How to Child Proof Your Home

After your child starts crawling, even the confines of your own home can pose to be a hazard for your child. Young minds are curious. He or she might want to investigate the electric plug points in your home by poking his or her finger in them.As the saying goes, ‘It is better to be safer than sorry’. Keep all harm out of your child’s way. Buy all essential safety products to prevent both minor and major accidents happening at home.

Here is a list of safety devices that you need to reduce or completely prevent risks of injury:

  1.  Latches and Locks-Affix latches and locks on drawers and cupboards. Drawers and cupboards containing medicines and other dangerous chemical substances that can prove hazardous should be kept locked away.
  2. Safety gates-Secure all staircases and other hazardous areas in the house like the kitchen using gates. Make sure children cannot get their heads stuck between the grills of the gate.
  3. Electric outlet protectors and plates-Cover all electrical outlets with outlet protectors and pt your plates to prevent getting electrocuted or suffering from electric shocks.
  4. Window Guards-Cover all windows, bay areas and balconies with protective window guards so as to prevent children from falling out of them. Window netting is not sufficient to prevent kids from falling out of those windows.
  5. Bolts and Anchors-There is always a risk of furniture and other fixtures falling on them. So don’t forget to tie down furniture and other movable fixture with bolts and anchors, so as to weigh them down or bolt them to the walls.
  6. Corner and Edge bumpers-Affix corner and edge bumpers so that your kids do not cut and hurt themselves on the edges of sharp furniture and fixtures.
  7. Anti Scalding Devices-Kids are curious and don’t take much time to get into any mischief. In case your kids decide to take a shower by themselves, these anti scalding devices regulate the temperature of water coming out of taps and showers. Set the temperature at 120 degrees Fahrenheit, so as to prevent burns.
  8. Smoke Alarm-This device will help notify you if there is any fire in the house. The alarm if set off can help to keep the kids safe from the fire or even let you know if they are victims of the fire accident itself.
  9. Pool Alarm-You should keep children from getting near the pool when unattended. Guard pools by fixing walls and fences around them. But the safest method is to set a pool alarm that lets you know if someone is trying to enter the pool. You can even use a pool cover to prevent incidents of drowning in the pool.

Additional safety tips:

  1. Keep all chemicals and medicines out of reach of children.
  2. Do not leave standing water, to prevent drowning.
  3. Keep all breakables such as glass objects out of reach.
  4. Household appliances can cause a lot of injury, so keep them in an area not accessible to them.

There is no 100% guaranteed protection to children given by these devices; you can only reduce the occurrence of these dangerous incidents. And of course, nothing can beat personal supervision of your child, to make sure he or she does not get into any kind of mischief.