Keep Your Child Safe By Childproofing Your Home

Childproofing your home when you have a new baby is imperative to ensuring their safety. You may not realize it at first, but there are many dozens of dangers that exist in the average household. Because young children have not yet learned safe behaviors and do not have the same understanding of safety that you or I have, they are susceptible to dangers that adults have learned how to protect themselves from.

While many people feel that they understand the more standard methods of childproofing others choose to hire a professional to come in and make sure that their home is safe for young children. There is no one right way to go about childproofing your home, only helpful suggestions that you can choose to follow. For example, fairly standard safety precautions that all people should take is to use outlet covers, have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, gate off stairways, and keep cords (from both blinds and appliances) out of the reach of children. Below you will find an even more specific guide to childproofing your home that focuses on the most dangerous rooms in your home.

Childproof your Bathroom

•Make sure that there are non-slip rugs along side the tub and in front of the sink.
•Never leave a child unattended in the bathtub.
•Store medications, cosmetics, and any other product you store in your bathroom up out of reach of children or behind locked doors.
•Make sure that you always close and have a lock on your toilet seat lid. Children can drown in as little as 1 inch of water.
•To avoid risk of electrical shock, keep all appliances far from the tub.
•Manually lower your hot water temperature to a maximum heat of 120 degrees Fahrenheit to avoid accidental scalding. Always test the bath water with your elbow to make sure that it is not to hot before putting your child in the tub.

Childproof your Kitchen

•Put door locks on your trash compactor, dish washer, oven and make sure that there is a lid on your trash can in addition to locking all of the kitchen cabinets that are within a child’s reach.
•Turn the handles of pots to the back of the stove while cooking so curious hands are unable to pull a pot down on themselves.
•Avoid the use of tablecloths as a child can tug on them and cause any dishes on the top of the cloth to come tumbling down on top of them.
•Never carry a hot object and your child at the same time. Make sure that your child is not under foot while you are cooking as a trip may cause you to spill something hot on your child.

Childproof the Outdoors

•Don’t forget outdoor spaces can also be areas where childproofing is needed. Outside there are sharp gardening tools, pesticides, poisons, fertilizers, and power tools that can be extremely dangerous in the hands of your little ones.
•Put a fence around your yard to protect your kids from strangers and busy roads.
•Put something soft under your swing or play set so that if someone takes a fall it won’t be too serious.
•Put rubber or plastic tubing over swing chains to avoid pinching little fingers.
•Holes in the fence or small areas under a porch are dangerous because a child can become lodged into a place where it is difficult to access. Keep your yard well maintained to avoid the injuries that often accompany outdoor repair neglect.