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No matter what we do to protect our children there will always be something we didn’t think of doing. Accidents happen, and though we can’t prevent all of them happening all of the time, we can at least prevent the most common ones happening to our children in and around the home.
In the lounge or living areas of your home, a basic rule, yet one many people fail to follow is to ensure that all your plug points are covered. Plug covers can be purchased from any baby store, or you can make your own with cardboard and masking tape. Similarly electrical mains and wires should also be covered or hidden away from prying little fingers. Check the entire house for these electrical outlets even the ones that are high up on a wall as little people climb. Stairs should always have banisters. Make sure that this is not only a handrail, as the child can slip through or under this. Ideally all stairs should be carpeted to avoid slipping, and tiles should be kept dry at all times to avoid falls. This is especially true when you have a little one that is learning to walk, they are unsteady on their feet as it is and wet floors can exacerbate the situation. Remove all keys from small tables, as they are delightful to swallow, and often get lost as your toddler or young child moves them around. Furniture corners can be a wonderful place for little heads to connect with. Try and move all sharp-cornered furniture out of the way, or invest in corner clips (available from all baby stores, in clips onto the edge of tables and provides a softer landing space).
Kitchens are an accident waiting to happen. Boiling water makes an interesting sound and has to be investigated. All the brightly colored bottles are purely here to be opened and if possible tasted. Avoid this by ensuring all kettles, toasters, and pots are pushed to the back of the oven or counter. Don’t let wires hang down the sides of the counters when boiling water for a cup of tea. Take all your cleaning materials, poisons and paints and place them in a high, hard to get to area. Lock your fridge. My two year old managed to swallow half a bottle of anti-histamine medicine before I tracked him down standing in front of the fridge. We often keep medicines that have to be cold in our fridge doors, which make them easily accessible for our children.
Our bathrooms are potential dangers. Remove all razors to bathroom cabinets, as they tend to attract the eyes of your toddlers with their bright colors. Medicines should always be in childproof medicine cabinets and any animal medicines or shampoos should also be locked away to prevent junior playing with them. Small buttons, needles, scissors and tweezers can all be safely kept in locked cupboards. If you have glass shower doors, ensure they can ‘roll’ easily on their tracks and that they don’t get stuck. Toddlers especially love to hide in showers and if the doors get stuck not only can your child be locked in the shower, but if they put to much force on the door it can break or give way.
A good tip on seeing what you need to fix or remove, is to crawl around the house on hands and knees and see what the world looks like at that level. Often we don’t see the dangers from so high up.
Out of the house you need to look at your garden and pool areas. Always ensure that you have a safety cover or net on the pool, and that it is correctly fenced with a lockable gate. Try and ensure your fence is high enough that if your toddler stands on a chair, he/she cannot climb over. Move all patio furniture away from the fence just in case they think to try their hand at mountain climbing. Ensure your property is also fenced properly and that all fences are in good order. There is nothing as heart stopping as your child on the roads with cars speeding by. Do not let your toddler climb the burglar guards, ever. Should they ever come away from the wall, not only will you have to replace expensive guards, but your child could seriously hurt himself when they land on him. Check your property for poisonous plants, or mushrooms. Children can’t always differentiate between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ food. At the age of three I ate poisonous mushrooms, which used to grow in abundance in my parent’s garden and had to have my stomach pumped. Of course two weeks later I did the same thing with my fathers little nails to hang pictures on, but hopefully your children will have more sense. However just in case they don’t always tidy your tools and hardware goods away into a shed or locked room.
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