If you are an expectant parent or if you have children in your home it is important to take precautions to make your surroundings safer for kids. This is also important if you often care for a relatives or neighbors children on a regular basis.
Probably one of the most important things to do when protecting your kids from your house is to ask other parents or try to remember your own childhood if you can.. What types of things do your kids get into more often then not that they shouldn’t.. We will try to cover some of the more common things but every child is different and they will be determined to get around any safety device you install so make sure it is right for your kid.
When your kids begin to crawl everything within their reach should be moved to a higher place. Something as innocent as a candle or vase on a coffee table can mean a bump on the head and maybe a trip to the doctor. If you decide to move things to shelves make sure that the shelves are sturdy and secured to the wall with proper fasteners.
If you have a CD , DVD or other collection of expensive items move them higher or place them in a cabinet.
Computers that normally hide below or to the side of our desks can be mounted on a sturdy shelf above your desk or placed on a desk. Make sure that all wiring for electronic equipment is higher then their reach or you may find a pile of broken parts on the ground when you turn your head for a moment. Televisions especially LCD models can be mounted on the wall above the reach of your kids.
Electrical outlets can be difficult to secure. If you are not using the outlet you can purchase special plugs that make the outlet more secure. Outlets that are in use can often be placed behind a cabinet that way the wires are not easily accessible. If they are used for items that are semi permanent then you can use a wire tie down to mount the electrical cord to the wall making it much harder to unplug the wire.
Safety Netting and Gates for Stairs
If you live in a home with stairs and balconies then you should take proper care to make sure that you remove the possibility of falling or getting stuck between railings. Although most balconies should be designed with openings no larger then 3-1/2 inches wide there still is a possibility for a infant to get in there and get hurt. Netting can be used for a few years until the child grows large enough that this is not a problem.
The second benefit to installing netting is reducing the possibility that your kids will throw things possibly very expensive things.. or maybe the things they throw aren’t expensive but the things they hit are. This is really up to you but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of .. well you know.
The things that we have covered so far are for people that have children in their homes most of the time the following things are good advice for people that have kids on a part time basis and for all parents of children of any age.
Protecting your Medicine
Medicines are attractive to kids of all ages. Smaller children can get into your medicine if you place doses in a weekly dose planner and store the bulk in their child proof containers. Older children in their teens may try medications for other reasons. Childproof caps will not protect your medicine from older kids.
I might suggest that you take the precautions that are necessary for your kids. Never expect your children to be the perfect ones that never have any mistakes. For the best bet you may want to purchase a personal safe. They are usually pretty inexpensive and although a teen still may possibly be able to get into them if you hid a key anywhere in the house…. its not a bad idea.
For smaller children you want to move your medications out of their reach. Place them on the highest shelf in the kitchen such as the one over the refrigerator if you are sure they can not use a chair to get to them and then do not store any food items like cookies in that area where they will be attracted to try to access that cabinet. This is the minimum or place them in your closet top shelf. Do not store them in the bathroom where kids often spend time alone… bad idea.
Caustic and Poisonous Substances
Even more then your DVDs heh you need to secure your paints, poisons, makeup, fertilizers, gasoline, cleaners, soaps, bleach, oils and any substance that could be consumed and cause internal damage or be applied to the skin or eyes and cause damage.
Steel cabinets are great if you can lock them. If you place items on shelves they must be out of reach and remember that kids can get from the floor onto a chair on to a workbench in just a few seconds so you have to be extremely careful of anything you leave in the open.
Final Note
Obviously there are many more things in your home that you should secure to make your house child friendly.
The main thing is to try to preempt any problems. Get down on your knees and look at the world like a kid then imagine seeing everything for the first time and wondering how you can get at it to see what it is.
Kids don’t want to break your favorite things or get themselves injured.. they just want to know what stuff is .. and until they do understand what things are good and what things are bad it is up to you to keep all of the bad things out of their reach.