One Step Ahead – How to Childproof Your Home

Guest Post

Parents are rightfully concerned about protecting their children from violence and stranger abductions, but too often look past one of the largest threats to the safety of their kids — their home. According to experts, young children are more likely to lose their lives to fires, choking, drowning, poisoning, and falls than by violence.

Let’s look at a few ways many parents concerned with home security in Columbus GA to home security on the west coast are protecting their children from home hazards.

Babies

When it comes to babies, it really helps to see things from their point of view by getting on your hands and knees. Take a look around. What seems tempting? What is within reach? If you could walk or crawl, where would you go?

This should give you an idea of what your baby could get into. Spaces like drawers, cupboards, and other places will become evident. Remember that as your baby grows, you will have to reevaluate what they can reach as they begin to walk and climb.

Watch out for any small objects your baby might put in their mouth and choke on. Retrieve beads, coins, paper clips, marbles, and other tiny objects found on floors or tables.

You can cover electrical outlets using outlet covers. However, the small plugs can wind up inside the mouth of your baby. A better choice is to completely replace the actual outlet covers with ones that have a sliding latch. If you use any extension cords in your house, tape the ends.

Furniture and fixtures

Thousands of children under the age of five are injured every year when bookcases, TV sets, and other items tip over onto them. These types of large items are serious hazards.

Push things like TVs off the edge or tables or furniture they are resting on. Put heavy things on the bottoms of shelves to prevent items from becoming top heavy.

Gates

Safety gates are a very valuable safety tool for toddlers. They help keep them inside one safe room, blocking access to off-limits rooms and dangerous staircases. Choose gates your baby cannot move but that you can control.

Blinds and curtains

You may not think of these items as being dangerous, but they actually present a strangulation risk. Babies can get their necks entangled in the cords for blinds. If you can, select window coverings without cords.

Taken together, these tips can go a long way towards child home security in Vivint Fort Worth TX and other locations.