Childproofing checklist by age and when to add each device

Before your baby crawls, around 6 months

Do the fixes that take tools and planning before your baby can move across a room: anchor furniture and TVs, cover outlets, replace corded window coverings, and put up stair gates. These jobs are harder to finish in one afternoon once a baby is on the move.

Around 6 months is a planning point, not a crawling date. CDC's 6-month milestone checklist, as updated in May 2026, lists rolling from tummy to back, pushing up with straight arms, and leaning on the hands while sitting. It does not list crawling. CDC defines milestones as things at least 75% of children can do by a given age, so some babies move earlier and some later, and starting while your baby is still rolling gives you a margin.

Anchors come first because the pieces involved are the heaviest in the house. The CPSC advises anchoring furniture, TVs, and appliances to the floor or a wall, and installing freestanding ranges and stoves with anti-tip brackets. The AAP's HealthyChildren page "Home Safety: Tips for Families With Young Children" asks parents to check furniture for stability and tip-over risk, noting that children can be seriously hurt or killed when they climb onto, fall against, or pull themselves up on bookshelves and dressers. The CPSC's Anchor It! campaign urges families to anchor all furniture with drawers, doors, and shelves to the wall.

Window cords come next. For homes with young children, the CPSC recommends cordless window coverings to reduce the risk of strangulation, and its Window Covering Cords center calls going cordless "the safest option when young children are present."

Outlet covers or plates are on the CPSC list as well, and they are among the quickest items to add. Stair gates belong in this pass too. The AAP recommends gates at both the top and bottom of stairs when a child is learning to crawl and walk, and the CPSC says to use only gates that screw to the wall at the top of stairs and never to use a pet gate as a child safety gate.

One way to finish this pass is to get down on the floor and look at each room from your baby's height. Dangling cords, low shelves, and a dresser that wobbles are easier to spot from there.

When your baby pulls up and walks, around 1 year

Once a child can pull up to stand, add latches or locks, door-knob covers, and corner or edge bumpers, and recheck everything from the first pass. Standing puts knobs and table edges within reach for the first time.

CDC's 1-year checklist includes pulling up to stand and walking while holding on to furniture. That second skill is why anchors get a second look at this age. A child cruising along a dresser pulls on it with every step, so check each strap and bracket, and follow the anchor maker's instructions if one has loosened.

Safety latches or locks and door-knob covers or locks are two separate CPSC measures. Latches keep cabinet doors and drawers closed. Door-knob covers keep a child from opening a door into a room you would rather keep closed, such as a bathroom, a laundry room, or the door to the garage. Corner or edge bumpers go on furniture with hard corners at a walking child's height.

Gates from the first pass need attention now, too. A child who can stand can push, lean on, and shake a gate. Check that the top-of-stairs gate is still screwed to the wall, as the CPSC specifies, and that every gate is latched after each use, since the brochure says devices only work when they are reengaged.

Windows also come into reach at this stage. The CPSC says window screens do not keep children from falling and advises window guards or safety netting instead. Installing guards in this pass, before your child can climb onto a sill, leaves the last pass for checking them.

By age 3, when everything is climbable

Once your child starts to climb, the checklist shifts to windows and hot water: window guards with small openings, a lower water heater setting, and a fresh look at anything a child could climb to reach. The devices are still the ones on the CPSC list. What changes is where your child can get to.

None of the sources in this guide ties this pass to a specific birthday. It starts when your child begins pulling chairs over to counters or climbing onto furniture.

Window guards are the main addition. The CPSC advises limiting window openings to 4 inches or less, including the space between the bars of a window guard. The same section of the brochure notes that at least one window in each room must still be usable as a fire escape. Rules on window guards vary by state and by city; check your state's and your city's requirements, especially if you rent or live above the ground floor.

Hot water is the second change. The CPSC says a home water heater can be set to 120°F or lower to reduce the risk of burns, and that anti-scald devices can be fitted to faucets and shower heads. A child who can turn a faucet handle can reach hot water without help.

Then look at the layout of each room — a dresser under a window, a step stool left by the stove, or a bookcase with open shelves can work like a ladder. Moving these pieces costs nothing. The anchors from the first pass still matter here, because a 3-year-old who climbs puts more weight on furniture than a baby who pulls up.