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As a parent or parent-to-be, you might feel inundated by all of the 'essential' kit you're recommended to buy.
To help take guesswork out of the equation, we explain the five life-saving products you need to carefully consider, as they have a key role to play in keeping your baby out of harm's way.
After all, there's nothing more important than the safety of your little one.
How to childproof your home to prepare for your new arrival.
If you've had a hospital birth, a car seat will probably be one of the first lifesaving products you'll be using - and you'll be using one for many years to come.
At Which? we put car seats through rigorous independent crash-testing to bring you the Best Buys in each category of car seat - as well as highlighting those you should steer clear of.
It's also important to learn how to fit a car seat into your vehicle, especially before the nerve-racking first journey home.
Even if you're not travelling home by car, you'll still need an infant carrier to get your baby home safely, or alternatively a travel system pushchair with a carrycot attached.
Here's how we put car seats to the test
When babies are born, their bones and muscles are still growing, making them vulnerable to impact injuries and uncontrolled head movements.
Various parts of their bodies - including their head, neck, spine, chest and pelvis - are extremely delicate and require extra protection from a good-quality car seat that's passed our rigorous testing.
Take a look at the top 10 best baby car seats chosen by our experts.
How to buy the right child car seat: download our shopping checklist
If you haven't already got these alarms in your home, you should fit both (or a combined one) straight away.
Known as the silent killer because you can't see, hear, smell or taste it, carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is caused by badly serviced or faulty gas-fired and other fossil fuel-burning appliances and systems.
If you only have one fuel-burning appliance, such as a gas boiler, you'll only need one CO detector. However, if you have others, such as a gas fire, gas oven or wood-burning stove, you'll need one in each room these are located in.
It's important to always look for an alarm that carries the British Standard kitemark (denoting a standard that's acceptable to the British Standards Institute) and to regularly check the batteries.
Which CO detector should you get? Check our carbon monoxide detector reviews.
Deadly gases and smoke often spread further and faster than heat in a house fire - a third of deaths in UK house fires are from these rather than the fire itself, showing that it's critical to detect fires early.
For homes of more than one storey, fit an alarm on every level, and in every room where there's a risk of fire. Put an alarm inside your baby's room and use a baby monitor to ensure you hear if the alarm sounds.
Looking for a smoke alarm? Go to our smoke alarm reviews.
There are lots of smoke alarms to choose from, including some that are battery operated and others that are connected to the mains.
Each type uses different methods of detection so it's important to buy depending on your needs:
Parents like to be able to keep an eye on their little ones at all times, but what do you do if it's not possible, such as when you're looking after an older sibling or they're sleeping elsewhere?
A monitor can help you check on babies over six months old at night, during naps and when you're possibly in another part of your home with other children or doing chores in the garden.
There are two types of monitor to choose from: audio monitors or video monitors.
These consist of two units: one unit (the baby or nursery unit) that stays in the nursery or the room your baby is in, and the other that you keep on you, either propped or stood up in the room you're in or clipped to your clothing.
These are basic but they may be all you need. Find out more about audio baby monitors in our audio baby monitor buying guide, including how much they cost, plus what features it's worth paying a bit extra for.
These also have two parts, but the baby or nursery unit includes a camera that sends video footage, as well as sound, back to the parent unit. If you've got a wi-fi connected video monitor, you can view the footage on your smartphone.
If you're planning to use a wi-fi baby monitor, learn how to protect your monitor from hackers and find out what happened when we investigated how easy it is to hack into some of them.
Want to know more about video baby monitors? Check out our video baby monitor buying guide.
Find out how we test baby monitors and pick up tips on how to choose the best baby monitor.
A stair gate is to keep curious little ones away from anything that might result in them getting harmed, whether it's a flight of stairs or a kitchen with bubbling pots and hot ovens.
However, when we put them to the test, several stair gates failed. So we'd recommend checking our stair gate reviews to see which are Best Buys and which are Don't Buys, so you're not taking any chances.
Take a look at our top five stair gates
You might wonder why it's so important to get a stair gate sorted while your infant is still a babe in arms, but while you have some relative calm before their arrival it's worth sorting these jobs.
Once they're crawling you'll need eyes in the back of your head to keep up with them and you'll be glad you took the time to sort out the essentials before they got moving.
Avoid these seven mistakes when installing and using your stair gate.
The right cot mattress will help to give your baby - and therefore you - a good night's sleep, whereas the wrong one could actually pose a threat to their safety.
The Lullaby Trust, the UK's leading organisation on baby safe sleeping, says the safest place for your baby to sleep is on their own sleep surface, in the same room as you, for at least the first six months - and that means sleeping on their back on their own good-quality mattress.
Go to our cot mattress reviews to see which ones we recommend.
Give your baby and toddler the best and safest sleeping space with our cot mattress safety tips.