Every parent wants their child to be safe. The Safe Baby: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Home Safety and Healthy Living is an expanded and revised edition of Debra Smiley Holtzman's previous volumes on doing what one can to baby proofing one's home. The home is a dangerous place, and it's impossible to assure complete safety, but there are many things a parent can do to lower the chances of an accident. With plenty of tips on advice on a more safe environment for one's child, The Safe Baby is a fine volume for parents to have on hand, and an excellent baby shower gift.

—Midwest Book Review

Babyproofing

A bundle of joy is on the way in this adult-friendly home? Here's what you need to know to make sure the place is safe.

Granite crowds the kitchen, couples could swim laps in the bathtub, and cherrywood finally sheaths that dream library.

But here comes Junior.

A few decades ago, childproofing the house meant little more than "keep the martinis away from tyro's reach." Now, it means a blizzard of products, a cacophony of advice and even professional childproofing services.

The cabinets? They need doodads to keep baby out. That lovely cherry wood coffee table? Time to wrap its edges with foamy "bumpers." Steps demand gates, the decorative outlets need stolid covers, and don't even think about leaving those antique glass doorknobs alone. Cover them.

"When we first got into it, it seemed so overwhelming and scary," says Roxborough mom and blogger Karen Mohler, 44, the mother of a 4-year-old girl. If she didn't buy the right stuff, she feared her "baby would die a horrible, flaming death right away."

The family babyproofed the house; Junior survived.

People in the know about childproofing say the market now is flooded with new products, many of them worthwhile. But the first thing any parent should do, experts say, is get down on hands and knees and scoot through the house.

"Crawl around each room," says Debra Holtzman, a child-safety expert in Florida and author of The Safe Baby: A Do It Yourself Guide to Home Safety. "You'll be surprised at what you see."

You might find nails sticking from the underside of tables, or televisions that could tumble with a yank, scatterings of things under couches that kids could choke on and a sharp knife too close to the edge of a counter.

Only after the crawling should a homeowner begin babyproofing.

Most injuries revolve around these themes: falls, water, fire, poison, suffocation and collisions.

Each threat invites solutions.

Where childproofing used to hinge on the kind of hardware you screwed into place, now it increasingly relies on things you turn on, says Stephanie Brown, the parenting, baby and toddler guide at About.com.

Parents, she says, "are starting to rely on a lot of electronic safety devices. Remote fever monitors that you can hook up to your child. It used to be baby monitors - now people have them with cameras."

One popular device, she says, involves putting a bracelet on the child that is connected, electronically, to a base station.

"If they get a certain distance from the base station, the alarm goes off," she says. "There are pool alarms, a floaty turtle that goes in the pool, and if it detects a splash or water movement, the alarm goes off."

Magnet locks for cabinets now are the big thing, says Meghan Rabbitt, an editor at Parenting magazine.

"Everyone is doing their kitchens, making them look so nice, and it's a shame having your babyproofing ruining your cabinets," she says. The magnet locks, she said, don't mess as much with the decor.

Louie Delaware, the owner of Colorado Childproofers in Louisville, champions the magnet locks as well as relatively new plastic devices that thwart little fingers from slipping between doorframes and the hinge-side of doors. Many fingers, he says, have been smashed while pinned in those spaces.

Most of his jobs, he said, end up running between $900 and $1200, and that could include cabinet locks, window guards, gates and outlet covers.

One thing he's seeing more of, he says, is interest in anchoring furniture that could tip onto children.

"The furniture they make today is not solid wood, for the most part," he says. "It's lighter. Kids will try to climb the dresser to get their toy on top, and the furniture falls over."

Cordless window coverings are a must, Holtzman says, because kids every year strangle on dangling cords. But you don't have to by new coverings to solve the problem. Through the Window Covering Safety Council, windowcoverings.org, homeowners can get free kits to make their old window coverings cordless.

Windows in general should be examined carefully by parents of young children. Kids fall through screens and fall to their deaths every year. If kids are in the house, no window should open more than 4 inches, says Leslie Feuerborn, Safe Kids Denver Metro Coalition Coordinator. The marketplace offers a variety of products to keep windows beneath that threshhold.

Babyproofing doesn't have to cost a fortune. Instead of buying bumpers for the kitchen table, just move the furniture. Bathrooms are full of hazards, but you don't have to babyproof everything inside: just put covers on the handles, so kids can't open the doors.

"It's all getting bumped up a notch, and certainly I think with that comes more safety for kids," says Rabbitt. But "nothing helps more than keeping your baby in sight."

