Childproofing Your Home

Childproofing Your Home

By Margaret Gaia

When is the last time you walked through your home and actually looked at all the dangerous material sitting out?  When is the last time you felt around for sharp corner tables and corners of your fireplace?  Have you taken a look at safety gates for your stairs?  Locked up the cabinets?  Most people ignore this – especially if you are on baby number three – but getting comfortable with these things in your home when a baby is walking around is not the smartest thing to do.   It only takes moments to make your home safe for your baby – so we advise child proofing your home to prevent accidents.  It is said that young children are the highest risk of being injured at the home simply because they spend most of their time there.  Of course, supervision is the best way to avoid any injury, but this step can help as well.

Some of the most common causes of injuries, or even fatal experiences, are fires, drowning, burns, falls, and other common accidents that are not meant in the environments where little children reside.  In fact, where most accidents occur you might find things like water, heat, toxic substance, or simply areas where a little might fall down.  Here are some things you can do as a responsible parent to be better prepared for such things:

-          Learn CPR

-          Keep phone numbers near bye for things like poison control, your local police and fire departments, and your local hospital

-          Your nearest person that might help you with babysitting in the event you have multiple kids, yet only one with an accident

-          Always install preventative items like a smoke detector, carbon monoxide detectors, and fire extinguishers

Another step we try and get others to take is cushioning the areas that may cause injury.  For example, sharp corners, brick fireplaces, steps, hardwood floors, rugs, etc.  It is important to understand that there are steps you can take to avoid maximum injury in these areas.  You can apply cushion to corners, put up safety gates on stairs, apply rubber mats under rugs to avoid slips, and simply put cushions on fireplaces when you are not using it.

Although you can make these places safer by taking these precautions, it is important to note that the safest precaution is to watch your little ones at all times.  They are fragile and ignorant when it comes to things they lack experience in, as we all are in life.  Just make sure they don’t fall into hands on experience by themselves. 

Important Numbers:

Poison Control:  800.222.1222

Emergency:  911