Get on your hands and knees and go through your house. See what could easily be picked up, pushed, or broken. Move it. You don't have to put it away, just put it up higher. Put it up high enough that you can't reach it if you were on your knees. Kids grow up fast, knock over things, and try their hardest to reach something, even when they are just learning to stand up and hold onto things.

Take an inventory of your house. Find out how many cupboards you will need to keep closed (you don't have to get every single one, but the ones that have anything harmful to a child), how many electrical outlets you will need to cover, how many doors you don't want the baby to get into, and anything else that needs to be kept away from you baby. Go out and then buy the products you will need. You don't want to buy too much or have to go back to get more, so check before you go.

Buy a really good baby gate. You don't have to buy a $200 one, but there are good ones at any of the major superstores. The good ones are the ones that don't move when you put them up. You don't have to get a permanent one that you have to drill into your wall for, but there are really good plastic ones that you just push a handle down and it locks into place and it doesn't move. Your baby will be very smart and will try to get around it and will succeed eventually if you don't have a good system set up. Baby gates are expensive so if you are on a budget, buy only how many you need. For example, if you have stairs, buy one. When you are upstairs, put the baby gate up there and when you go downstairs take it down and put it back up at the bottom of the stairs. If you have stairs that don't have backs, you will probably want to keep the gates up for a long time until your baby is much older. They will play on the stairs and might fall through even if they know how to go up and down the stairs.

Check your yard when you are baby proofing your home. Fill in any holes and get rid of any water that is around. Put any sharp tools or machinery in a shed, the garage, or bring them inside so that they don't end up hurting your children. Get rid of any poisonous plants both inside and out. If you aren't sure, look it up.

The main rule for baby proofing is to just look around and see what could harm your child. Don't worry about every little thing. If something becomes a problem, you can always get rid of it or fix the problem then. You don't want to leave everything for after the baby comes, because you won't have time. Remember, the gates and locks might be annoying, but they are for your child's safety.