—Douglas Brown
Denver Post
June 2006

The Safe Baby: the home safety guide every new parent should own

A couple of weeks ago, Debra Smiley Holtzman contacted Blogging Baby asking us to take a look at her book, The Safe Baby: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Home Safety. It turns out that Holtzman is a nationally recognized health expert who has appeared on several well-known television shows -- The Today Show and The John Walsh Show, to name a couple. And if her media appearances don't impress you, perhaps her educational background will: she has a law degree, an M.A. in occupational health and safety, and a B.A. in rhetoric and communications. For all these reasons, I eagerly anticipated reading her book, hoping to learn a lot about home safety, particularly in light of my active toddler.

I wasn't disappointed. The Safe Baby is a comprehensive guide to ensuring that your home is as safe as possible for your new baby and/or young child. In addition to giving the advice that you probably already knew (check the bathwater carefully to avoid scalding your child; cover your electrical outlets to protect prying, inquisitive fingers), it's also chock-full of safety tips you probably didn't know (Did you know you shouldn't give your baby home-prepared collard greens? Or that it might be prudent to investigate your tap water to ensure that it doesn't have things like arsenic, radon, lead and the ominous-sounding THMs?) And in case you're wondering that the content of this book is all doom and gloom without providing solutions for mitigating risks, never fear: the book also gives lots of practical advice on how to recitfy potentially dangerous situations -- either by doing it yourself, or recommending a professional do the job.

The Safe Baby also contained information I didn't expect: advice on how to acclimate your pets to your new baby (or vice-versa), and tips on finding a good babysitter and daycare are also provided. There is also a summary at the end of each chapter with all salient points condensed in bullet form -- and the book even concludes with a room-by-room checklist, lists of safety products, and a resource guide with contacts for more safety information.

I wish our family had this book when we were preparing for the social worker home visit that all prospective adoptive parents undergo prior to having children placed with them; however, if I had one criticism, it is the author's inadvertent presupposition that all families are created the old-fashioned biological way. In the section dealing with allergies, for instance, Holtzman says, "If you or your spouse has a family history of allergies -- to animals, dust, pollen or foods -- your child may be at an increased risk for developing allergies." That's all well and good for many families, but what about those of us who may not have that information for one or both of our children's birthparents? (And, tangentially-speaking, isn't "spouse" a bit presumptive?) It would have been good to see a couple of sentences on how to deal with the issue when all or part of your child's medical history might be an unknown variable. Similarly, while the section on travel had tips like opting to fly nonstop and how to choose a child safety seat for the airline, no effort was made on issues of international travel: immunizations or potential regional diseases to watch out for, for example, or complications resulting from changes in diet. After all, not only are more and more families traveling internationally, many are also bringing home new family members from foreign countries, and may find themselves dealing with some of these issues once their new sons and daughters arrive home in their adoptive land. Perhaps these subjects will be dealt with in future editions.

Nonetheless, potential readers shouldn't be put off by these negatives -- the truth is, I'm thrilled to now own a copy of this book, and plan to use it over and over again as a handy reference -- both in making sure our current home is up to scratch, and ensuring that I'm aware of any issues for any future homes (or the homes of family members we may visit). I unreservedly recommend this book to any new parent, and this is probably my new gift to any prospective adoptive parents in preparation for that nerve-wracking home visit. So if you're a new parent (or grandparent, or close family member or friend of a new parent) run out and grab a copy soon. You'll be glad you did.

—Karen Walrond
Blogging Baby
January 2006

Child-proofing your home is a difficult task. Some parents may not even know where to begin. Get going with The Safe Baby: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Home Safety). The book is endorsed by many top safety and health professionals and recently won the 2004 National Parenting Publications’ Gold Award. Author Debra Smiley Holtzman—of the Discovery Health Channel’s Make Room for Baby—didn’t miss a beat. She covers just about every possible issue dealing with child safety. This “how to” guide provides new parents with an in-depth explanation on protecting children from dangers. Some of the numerous topics included are preparing for emergencies, food safety, environmental hazards and choosing a daycare facility. Holtzman’s thoroughness is continued in the appendices, which list pages of helpful resources.

—Jennifer Lucich
E - The Environmental Magazine
November 2005

Herself the mother of two children, child safety expert Debra Smiley Holtzman brings a particular expertise to the pages of The Safe Baby: A Do-It-Yourself Guide To Home Safety. Readers will learn all of the child-proofing essentials for making the nursery safe, to protecting the baby in the kitchen, the bathroom, and every where else in the house. Parents are shown how to choose and use appropriate nursery equipment; prevent falls; avoid poison injuries; deal with environmental hazards; keep backyards safe; which pets are suitable for children; choosing a babysitter or day care center; and travelling safely with children. A candid, practical, thoroughly "reader friendly" instructional manual, this do-it-yourself advisory will have still another additional benefit -- peace of mind for stressed out parents!

