You may feel confident that you’ve done a good job of childproofing your home, but the truth is, you’ve probably missed something. You may also be confident that you understand your child’s proclivities or ability to get into trouble. Accidents around the house are a primary reason that kids under 3 years old visit the emergency room every year. It’s a good idea to prepare for the worst when it comes to childproofing your home.
Secure Your Garage
First of all, keep the door to your garage locked, to prevent your child from getting into trouble. Children should not be playing around the car, and also, tools and chemicals are often stored in the garage. Sharp tools, hammers, paints, and chemicals are all potentially dangerous to a small child. You may want to keep garage door openers out of reach of your children, or place the controls in a lock box. Your child could reach the controls and open the garage door, and thus, gain access to the street.
Prevent Poisoning
Once again, many people store toxic chemicals in the garage, so secure the garage doors. You’ll also need to lock any outdoor garden sheds where fertilizers, weed killers and swimming pool chemicals could be stored. The bathroom medicine cabinet needs to be locked, as well as under the kitchen sink. Anywhere that you store potentially toxic materials needs to be locked up, for the safety of your child.
Fire Prevention
Fire is fascinating, and children are naturally curious; this makes fire prevention around the house essential. First of all, lock up any matches or lighters you have around the house. Also, take the knobs off of your stove, to keep the kids from fooling around with it. Finally, make sure you have working smoke alarms in every room of your home.
Burns and Scalds
Keep a close eye on children whenever they’re near the stoves, oven, heaters, fireplaces or BBQs. A child’s eagerness and curiosity could lead to a burn injury. Likewise, very hot liquids can injure a child; keep an eye on your cup of hot coffee or tea when children are around. They may want a taste, and could burn themselves. Finally, make sure the bath water for your baby is only warm and not hot.
These are just a few key suggestions to prevent serious injury, creating a safer home environment for your children.
