How to Keep a Child Safe Around the House

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Having a child is a wonderful thing, but it is also the biggest responsibility one can have in life. Especially if it’s your first child, you have to pay attention to many things and do a lot of preparation. And the first concern of every parent is the safety of their child, especially within their home. For the first few months of their life, you don’t have to worry too much because they can’t move around themselves. But when they start waddling around and exploring the house, you need to take action to make sure they aren’t in any danger of their surroundings.

Breaks, stoppers, and corner guards

When they start exploring drawers, opening doors and cabinets and putting their fingers into every corner of the house, you want to make sure there’s no way that they will accidentally pinch – or worse, break – their finger on a fast-closing drawer or door. This is where breaks and stoppers come in. They install easily on doors and drawers and make sure that they can’t close fast, or that they can’t close all the way at all, preventing injuries. Another concern is all the sharp corners of tables, countertops and other edges that the child can run into. I secured the corners with a DIY guard made of a pool noodle I found in my favorite Sydney hobby shop, but you can buy proper guards in most child supply stores all over Australia. Another thing you absolutely must do is secure all of the furniture that can easily topple over – most commonly cabinets, and especially those with drawers. Kids love opening drawers and climbing on top of them, and their weight can cause the cabinet to tilt and fall onto them, potentially causing serious injury.

Electrical Installations

We all know that we have to teach children to never play with electricity. But until they learn, we have to protect them in other ways. Installing covers on all outlets is a must, but it’s not the only thing. When kids move around, they will want to tug on cables whenever they see them, and we have to make sure that there aren’t any loose appliances or devices that they can pull down when they do that. You also want to make sure your electrics are all in order. When we realized that it’s been very long time since we had a professional check out all of our installations, we immediately called a local Sydney electrician. They actually found some faults that were accidents waiting to happen, and we realized how dangerous it could have been.

Education and rules

All the helpers and prevention won’t help you keep your child safe if you don’t teach them how to be. Set some rules that ensure their safety and stick to them. That can be a rule of no running around the house in rooms where they can easily bump into something. If you have any pets, you have to set rules that ensure that, until the baby and pet start to get along and know each other well, they need to stay out of each other’s territory. Explain to your child why it’s dangerous for them to behave in a certain way and don’t wait for the first accident to happen – prevent it.

No matter how much we try to protect them, kids will get hurt. What’s important in those situations is not to panic and to be prepared. Have a first aid kit and learn the proper way to deal with different injuries. Just because they pinched their finger in the drawer doesn’t mean they need to go to the ER – even if their crying might sound like it. Do your best to protect them, but most importantly, teach them how to stay safe themselves.

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Diana Smith

Diana Smith is a full time mom of two beautiful girls and a passionate traveler. In her free time she enjoys exercising and preparing healthy meals for her family.