Securing your home
To secure your home, there are different solutions. They all aim to enable very young children to develop by being as safely as possible. Of course, adult supervision is still required, as it is impossible to predict everything that may go through the minds of these young adventurers and explorers.
Anyway, for make your home as secure as possible, you must try to put yourself in the place of your little one and, above all, at his height to see what is in his field of vision. Indeed, something that seems banal to you, can be dangerous for a child. Feel free to use and abuse protective devices, to lock up anything that could present a danger, etc.
When should you secure your home?
If you haven’t done so yet, it’s becoming urgent to secure your home as soon as your baby starts to move, even if it is still only by crawling. As it is never too early to secure your home and to have peace of mind, we recommend that you anticipate this period and do it before it starts to move on its own. Even after securing, you will have to to remain vigilant and upgrade protective devices depending on the size of your child, but also on his habits and temperament. Yes, not all children are attracted to the same things or the same experiences.
Securing your home
To secure your home, one solution so that you don’t forget anything is to proceed piece by piece. Indeed, if certain risks exist whatever the part, others are inherent to specific parts.
Reduce the risk of electrocution
Electrical outlets, cables, extension cords are at high risk for young children. Here are some solutions to reduce these risks:
- On each electrical outlet, install child protection. There are different types of devices.
- electric cables that run through the house, such as extension cords, must be protected, fixed or installed in trunking. It is important to properly secure all your electrical cables, including those of your chargers, your lamps, etc.. Indeed, cables present various risks:
- if, to relieve his gums, a child chews on a cable, he exposes himself to a serious risk of burns.
- by playing with an electric cable or wire, it risk of strangulation.
- it can get tangled in the cablefalling and being tumbled on what the cable is plugged into.
In short, don’t leave any cables lying around. It is inevitable that cables remain visible, to overcome this problem, you can hide them by placing a piece of furniture in front, a container of plants, etc. The goal is that they do not attract his attention and that he cannot reach them.
Secure the ground
As soon as your baby starts crawling, the floor should be a safe space for him. To do this, you can proceed as follows:
- Start by removing all small objects : it is well known, children tend to put everything in their mouths, at the risk of choking. So you have to make sure, day after day, that nothing small gets left behind. Remember to check under furniture, but also on low shelves or boxes within reach.
- When your child tries to take his first steps, it is best to remove the mats to prevent him from tripping and fall.
Securing furniture
The furniture should also be examined to ensure that it does not present a danger to the child.
- Furniture that can tip over must be secured one way or another or put aside temporarily. Indeed, when your baby tries to sit up, he will grab onto whatever he finds within reach and if that something is an unstable piece of furniture, it may fall on him.
- Some furniture angles being quite prominent, it’s best to secure them to protect your little one from a nasty bump or cut. It can be a coffee table, a TV stand, a bedside table, etc. This danger remains present for a few years, but the corners of the furniture to be protected change: at the beginning it will be those of the low furniture, then as your child grows, it will be higher furniture, such as the dining table, among many others.
- It’s best to lock your closet doors, as well as your drawers. In fact, of a curious nature, young children like to explore the contents of your furniture, even those that contain dangerous products, such as medicines, household products, alcohol, etc. You can either close them at key or install a commercially available locking system to prevent your child from exposing himself to the danger of poisoning or getting his fingers caught.
- In terms of storage, it may also be useful to review your organization. For example, in the case of dangerous objects or products stored at a low height, install them higher or lock the door to put them out of reach.
Secure the doors
To prevent your baby from taking advantage of a moment of inattention to play the great explorer, here is what you can do:
- Use child safety locks on doors. This type of solution makes it possible to prevent access to potentially dangerous areas, such as the entrance door, a door opening onto stairs or others. It is also possible to use them on sliding doors.
- If you have hinged doors, another source of accidents, it is best to dismantle them while your child is small.
- If you have folding doors, here too, it is preferable to dismantle them temporarily, because the pinching of the fingers in the hinges is too great for a toddler.
- If you want to separate the rooms without closing your doors, it is possible to install safety barriers at door frames.
Securing windows
Windows should also be secured to prevent falling.
- Bars, a fall protection net or safety grids can be installed on windows. Depending on the configuration of your home, this solution may be essential. In any case, you should avoid leaving a child unattended near an open window.
- To prevent your child from opening the windows on their own, you can install a security lock on each.
- When installing your windows, you can opt for a window solution that opens from the top. They prevent any risk of falling. Otherwise you can install spacers that allow you to ventilate without danger.
- Think of do not install furniture under a windowit may make it easier for the child to climb onto the window sill.
- In view of the risk of strangulation they present, blinds and string curtains are to be avoided. If strings hang from your windows, cut them as short as possible or tie them to prevent your child from playing with them.
- To avoid pinching your fingers, you can also install hinge locks. There are also some for doors.
Securing the stairs
As long as your child cannot climb or descend the stairs on their own without risk, you must block all access to the stairs. To do this, you can install at the top and bottom of the relevant staircase security barriers. Those to be screwed into the wall offer greater reliability, as they are not likely to fall if your child pushes them.
Securing the house
In general, for safety in any room, do not neglect to do the following:
- Install smoke detectors.
- Put plants out of reach of hand and mouth.
- Never leave any plastic bags near children.
- If you have some heat sourcessuch as a stove, insert, etc., be sure to secure them with a barrier, for example.
- The booster fans should not be within reach of small hands.
Securing the kitchen
The kitchen is one of the most dangerous rooms for a toddler.
- Cupboards containing dangerous goodsbut also breakable, must be locked.
- Avoid tableclothsbecause if the child clings to it, everything risks falling on him.
- Everything that is cutlery should be kept out of reach.
- The oven door should not be left open.
- During cookingtails of frying pans and saucepans must face inwards.
- Avoid small magnets on the fridge.
- Keep a fire extinguisher at hand.
Secure the bathroom
Like the kitchen, the bathroom is a room where you have to be vigilant with a toddler.
- When your child is in his bath, never release your monitoring.
- Install a anti slip carpet at the bottom of the bathtub to prevent the child from slipping.
- Beware of faucetsbecause your child can play with it and get scalded or bump into it.
- The water temperature should be monitored so that it is neither too hot nor too cold.
- Don’t leave it lying around neither cosmetics nor drugsstore them out of reach.