How to Baby-Proof Your Home

Research tells us that accidents in the home are a greater threat to young children than stranger danger. A house contains a range of potential hazards for a baby or toddler, and this article looks at some of the main areas of concern and how you can make them safer for your child.

Kitchen

A kitchen contains hot, heavy, sharp and poisonous items, and should be one of the first places you baby-proof in your home.

Here are some of the things you can do.

• Turn all handles on pots and pans on the stove towards the back so that little hands can’t grab them and pull them down.
• Lock the cupboard containing poisonous items such as bleach, dishwashing liquid and drain cleaner, or put them all in a high cupboard out of reach.
• Put all knives away when not in use and ensure their drawer is not accessible to children.
• Cover all sharp corners with baby-friendly padding to minimise the risk of bad bumps from a fall.

Bathroom

This also a dangerous place for babies and toddlers, as they can potentially drown in as little as two inches of water.

Make your bathroom baby-proof by:

• Keeping the bathroom cabinet locked and putting away electrical appliances such as hair dryers and shavers when not in use.
• Never leaving a baby unattended in the bathtub – or near any pool/puddle of water – for even a second.
• Reducing the temperature of hot water taps to prevent scalding injuries – there are special taps that you can purchase to do this, which can be handy for their entire childhood.
• Installing a safety latch on your toilet lid to prevent it from being opened when you are not in the bathroom. Toddlers are very curious, and may fall in when trying to peer inside.

Living areas

The living room, dining room and bedrooms of an average home contain many potential hazards.

Ways to improve safety include:

• Place child safety covers over all electrical outlets.
• Bolt high or top-heavy furniture such as bookcases to the walls to prevent them from being pulled over onto your child.
• Cover sharp corners on furniture such as coffee tables with baby-friendly padding to prevent injuries if your child falls over.
• Install lockable child-proof gates at the tops/bottoms of stairs, and these can even be used in doorways to prevent entry into forbidden rooms.
• Purchase cordless blinds or loop the cords high out of reach to prevent entanglement – it is not unheard of for children to become entangled in curtain cords which cut off their air supply.
• Lock windows or fit them with child-proof screens, and lock doors to balconies and outside areas.

Outdoors

The back yard is another hazardous area for babies and toddlers. Ways to make it safer include:

• Always clean up any tools or gardening implements that are lying around.
• Install an approved safety fence around any swimming pool or pond with an approved safety latch on the gate – this is a legal requirement with some local councils, so ensure that you have the correct fencing for your area.
• Cover any chains or springs – such as those on garage doors – to prevent fingers from getting caught in them.
• Make sure your yard is fenced from the road, and have a child-proof lock on any gates.

It’s important you understand that baby-proofing your home will not ensure that your child never has an accident. Supervision is the number one way to prevent injuries in the home, and when you combine supervision with a safe environment you will keep your baby or toddler as safe as humanly possible for them to be.

How safe is your home for your child?

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