Children get injured in many ways from burns, falls, and other home accidents. Although it’
S not possible to prevent every single accident; there are some things you can do to help protect your kids from harm.
Let’s have a look at four top tips to make your home a safer place for your kids:
Look At The Corners
As an adult, you are probably too familiar with having a bruise from nowhere or after bumping your hip or leg on a dresser, table, or sharp corner. Unfortunately, the corners that do this to your hip or legs are often at head height for young children. Falling on one could lead to a trip to the emergency room for a few stitches or a concussion.
If you can, choose tables, bookshelves, fireplaces, and countertops with round edges as it will help to minimize any damages. Yes, your kids are bound to get a few bruises if they fall against a piece of furniture, but a bruise is easier to treat than a cut. If you can’t replace furniture, try to add a protective bumper to any corners.
Make Smart Flooring Choices
When you have children, you should consider adding one or more of these flooring styles to your playrooms, family rooms, and bedrooms:
- Hardwood– It’s durable and can last around 30 years. They are perfect for allergy sufferers and are brilliant when it comes to cleaning up messes.
- Carpets – Whether you decide to have complete floors in carpets or just rugs to soften the hardwood flooring, carpeting helps by adding a protective layer and absorbs some of the sounds in your home too. Make sure you look at ways to stop rugs from sliding as these can be dangerous.
Look At Your Living Spaces
You will find that the power outlets in newer homes are childproof; however, if you have an older home, you need to add outlet covers. Think about how far your windows open, as if you have young children, you may want to think about adding guards to your windows to prevent falls, even more so if you have more than one story.
Laundry Room
Think about all the dangerous items you keep in your laundry room. You are likely to have detergents, softeners, bleach, stain remover, etc. Therefore it’s essential to make sure your children either have no access to this room or all the items are completely out of reach or in a locked cabinet. Children have been known to climb into washers and dryers, too, so always make sure you keep the doors shut and check them before you do any laundry.
Bedrooms
Window guards are a necessity on bedroom windows of children. However, this isn’t the only hazard to be wary of. Children want to climb; it’s natural for them; therefore, they see the dressers, bookcases, and chest as ways to test this out. Unfortunately, with too much weight, these tend to fall over and pose a severe threat to your children. Any furniture that is in their bedrooms needs to be anchored to the wall properly.
These are just five of the ways you can keep your home safer for your children, is there anything you would add to the list? Please share them in the comments section.
You can do as much as possible to prevent accidents happening in and around the home, but there may be unavoidable moments when your child injures themselves, falls over or gets sick. Being prepared outside the home is just as important as taking preventative measures outside the home. This is why you should find a local healthcare practitioner that offers same-day sick child visits. As a parent it is very important to have a plan whenever your child gets sick; although you may want to approach this when the time comes it’s always better to be prepared now. Take these simple steps as soon as possible and you will have complete peace of mind that your child is in a safe environment with excellent healthcare at hand.