—Midwest Book Review
March 2005

"Is Your Backyard Safe for Springtime Fun?"

New moms and dads can finally fight cabin fever by bringing baby outside to frolic in warmer weather.

Or can they?

Probably best to first spend a little quality time out there in a lounge chair reading Debra Smiley Holtzman’s latest eye-opening book—The Safe Baby: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Home Safety.

Herself a mother, former lawyer, and safety expert featured on Discovery Health Channel’s Make Room for Baby program, Holtzman offers parents a practical and comprehensive collection of tips, insights and warnings.

The Safe Baby is helpful reading in any season—and in any area of the home. Holtzman’s room-to-room and inside-to-outside safety review takes parents on a baby’s-eye tour of their own home. It’s time well spent.

—Safe Homes Magazine
March/April 2005

"Grandparent S0S: Making your home safe for babies"

It's been more than 20 years since I've had a toddler underfoot. I don't recognize today's breast pumps. I confuse Graco with Tyco with GEICO (the first makes ultra-sophisticated baby transport; the second, toys; and I insure my car through the third). Ages ago I gave away the toys. My guru - Dr. Spock - is probably out of print.

So why am I reading child safety primers? Because two-and-a-half-year-old Isabel, and her ll-month-old cousin Luke, visit, not often enough. Royal courtiers don't prepare for visits from their sovereigns as zealously as I prepare for these grandchildren. Suddenly I'm scouring through "baby advice" books.

In The Safe Baby: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Home Safety (Sentient Publications, Boulder, Colorado, 2005), Debra Smiley Holtzman speaks to grandparents everywhere, reminding us what we knew when our children, the parents of these miraculous new beings, were small- and telling us new information.

Thanks to Debra Holtzman's guide, I am taking some safety steps - not just for Isabel and Luke - but for my husband and me. I'm cleaning the dryer's vent. I'm checking the automatic garage door. Underwriters' Laboratories suggests that people check their door by putting a two-by-four in its path each month. I'm doing it for the first time in 15 years. I'm gathering all poisonous products, storing them out of reach.

Every grandparent knows the basics of grandparenting: cookies, milk, hugs and stories. But home safety should be another grandparent basic. By

—Joan Retsinas, Prime Time Magazine
February 2005

“Holtzman, a nationally recognized child-safety and health expert featured on the Discovery Health Channel's Make Room for Baby, offers parents of young children a well-written guide on home safety. The author takes a tour of the house and the backyard, covering safety measures that apply to each room. Besides the expected areas like the nursery, the bathroom, and the kitchen, Holtzman also covers the backyard, the home office, and the basement. Chapters on fire safety, common poisonous plants, and environmental hazards are also addressed. The "Room-by-Room Checklist" and the list of resources in the appendix are handy and extensive. Because this book is similar in content and scope to the author's previous book The Panic-Proof Parent: Creating a Safe Lifestyle for Your Family, it is an optional purchase for libraries that own the older book. Otherwise, highly recommended for public libraries.”

—Maryse Breton, Library Journal
Ann Arbor, MI
Nov 2004

All parents know that (1) children's talent for making mischief is enormous; and (2) the potential for physical hazards caused by such mischief is terrifying. What they may not know are some simple (and not-so-simple) ways to make the home safer. Debra Holtzman, a Discovery Health Channel safety expert, has compiled a guide to what parents' can do to better protect their little ones. The author divides her book into logical sections, starting with baby-proofing the "hot spots" (nursery, kitchen, bathroom, etc.). Then on to more specific issues: pets, gun safety, fire safety, environmental hazards, and common poisons. In home offices, especially: Filing cabinets can tip over and staples or thumb tacks could (brace yourself) look tasty to curious toddlers. Holidays and other special occasions pose their own problems: fireworks, Christmas trees, candles, Halloween costumes, dangerous holiday treats and gifts, and on and on: frightening and endless potential for danger, but essential information for physical-harm prevention. Travel, too, poses safety hurdles—including traveling in shopping carts.

It's easy to become overwhelmed by the amount of information here, but the author's overall approach is positive and the precautions she suggest are straightforward. With a room-by-room checklist, a list of common poisonous plants, and a rundown of other safety resources, parents will wonder how they could have done without The Safe Baby. Holtzman is a Discovery Health Channel safety expert; she appears regularly on The John Walsh Show and MSNBC; and she's quoted often in major national newspapers and magazines. She's one for the Rolodex, and her book should be featured in any parenting coverage you're planning.

—Kirkus Reports
Nov 2004