10 Steps to Child Proof Your Home
It is a moment of pride when we watch our little ones crawling or taking their first tiny step. This is also the beginning of a new phase in the parents’ life – childproofing.
As soon as a baby becomes mobile, the home becomes a playground for it with a whole lot of temptations to pull, tug and explore. Discouraging the baby from roaming or touching anything may only curtail its development. Instead, parents should start looking at the house and the furniture from the baby’s perspective and make alterations such that it becomes a safer house for the baby to live in. Following are some of the common precautions that parents with infants/toddlers can follow in their homes.
1) Never leave furniture like drawers or cupboards open. Use super adhesive tapes and stick them across the drawers.
2) Don’t store any small items such as buttons, coins, marbles, clips or any other small objects within the baby’s grasp.
3) Do not forget to lock bathroom doors. Keep toilets lids, bath tubs and any kind of pools closed when not in use. You can also use bumpers for taps in the bathroom.
4) All poisons, medicines, detergents and insect sprays should be stored in shelves that have safety locks and that cannot be easily accessible using a chair or any other movable furniture.
5) Always use door holders/stops to avoid children getting their fingers squeezed or crushed while closing doors. If there are stairs in the house, use stair gates to discourage your infant/toddler from trying to climb the stairs without supervision.
6) Cover all plug points with outlet covers, which easily available in any hardware shop. Don’t place any heavy/electrical appliances within the reach of a toddler – bolt them to the wall, move them out of reach or put them in a shelf that can be locked if not in use. Knob covers are available in stores. These don’t let the children turn on burners.
7) Ensure that your furniture like sofa and beds do not have any sharp corners. If there are, use bumpers to cushion the impact of any scrape or fall against it.
8) If you have any loose electrical wires/window blind cords hanging in any room, use cord bundlers and hang them on a hook beyond the child’s reach.
9) Light furniture like bookcases or chest of drawers and electrical appliances are dangerous as they can tilt and fall on the child. Bolt furniture to the wall. Push electrical appliances like television/oven out of the reach of the child or place them in locked cabinets.
10) Do not place any furniture near window sills. It is better to secure balconies and any other open doors/windows with grills.
As soon as a baby becomes mobile, the home becomes a playground for it with a whole lot of temptations to pull, tug and explore. Discouraging the baby from roaming or touching anything may only curtail its development. Instead, parents should start looking at the house and the furniture from the baby’s perspective and make alterations such that it becomes a safer house for the baby to live in. Following are some of the common precautions that parents with infants/toddlers can follow in their homes.
1) Never leave furniture like drawers or cupboards open. Use super adhesive tapes and stick them across the drawers.
2) Don’t store any small items such as buttons, coins, marbles, clips or any other small objects within the baby’s grasp.
3) Do not forget to lock bathroom doors. Keep toilets lids, bath tubs and any kind of pools closed when not in use. You can also use bumpers for taps in the bathroom.
4) All poisons, medicines, detergents and insect sprays should be stored in shelves that have safety locks and that cannot be easily accessible using a chair or any other movable furniture.
5) Always use door holders/stops to avoid children getting their fingers squeezed or crushed while closing doors. If there are stairs in the house, use stair gates to discourage your infant/toddler from trying to climb the stairs without supervision.
6) Cover all plug points with outlet covers, which easily available in any hardware shop. Don’t place any heavy/electrical appliances within the reach of a toddler – bolt them to the wall, move them out of reach or put them in a shelf that can be locked if not in use. Knob covers are available in stores. These don’t let the children turn on burners.
7) Ensure that your furniture like sofa and beds do not have any sharp corners. If there are, use bumpers to cushion the impact of any scrape or fall against it.
8) If you have any loose electrical wires/window blind cords hanging in any room, use cord bundlers and hang them on a hook beyond the child’s reach.
9) Light furniture like bookcases or chest of drawers and electrical appliances are dangerous as they can tilt and fall on the child. Bolt furniture to the wall. Push electrical appliances like television/oven out of the reach of the child or place them in locked cabinets.
10) Do not place any furniture near window sills. It is better to secure balconies and any other open doors/windows with grills.
