How To Make Your Home Safe For Children

There are a lot of hazards around an average home for small children.  Many of the hazards are not real obvious to adults, as they have a different perspective from small children, who are closer to the ground.

The following is a list of  small changes that you can make to your home to dramatically improve the safety of the children in the home:

1. Cabinet locks

It is extremely important to keep children out of the kitchen cabinets, particularly those cabinets that contain cleaning chemicals.  As opposed to the standard child safety locks, there are safety latches that no one can open without the magnetic “key” that releases the latch.  All that is required is to place the magnet in the correct spot, and the cabinet will be able to open and close.  Once the kids have grown, and there is no longer a need for the cabinet locks, they can be deactivated with the simple flip of a switch.

2.  Padding on corner of kitchen island

While it is normal for adults to casually walk into a room, it is also quite normal for children to come into a room running.  The sharp corner of a kitchen island counter is often right at the perfect height for small children to hit their heads on.  Simply add some SafeEdge Corner padding to any hard edges where a child could hit his or her head.  These pads are made of foam and help to cushion any impact with hard counter corners.

3.  Stovetop barrier

Children are frequently attracted to the sights and smells of food cooking on the stove.  Adding a clear barrier which is attached to the counter with adhesive that runs across the outside edge of the stove.  It not only prevents small children from pulling pots and pans off of the stove, it also help to keep hot food from splattering on little kids, and also prevents little hands from touching any hot surfaces.

4.  Doorstops

The rubber tips on average door stops are a possible choking hazard.  They are relatively easy for a small child to pull off and put in their mouth.  A better choice is to remove these type of door stops and replace them with one-piece door stops that have have flexible heads, but no removable parts.

5.  Floor vents

The majority of floor grates are just set in the holes and can be relatively easily removed by a child.  What is left is a hole with sharp sheet metal edges, a lot of dust, and sharp screw edges.  The easiest solution is to simply screw the vent covers to the floor.  Children will not be able to lift the vent covers off, and anyone that wants to clean the vents will be able to remove the screws.

6.  Outlet covers

Outlet covers with sliding panels are the best type of child safety outlet covers, because they are spring loaded and slide back into place when there is nothing plugged in, concealing the black electrical holes, so there does not even appear to be any space for a child to stick objects into.

7.  Fireplace safety

It is important to create a buffer zone between your child and a fireplace.  This can be easily done using fireplace screens that are easy to move, but completely enclose the fireplace.

8.  Safety gates

It is important to use properly mounted stair gates at the top of a stair case that is both easy for an adult to open, and sturdy enough to keep the baby away from the stairs.  The idea for a gate at the top of a staircase is that it should open in only one direction, away from the stairs.  This will help to prevent gate-related accidents on the stairs.

Most of these projects can be done in only a few minutes and can make a huge difference in the safety of the children in your home.