How to Childproof Your Home

Various studies have found that every year millions of children are either killed or injured by unintentional accidents that take place in their homes. It has also been found that small children get killed or injured more because of falls, fires, burns, drowning, choking, poisoning, etc. than by violence or any other reasons. Kids in the age group of 1 to 4 are very curious and always want to explore their surrounding environment. On the other hand, children in the age of 4 to14 have a completely different perspective of experimenting with household things. For all these reasons, you should know how to childproof your home, and keep children safe from these unintentional accidents.

How to Childproof Your Home?

There are certain household items that are often responsible for causing serious hazards at home. and these are the items that you need to secure. Here are some ways to childproof your home:

Electrical Outlets: All electrical outlets should be covered up with a sliding safety latch to prevent electrocution. Do not use removable plug-in caps for this purpose as they can be removed by the child, and even put into the mouth, causing choking. If there is an extension cord, make sure it is insulated properly with the help of electrical tape to ensure electrical safety.

Windows: Window screens are not strong enough to prevent children from falling through them. Therefore, it is important that the windows are secured with the help of safety nets, window guards, etc. Placing of furniture in the rooms of your house should be such that the children do not get access to the windows via the furniture. If you are using window blinds then replace the looped cords with safety tassels or cut them short. This is because such cords often lead to strangulation hazards.

Furniture: As soon as the little ones start crawling around the house, they try to pull large and heavy furniture like bookcases and dressers. Toddlers also try to climb the furniture, which can tip over any time. To prevent such occurrences, you need to bolt the furniture to the wall using devices like brackets or straps and anchors. Sharp corners and edges of the furniture can also badly hurt the children. Cover these up with edge bumpers or soft guards to prevent such injuries.

Stairways: Safety gates need to be installed at the top and the bottom of all the stairways in your house in order to block them. There are several versions of safety gates available in the market. Some of them are portable and expandable and you can carry them from one area of the house to the other and keep a safe perimeter for the child.

Cover Door Knobs: A door knob cover is a type of loosely fitted device which can prevent the children from turning the door knob to open doors. Install them on the doors of those rooms where your child should not enter, like the bathroom, garage, home office, etc and thus ensure child safety.

How to Childproof the Kitchen and the Bathroom?

Bathrooms and kitchens are considered as dangerous rooms for the children and you have to be extra careful when you are making these rooms childproof. Here are some suggestions in this regard:

• Potentially harmful substances in the bathroom and kitchen like soaps, detergents, medicines, etc should be stored in drawers and cabinets that are out of reach of small children. Similarly, sharp objects like knives, scissors, razors or breakable items should be kept safely in cupboard with safety latches.
• Keep any kind of appliances like toasters, irons, dryers, electric shavers, etc in an unplugged condition when they are not in use.
• Set the water heater in your bathroom to 120 degrees to prevent accidental burns from water. Anti-scalding devices also need to installed in faucets for the same reason.
• Children can fall into a toilet easily if they lean on it. Keep the toilet lids closed with lid lock to prevent drowning.
• Installation of a smoke detector is a must for childproofing a kitchen, not only will help in childproofing the kitchen, but will also take care of fire safety in the kitchen.

The above tips and instructions on how to childproof your home can help make your house a safe place for babies and toddlers. However, you need to review all safety measures after a regular interval of time (at least twice a year) in order to ensure that your child has not outgrown or outsmarted one or more of them. Lastly, do not forget that no matter how carefully you are childproofing your house, you cannot afford to overlook the importance of supervision of the parents.