Childproof Your Home April 30, 2009

It’s National Safe Kids week all week and The Florida Child Injury Lawyer wants to recognize this week with even more tips on keeping your child safe.

Childproofing your home is one of the most important aspects of ensuring child safety because parents and children naturally spend quite a bit of time at home.

The trick to childproofing your home is to understand that childproofing will never be 100% effective. Trust but verify, as they say. Trust your childproofing will help but always verify that your child is safe.

That means supervising your child at all times, especially in the kitchen and bathroom and near water. People think that when their baby is in a baby bath seat that the child is safe and being held securely. Well once a month, a parent walks away from a baby in a bath seat that wasn’t securely fastened or otherwise malfunctions and the child drowns.

Childproofing in an important first step, but do not rely exclusively on childproofing.

When childproofing, the best place to start is on all fours. Literally get down there and crawl around your house. That’s the best way to find the dangers that face a child. Crawl around every room taking note of what is in reach from the floor to about 40 inches above. Also check carpets where pins or coins can be hidden.

The Kitchen:

To keep dangerously hot substances out of reach, use the back burners on the stove and turn pot handles toward the back of the stove.

Keep anything made of glass, anything sharp, and appliance cords away from the edge of counters and tables where children can reach them.

The bathroom:

Do not allow your hot water heater to heat water to more than 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Your child can suffer third degree burns in just three seconds from water that is 140 degrees F.

Install locks on medicine cabinets. Even seemingly harmless items like mouthwash can be dangerous for a young child.

Request your medicines come in child-resistant packaging. But keep in mind that child-resistant is not childproof. Lock medicines in locked medicine cabinets.

Remove sharp objects from a child’s bathroom. Razors, scissors and blow dryers have no place in a child’s bathroom and should be kept in your bedroom or bathroom, locked and out of children’s reach.

The Bedroom:

Be wary of old cribs. They don’t make ‘em like the used to – for a reason. Safety standards have improved so much that furniture built even a decade ago might have some of the sharp edges, wide slats and corner post protrusions that today’s safety standards prohibit as potentially deadly.

Always lock your blinds whether they are up or down. If not locked, the inner cords will have enough slack for infants and toddlers to pull them around their necks and strangle. Window blinds sold after November 2000 have attachments that prevent this from happening.

If you have older blinds and want to modify them yourself, visit the Window Covering Safety Council where you’ll find easy-to-unerstand pictures and instructions for installing safety devices to make your window cords safe.  Free safety kits are also available.

Around the house:

Frayed electrical wires or flammable materials near heat sources are fire hazards. Maintain smoke alarms in every bedroom and on every floor. Check the fire alarms when you and your child sleep away from home.

Even a small amount of carbon monoxide can kill a small child. Put carbon monoxide detectors in every sleeping area and maintain their batteries.

Falling down stairs can be especially dangerous. Stair gates can help prevent such injuries. Don’t forget to use them at the both top and bottom of stairs.

Install covers over all electric outlets.

For emergencies:

Keep emergency numbers in easily findable and readable places near telephones. Include phone numbers such as the poison control center, pediatrician and a neighbor by every telephone. Also, post your address in large, obvious print so that guests, parents, caregivers, and children can rely that information without thinking to emergency personel.

Maintain a current, fresh first-aid kit.