film canister is a choking risk. This is especially important if older children's toys are lying around.
• Check toys regularly for small parts that could become loose. Hair, noses, buttons, jewellery and other accessories on stuffed toys are often small enough to choke babies.

In and around water

• Check that bath water is a safe temperature before you put baby in. The correct temperature for babies is 37°C to 38°C.
• It is not safe to leave your baby alone in the bath for any reason. And it is not safe to ask older children to supervise for you. If you have to leave the room, take baby with you.

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