Our home is a haven in which we spend precious time with our families. It is also where we keep all our possessions, big and small. When it comes to the safety of a child at home, it’s actually quite simple to understand. The more things you have in your home, the higher the risks of accidents and injuries involving these items. Hence, the more safety precautions you’ll need to take.
Furniture of all sizes and designs, electric appliances, home decorations, things you need, things you love and everything else in between — These are what makes your home a special place to share with loved ones. While the adults in the family are aware of the functions of household items structures, and know how to use them safely, the little ones in the family may not. For instance, we would think nothing of the doors in our home. We know how to open and close them without hurting ourselves or others.
A toddler, however, will find it enthralling that he can use his hand to hold a door open, but is not likely to realise that when a door slams onto his finger, it will result in a painful injury.
As cumbersome as it may seem, safety precautions are necessary in even decently furnished homes with a little child or two. These precautionary steps can be in the form of alterations in the home structure and/or safety gadgets and items that can help make your home child-friendly and safe for your precious little ones.
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Safety equipment: every parent should consider them
Home safety equipment can be found in most hardware shops these days, and also, at most DIY outlets around the country. These seemingly simple items can actually help to create a safer environment for your child. It doesn’t replace the need for supervision though, especially with younger children, but it can make a difference in keeping a safer, accident-free home.
Here are some areas of child safety to take seriously and suggestions of equipment and/or devices that may help.
Preventing falling accidents
Child safety gates
Toddlers and crawling babies are naturally little wanderers who will go anywhere their limbs will take them. They seem to be particularly attracted to staircases and other restricted areas of the home. Safety gates are absolutely essential to prevent little ones from venturing up staircases and falling down from them. They are also very useful as barriers to prevent children from entering dangerous areas of the home, such as the kitchen or toilet, by themselves.
Window catches and locks
These devices are meant to prevent windows from opening too wide, hence it ultimately prevents a child from climbing out of them and possible taking a nasty fall.
It is important to keep in mind though that any keys for window locks should be easily accessible to adults in case of a fire, yet out of the reach of kids.
Corner protectors/corner cushions
These can help to protect wobbly babies or toddlers from hurting themselves on sharp furniture when they fall. There are many types and designs to choose from from hardware shops as well as baby specialty shops.
Door and gate safety
Doors and gates are meant to keep us safe and sound in our homes while keeping intruders out. However, when it comes to little children, these structures may pose a danger to their safety in many ways. Children do not realise that gates and doors are not meant to be played with, for instance, and they may injure themselves when they try to pry open a door or when it slams on their finger. They may also endanger themselves if they were to open a gate and venture outside by themselves.
Door stoppers
While there are a wide range of devices called door stoppers, the one that we’re interested in is one which can be fixed to a door itself to stop it from slamming shut on little fingers. You can also get various designs for use on sliding doors. You can find all kinds of door stoppers at www.lazada.com.my
Child-resistant gate latches
These are really important for stopping children getting out of the garden or play area onto roads or into the neighbor’s pond.
Hot Water Safety
Thermostatic mixing valves
These help lower the temperature of the water that comes through your hot tap, helping to minimise the chances of burns during a bath. As a safety habit though, always check the temperature of the water first before placing your child in the bath tub.
Short cords for electric kettles
Shorter cords will not be able to trail over the edge of worktops where they could be pulled by small children, causing scalding accidents.
Fire safety
Smoke alarms
Not many parents would think of installing this, but having a working smoke alarm in your home doubles your chances of your family and you getting out of the house safely if a fire were to break out, especially during the night. The alarms need to be checked periodically to avoid malfunctioning.
Fire extinguishers
It’s always good to have a couple of these at hand to put out small fires and stop them from spreading to other areas of your home. Do ensure that you and other adults in the house know how to use them.
Glass safety
Children will be children and will always love to be running around, and it’s not uncommon to hear of little children suffering from serious injuries due to running into glass doors. Broken glass tends to cause serious cuts and injuries.
Safety glass
It’s a requirement by Standard Building Regulations that low level glass in buildings, such as glass walls, to be made of safety glass. For glass doors, however, it’s usually the owner’s own initiative to ensure that they’re made from safety glass that can withstand impact, like for instance, when someone accidentally walks into it.
All latest furniture made of glass is almost always made out of safety glass, but to be safe, do check with the manufacturer or retail outlet. When replacing any low level glass, it’s important to make absolutely sure it’s replaced with safety glass.
Safety film
Safety films can be used to toughen glass and stop it from splintering if it’s broken. It can be put on your existing glass.
Poisons
Children are said to be at a high risk for poisoning because they like to put things into their mouths and taste them. Parents, of course, will generally try to watch over their little ones as much as they can at home, but there might be times when they may not be paying attention to their children’s antics.
While parents are busy doing other things, their little ones may be exploring closets or cupboards, where dangerous household items are often stored. Remember to always keep a close eye on your child. Watch your child even more closely when you are away from home — especially at a relative’s or friend’s home, where medicines are often not hidden from a child’s reach.
Keep Dangerous Items Out of Reach
The best way to keep your child safe from poisoning is to lock up dangerous household items out of your child’s reach, including:
- Medicines
- Cleaning products like dishwasher and laundry detergents, bleach, ammonia, and furniture polish
- Antifreeze, paint thinners, and windshield washer fluid
- Gasoline, kerosene, lamp oil
- Pesticides
- Alcohol
Safety locks or catches
These nifty little devices are parents’ best friends for they are ideal for securing doors, cupboards, fridges and even dishwashers in the home. They can stop little fingers from getting into cupboards containing medicines, cleaning products, chemicals and even matches and lighters.
Child-resistant containers
These can further help keep medicines and other potentially dangerous items safer from prying little hands. Remember though that most of these containers only slow young children down but may not stop them completely from getting into things.
Electrical leads safety
Most modern homes tend to have lots of electrical leads lying around all over the house, due to the numbers of electrical appliances and gadgets. These leads can be very tempting to little children (and household pets too!) and can be found in the living room, bedroom, dining room, etc.
You can safeguard your children by using electrical tubings that gather them together and hide them, making them less attractive to small children. Such safety tubings can be purchased at any hardware shop.
Why a secured home environment is important
- Accidents are one of the biggest cause of children’s death in the country.
- More children die every year because of accidents than illnesses.
- Nearly half of all children who are taken to hospital for accident-related injuries, had their accident at home.
Some safety equipment has been proven to save lives and reduce serious injury.
