‘Take good care of my baby’: Tips to childproof your home
MetroCreative
Putting safety latches on the drawers and doors is one way of protective your child from harm.
MetroCreative
Putting covers on electrical outlets can greatly reduce the chances of injuries to children.
MetroCreative
MetroCreative
MetroCreative
Move medicines and harmful chemical products out of the reach of children.
With two children, Alexandria and Craig Smith of Springhill Township do all they can to childproof their home.
“It eases my anxiety a lot,” said Alexandria. “I was anxious before having kids. But my anxiety went up a lot after having Bentley. We thought ‘What can we do to make it more safe to ease my mind and make sure he couldn’t get into anything dangerous?”’
Their son, Bentley, is now 7 and in second grade, while their daughter, Charlotte, is 4 and will start school next year. As their children grow older, some childproofing restrictions are being lifted but the Smiths were vigilant about making sure they took as many precautions as possible when their children were babies and still keep watch.
“When Bentley was a baby and started crawling, we actually got down on our knees at crawling level to see what could be at his reach and what we needed to do,” said Alexandria.
“We put safety latches on the drawers and doors – anything that opened, we basically latched shut,” she noted. “We had a toilet seat latch for a while. We had baby gates at the top of the steps, in the kitchen, the hallway. We had at least five.”
The Smiths put covers on their electrical outlets. They attached straps from free-standing shelving units to the walls. They moved a coffee table with metal edges and stone tiles out of the living room so the babies wouldn’t fall against it as they pulled themselves up and learned to walk. They switched to natural-based cleaning products and locked them up. They moved medicines out of reach. They made sure the crib was away from the window with its curtains and monitor to keep the babies from becoming tangled in cords, and cleared the crib of toys and blankets.
“People laugh a little at the extremes we went to,” said Alexandria, “but I’d rather be safe.”
Kelly McKnight, nurse supervisor for Fayette County Community Action Agency Inc.’s Nurse Family Partnership, agrees that homes with babies and young children need to be safe.
“It’s extremely important,” said McKnight. “Being we are home visitors going into homes of first-time moms, we assess safety issues and suggest ways we can make them safer.”
McKnight mentioned baby gates, safety latches and covers for electrical outlets.
She noted some safety measures don’t cost anything.
“They can be as simple as moving poisons like cleaning supplies. Don’t keep them under the sink. Just raising them to a higher cabinet where children can’t reach can keep them safe,” said McKnight, advising to keep handy the number for Pittsburgh Poison Center, which is 800-222-1222.
In the bathroom, McKnight said, “Keep toilet lids down. We know that kids can drown in a bucket of water. If you’re using chemicals in the toilet – they sit in there and make the water blue -keep the lid down and the door shut. And make sure there’s no standing water in the tub.”
For sleep safety, McKnight recommends following guidelines for cribs, not using bumper pads and keeping toys out of the cribs.
“If you can go without a blanket, it’s best. They now make blanket sleepers,” McKnight said. “Place them on their backs when they sleep to prevent SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and they should not be in bed with mom.”
In the kitchen, make sure pot handles are not turned outwards where a child might reach up and pull them down, noted McKnight. She said not to hold children while cooking to avoid them being hit by splatter.
McKnight advised not to let babies and small children play alone with pets to avoid bites: “Even the friendliest dog can turn on a child.”
She recommended plants should be friendly to children and pets, and to install smoke and carbon dioxide alarms and check to see they are in working condition.
For homes with firearms, McKnight said, “Make sure they’re locked safely with ammunition in a separate area. Children of a certain age can be taught safety around firearms.”
Besides these safety tips, government agencies and non-profit organizations also post recommendations on their websites to keep children safe at home.
From the US Consumer Product Safety Commission:
Use door knob covers and door locks to help prevent children from entering rooms and other areas with possible dangers. Be sure the door knob cover is sturdy, and allows a door to be opened quickly by an adult in case of emergency.
Use anti-scald devices for faucets and shower heads and set your water heater temperature to 120 degrees Fahrenheit to help prevent burns from hot water.
Use layers of protection with pools and spas. A barrier completely surrounding the pool or spa, including a 4-foot tall fence with self-closing, self-latching gates is essential. If the house serves as a side of the barrier, doors heading to the pool should have an alarm or the pool should have a power safety cover. Sliding glass doors, with locks that must be re-secured after each use, are not an effective barrier to pools.
From the National Safety Council:
Keep coin lithium batteries, or “button batteries,” and any devices that contain them, out of reach of children; they can be fatal if swallowed.
Never leave young kids unattended in a bath.
And experts say be sure not to leave candles and matches within reach of children. Install fire-resistant gates on fire places. Put a rubber spout cover on bathtub faucet. Be careful of tablecloths, which small children can pull and spill anything on the table onto them.
McKnight, who also recommends parents take a first aid and infant CPR course, said, “The biggest thing is to watch your child and teach them what they can and cannot do.”
Alexandria commented, “I feel a little like an over-protective parent, but they’re precious. I feel a parent’s job is to protect them, so why not go a little extra in babyproofing to make sure they’re protected?”