Tips to Prepare Your House for a Toddler Visit

Preparing a house for a toddler visit is not easy. To anticipate what might happen, you need to get inside their head or think as a toddler thinks. As babies grow into toddlers, their curiosity starts taking over and that is when the problems begin to arise because how can you expect a toddler to not touch the things they’re not supposed to touch?

Whether you are having family visit or wanting to make your vacation home appealing for rentals to families with small children, here are some steps to take to make your house toddler-friendly. There are general tips that are no-brainers like keeping harmful substances out of reach, but there’s much more than just this. These steps are not only safety-related but also help make your house a suitable environment for a toddler to enjoy.

Make the house’s ambiance bright and cheerful

This tip is if you’re doing a house makeover or moving out, but it could apply to people staying in their houses if you do a few tweaks. Moving on, as mentioned, when your baby turns into a toddler, curiosity is one of the things you will start to notice. A toddler is starting to learn about the basic things in life and developing interests in what catches their attention. For you, seeing a beautiful blue sky is something you’re used to, but for them, some things are relatively new and they develop an interest in them. So, providing them with an ambiance that allows them to see the sky and the outer environment is good for them. You can do that by installing safety windows allowing natural daylight to enter the house so your toddler can notice the difference in atmosphere.

Getting a home warranty

You have probably heard about the home warranty before but wonder if it’s worth it. After all, it is an expense you will need to add to your list that you might feel you won’t need. However, home warranties offer a lot of benefits that you might not be aware of that are more than just not worrying about the things in your house. It might seem like it is unlikely that something will happen with major home appliances and systems, but that is not true. Even if the repairs you do are not frequent, you’ll find yourself spending too much on repairs, especially if something major happened that you could have simply spent on a home warranty contract. Major home appliances and systems are expensive, and the cost of repair is not cheap, especially when you have a toddler visit, the probability of things going sideways is much more.

Also, it relieves you from the burden of the unexpected. When you pay for a home warranty, you know how much you’re going to pay, so it can easily be budgeted, but without it, you have to include more money in your emergency fund just in case a major appliance got damaged, and you have to pay a large amount without prior notice. “If something breaks, you can easily contact the home warranty company, and they will send a contractor to deal with the issue right away,” said Cinch Home Services. That is also one of the benefits–saving time on having to look for a professional handyman. With a toddler around, your schedule is pretty much packed and there’s no time to waste on finding a great handyman and trial and error. There are also safety benefits since home warranty companies offer safety features for electricity and gas like carbon monoxide and smoke detectors.

Make rest areas easily accessible to them

Toddlers are very active. They are mobile and exploring what their bodies can do. They are constantly crawling, running, and playing around. Even the most basic things will spike their interest, and they will end up playing with them–furniture, appliances, toys, and even people. They can even see your pet doing something and try to imitate them. However, toddlers need their sleep and their nap schedule is very important. According to the Canadian Paediatric Society, a toddler between 1 to 2 years needs around 11 to 14 hours of sleep a day, including naps. And those aged between 3 to 5 typically need from 10 to 13 hours a day.

It makes life easy to have safe and accessible sleeping areas if you’re having a toddler visit. Whether they’ll bring along a travel crib or if you decide to supply a toddler travel bed, knowing a toddler has a safe and comfortable place to sleep will put everyone’s mind at ease.

Set up nanny cameras

Setting up nanny cams gives you a sense of safety and helps to keep an eye on your little guest so the grown ups can visit. It’s especially beneficial if the house is big. And if you hire a vacation babysitter you can relax knowing you can keep an eye on things. Also, you can make sure you never miss out on the cute things your toddler is doing or if they’re doing something for the first time!

Toddler-proof sharp corners and furniture

Since there will be tons of crawling and running around, make sure that any sharp corners in the house are covered in corner cushions to avoid any unwanted incidents. The assumption that your toddler guest is smart enough to not get close to these corners because you told them not to is not correct. Don’t use tablecloths or table runners because curious toddlers have a high possibility of them pulling and breaking everything on the table or even hurting themselves.

Add play mats and make a dedicated area

Try to dedicate an area where toddler guest can run and play freely. Add play mats on the floor for a soft place to land. There are even ones that coordinate with a home’s decor if you’re not into the colourful ones with letters and numbers. Cover any electrical sockets or use babyproofing plugs. Don’t leave appliances or lamps plugged in when the toddler can yank the cord.

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