When most people think of childproofing their home, their minds jump to childproof outlets. The National Fire Protection Association stated that approximately 2,400 children suffer from shock and burns each year from electric outlets. However, childproof outlets are only the beginning to childproofing a home. Here’s some tips from Tamworth Electrician.
In the kitchen:
- Install latches on all cabinet doors so your child wont be able to get to dangerous household products
- Move potentially dangerous chemicals/products like medicine out of their reach. We recommend putting these things on the top shelf.
- When using the stove, use the back burners and turn the pot handles away from the edge of the counter.
- Since there are lots of risks in this room, it is even a good idea to keep it gated to reduce the risk of your little on hurting themselves.
In your bathrooms:
- Install latches on all of your cabinets.
- Install toilet locks to keep your toilet closed.
- Unplug hair dyers and curling irons. Also when using these, keep them away from the edge of the counter where a child can grab them.
- Don’t forget to cover your electrical outlets as well!
In the play area:
- Make sure that toys smaller than 2cm are kept out of reach until the child is old enough. These small toys are a choking hazard.
- Keep porcelain objects (like the classic piggy bank) out of reach. A child could grab it and it could break, thus risking getting cut.
Other places in the house:
- Install baby gates at the top and bottom of your stairs.
- Put corner and edge bumpers on your furniture so your little one doesn’t bump his or her head when they are learning to walk.
- Prevent furniture from tipping over by securing them to the wall or ground. Some bookshelves and TV stands are now sold with brackets and anchors to prevent this.
- Make sure that candles and matches are out of reach for your child. Don’t leave an unsupervised child around a lit candle.
- Cover your fireplace. Children could fall and hurt themselves on the fireplace, plus it can get messy.
Don’t forget to childproof your home. You can never start to early or be too safe. If you ever need more information about childproofing your outlets, Tamworth Electrician can help, call 1800 00 2340, inbox or email.