Childproofing Your Home
When children first begin to crawl, their curiosity about the world around them triples as they explore any and everything. Pre-schoolers develop motor skills, but they have poor impulse control and judgment. Children don’t have the strength, coordination, or maturity to avoid injury and their curiosity is a powerful force. As a result, they enter one of the most dangerous times of their lives when they are at the highest risk for injury.
There is absolutely no greater devastation than loosing a child and certainly that devastation is compounded when the loss is due to a preventable accident. Your question is not will your child find hazards in the home, but when.
When Should You Evaluate the Safety of Your Home?
It is recommended that you make your home safe before your child is born or at least by the time they are six months old. This will give you time to personally adjust to the changes and to develop new habits of closing gates and latching cabinets. Also, a new “evaluation” should be done every six months. As your child grows and develops…changes will still need to be made.
Child Proofing Tips
- Drawers and cabinets need to be secured with special latches, locks should be installed, and electrical outlets covered.
- Bolt the stove to the wall. A child can open and stand on the oven door, causing it to topple over.
- If stove knobs are within a child's reach, they should be childproofed. Gas ranges are particularly dangerous because you may not be aware of a child turning on the gas.
- Keep the dishwasher, oven, refrigerator, freezer and clothes dryer doors locked. (There are locks designed to work with each of these.)
- Add a fan to the nursery to improve air circulation and reduce the potential of SIDS and carbon monoxide poisoning. (Be sure it is up high and out of baby’s reach.)
- Toy chests should have hinges that are hard for a child to close -- or no lid at all.
- Chests of drawers are among the most frequent causes of injury; they should be no more than three drawers high, as they tip over easily. Tall bookshelves can also be dangerous. Strap furniture to the wall.
- With all the hazards in bathrooms, it's wise to use a lock or latch on the door until your child is older.
- Set your hot water heater down to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or lower to prevent scalding. At 140 degrees, water can produce a third-degree burn in three seconds.
- Install anti-scald valves to bathtubs and other faucets your child could get to. (The valves reduce water flow if the temperature exceeds 118 degrees.)
- Cover the bathtub spout to prevent your child from burning herself or hitting her head.
- Lock toilet lids. The size of children's heads makes them top-heavy; they can fall in and drown in three seconds.
- Make sure doors can be unlocked from the inside and outside. Have an extra key nearby.
- Install ground fault circuit interrupters in all bathroom outlets.