Although your home may seem like the safest place for you, it can be a dangerous place for small children. There are some spots around the house that may appear perfectly fine, but can actually be a hazard for kids. In fact, it has been found that a lot of child-related injuries and deaths happen at home.
The good news is that, you can take some simple precautions to prevent accidents at home. If you are staying with little tots, here are some fix-ups you can do that will help keep the space safer for young ones and will give you a peace of mind.
Integrate window guards
In the US alone, an average of 12 children are killed each year due to falls from windows and several thousands are injured. These falls usually happen in urban apartments, but can also take place in suburban homes with second floors. To avoid this, experts recommend that you install guards on windows, especially those that are above the first floor. These additions will ensure that kids younger than 10 years old will not be able to access open windows.
Add a gate on the staircase
Since small children are naturally curious about their surroundings, they may be encouraged to climb stairs, making them vulnerable against slips and falls. Hence, your best defense against this is to install a staircase gate. This will keep young children from accessing the stairs, but be sure to pick a gate that they cannot easily open.
Install locks in ovens and kitchen drawers
Special locks as well as knob covers should be added on your oven to prevent toddlers from activating the burners on the stove. Likewise, you should secure the cabinets and drawers in your kitchen, especially those that hold pans, pots and sharp and heavy utensils as these things can injure them. You may choose to leave one of the drawers unlatched for the kids to explore, but be sure that it contains kid-friendly items.
Secure large furniture in place
When kids play at home, they tend to climb and grab on furnishings, making large and heavy furniture like bookcases, dressers and television stands particularly dangerous. If left unattended and the children managed to remove the items at the two bottom drawers or shelves of a bookcase that make it bottom heavy, the furniture can easily topple.
To secure heavy furnishings in place and prevent them from toppling, purchase straps and hook the furnishings to the wall. It is also a good idea to place heavier items at the bottom shelves or place the stuff that kids usually play with at the bottom so that they won’t have to climb to reach for the objects.
Keep sharp edges safe with bumpers
Coffee tables and other hard furnishings usually have sharp corners that kids may bump onto while playing which, in turn, could puncture them. Keep these furnishings safer by adding soft protectors or foam bumpers on their corners or edges. These pieces will only cost you a few dollars but they are definitely a worthy investment.
Keep cords out of reach
Kids are especially susceptible to strangulation and suffocation around the house, especially if there are low-lying window blind cords. In such case, your best bet is to resort to cordless window treatments. If that is impossible, however, be sure that the pull cords are tied high enough for children not to reach them or hook them up on cleats that are beyond children’s reach.
This guest post was contributed by Ericka, a freelance writer who loves to write helpful articles about home improvement and gardening. She also regularly writes content for Ace Blocks a company who specialice in Driveways in West Lothian