The Parenting Journal

Spiral staircases look stunning. They also represent one of the more complicated babyproofing challenges you’ll face, because almost nothing about them is standard. The steps are wedge-shaped. The curve defeats most gates. The baluster spacing is often whatever the original...

Every year, parents spend hours researching individual baby-proofing products, buying them piecemeal, and then realizing they missed something important after a close call. A complete set, bought thoughtfully, is a better starting point. But "complete" means different things depending on...

The bathroom is the most dangerous room in your house. Not the kitchen, not the garage. The bathroom. It has water, electricity, chemicals, hard surfaces, and small objects all packed into a space your toddler can reach in about four...

The first time I left the house while my younger daughter was napping, I was three blocks away before I realized I had no idea what I was looking at on my phone. The WiFi monitor app had dropped the...

Any spindle gap a 4-inch ball passes through is a head-entrapment hazard. A stair gate blocks access but does nothing about gaps along the railing. Acrylic guards are reversible, mesh netting covers wide openings, retrofit spindles are permanent. Landings and...

Every 15 seconds, someone in the U.S. calls a poison center about an exposure, about 2.1 million calls in 2024 alone (America’s Poison Centers). A meaningful share of those calls involve a child who found something under a sink. I...

Open staircases look stunning in a home. Clean lines, visible treads, that sense of space flowing between floors. Then you have a toddler, and every one of those beautiful gaps becomes something you lie awake thinking about. The problem with...

Every first-time parent eventually ends up on the same website at 11pm, staring at a $79 bundle that promises to "baby-proof your entire home" in one click. It’s tempting. It’s also probably not the right answer, and it might not...

The refrigerator is the most-opened appliance in your home. A curious two-year-old knows this. Mine certainly did. My younger daughter once cleared the bottom shelf of our fridge in under three minutes while I answered the front door. By the...