Do you spend much of your time in an at home office with a baby or toddler wandering around? If so, it’s time to get to work safeguarding our kids from all of the different hazards that may be lingering around in the office.
When my husband or myself are working in the office our daughter (of course) needs to be right there with us. Before we began child proofing the office she would get into everything. It was impossible to get anything done because we had to watch her like a hawk. Now that we have nearly completed baby proofing the room it has become a safe place for all of us, so we can work and our daughter can safely play.
Read on to discover what should be baby/child proofed and how to do so.
Babyproof all Sharp Corners
Desks, Cabinets and shelving all have the potential to have sharp edges. Any corners or edges that are at a baby or toddlers level need to be baby proofed. Use these clear corner guards to conceal the corners in the office.
Desk
Our computer desk is our daughters favorite place in our home. It has all kinds of fun stuff inside it, under it, and on top of it. She also loves the desk because she can easily climb onto it by getting on the chair to gain access to everything on or inside the drawer of the desk. My first recommendation is to mount the desk to the wall since it’s nearly a guarantee that eventually the infant or toddler will get on top of the desk at some point. Use this mount to secure the desk to the wall.
Next, baby proof any drawers that may be on the desk or in the home office with these drawer locks.
Lastly, keep staplers, tape dispensers, and nearly all items off of the desk so they don’t end up in the hands of the child.
Computer Keyboard and Mouse
I recommend using a wireless mouse and keyboard if you have little ones hanging out in the office. The wireless mouse and keyboard can be placed out of reach or off of the desk when not in use so the kids cannot get their hands on it. Here is the wireless set that I recommend.
If you have a wired keyboard and mouse keep them pushed back towards the back of the desk or in a drawer, this way it’s more challenging to reach. Keyboards and mice are pretty delicate and can easily be broken if a baby or toddler get their hands on it, so do your best to keep them out of your child’s reach. If you have a mouse with a red laser light on the bottom, you will want to make sure your child does not look into the light as it can damage their eyes.
Computer
The computer screen can be heavy and often not very sturdy. Keep the computer as far away from the edge of the desk as possible. I recommend going a step further and mounting the computer to the desk ( with this mount) to be certain it does not tumble over, resulting in a broken computer and an injured baby or toddler. Some computers can also be mounted to the wall which may also be a good option as long as it is out of reach of the child and the cords are concealed.
Next, be sure to password protect your computer to ensure that the kids do not gain access. Many at home offices store important information, the last thing you want is your kids messing around with the computer and potentially deleting this vital information.
Lastly, protect the screen from little fingers. Computer screens are delicate and should be protected if an infant or toddler is able to reach it. I recommend this computer screen protector.
Printer/Scanner
Printers and scanners should never be within reach of a child. A scanner typically has breakable glass on the inside and could break if a child is playing with it.
A printer has poisonous ink that could easily be accessed by a baby or toddler. Always store your extra ink out of reach. If your child gets ahold of it, it could wreak havoc on your carpet and walls.
Either keep these electronics behind a locked or baby proofed cabinet or better yet a locking file drawer, or high up on a shelf out of reach of the baby/toddler. If you have a closet in your office with plugins this would be a perfect place to store the printer/scanner. Just be sure the closet door is baby proofed with something like this!
Shredder
A paper shredder is such a scary piece of equipment to have when there are children present. Paper shredder injuries are very common, especially in children under 3. Keep the paper shredder in a closet that is baby proofed to ensure that the child cannot access it. When the shredder is in use be sure the children are not present, and immediately unplug and put the shredder away when it’s no longer in use. Children’s fingers can easily get into the shredder, and any toddler could easily turn the shredder on, so this is a must when it comes to baby proofing.
Cabinets
The cabinets and drawers in an office contain several hazards we would not want our children to have access to. Some of those hazards may be scissors, permanent markers, pens, letter openers, etc. Use these cabinet and drawer locks, if your office also contains similar hazards.
Don’t forget to also baby proof the area in the office that may house any important paper documents. The paper may not be much of a hazard, but if given access to a child, your important documents may end up eaten and torn to shreds.
Also, file cabinets are often found in home offices, and can be very heavy. If a child was to climb onto the file cabinet it has the potential to tip over resulting in injury. If you have a heavy file cabinet consider mounting the cabinet to the wall with a mount similar to this one.
Shelving
There are all different types of shelving, our favorite being these floating shelves that can be placed high enough in an office to be out of reach of children.
Currently our office has a ladder shelf, which is something that we need to change in the near future. Ladder shelves are a huge hazard because children will eventually try to use the shelf…well… as a ladder. If a child were to climb on the ladder shelf there is a high probability that it may tip over on top of them. This is a scary thought. If this is the only option that is available to you then I recommend mounting the ladder shelf to the wall (with this mount) in case something like this happens. Even with the mount there is no guarantee that the mount will hold with that amount of weight climbing on the shelf.
We have found a temporary solution that blocks our daughter from gaining access to the ladder shelf, but she will figure out how to regain access to it soon, so we have plans to replace the ladder shelf with floating shelves. If you have a stand alone shelving unit similar to a ladder shelf be sure to evaluate the shelf to determine if it could be dangerous to your child.
Outlets
Outlets that are not in use and are in reach of an infant or toddler need to be protected as usual to ensure that our babies are not shocked. we like these outlet covers.
Power Strip
If you have a power strip to plug in multiple items it must be child proofed. A power strip is extremely dangerous and could severely injure a child if it is messed with. Use this power strip cover to insure that your child does not get a nasty shock, or worse.
Electrical Cords
Cords that may be laying on the floor or dangling down behind the desk need to be concealed and managed to be sure that they do not end up in the child’s mouth. Cords can be just as dangerous as the outlets in the office and should not be ignored. This overfloor cord protector will baby proof any cords that may be on the ground. This cord concealer will child proof any cords hanging down near a wall. For cord management you may want to consider some velcro thin ties like these ones.
Congratulations, you now know what it takes to baby proof an office. It is no easy task to baby proof an office, but boy is it worth it when you can utilize the office without the stress of a child being injured.
If you found this post helpful please check out my other articles regarding baby proofing other rooms of the home!