Once your child becomes mobile, you start a whole new phase in the life of your home. Gone are the days of glass vases on the floor and piles of items such as craft supplies or tools lying around waiting to be put away. The fastest way to organization in the home is to bring a crawling baby or toddler into the picture.

When your baby first comes home, you are typically worried about such things as what kind of diapers you are going to use, which bouncy seat will make them happiest and what kind of eating/sleeping pattern will work best for them. You don't really start to worry about baby proofing your home until you watch your child move from point A to point B unassisted.

The day that they crawl across the room or take their first step is the day you need to baby proof your home in every way, shape and form. It only takes walking into a room to find your child heading toward an open wall socket or picking up your favorite antique plate to send you into a panic to make instant changes in your home.

When you baby proof your home, you have to think about baby safety first and home safety second. By this I mean think about what can be harmful to your baby first and what your baby can harm second.

The obvious baby safety features you need to start with are wall socket covers, cupboard latches and baby gates. EVERY socket in your home needs to be covered with a safety plug. Even if they are in the most remote part of the home, cover them. Every cupboard that contains anything harmful to your child or contains things that you don't want thrown all over the floor needs to have a safety latch. Keep one cupboard open and fill it with toys so that it can be your child's cupboard and they can open it whenever they want to. Place baby gates at the bottom and top of steps. Close doors to bathrooms so that they can't get into the tub or toilets.

Crawl around on the floor at your child's level and pick up anything that you don't want your child to have. This includes any breakables as you can't expect a curious child to not touch things and explore their surroundings. Anything smaller than a dollar should be out of their reach to avoid having them put it in their mouth and choking. Photo albums and photos should be out of reach as well or they can become stained, ripped or chewed on. If it doesn't have to be out then it is probably best to pack it away for now or at least put it up high out of their reach.

In addition to these suggestions, you can find other baby proofing suggestions and checklists online. Even after going through these checklists you have to realize that each home and each child is unique and you will probably make more changes as your child grows and discovers other things in the home. Keeping them safe is of utmost important. You can redecorate your home when they are older, but for now your job is to make their home a safe place to live.