Mommies Magazine

Providing A Safe And Secure Home For Your Child: Essential Parenting Advice

Posted on 03. Dec, 2008 by Mom Mag in Family

photo credit: johnmarkos

Accidents in the home are the primary cause of death in children in the USA. By taking a few simple precautions, these accidents can be avoided, making your home safe for your son or daughter and the kids who visit it.

In your kitchen, you should be sure to install safety latches on drawers and cabinets. This helps keep them out of the everyday household chemicals you use to clean your house and dishware with, and also keeps them from grabbing sharp objects such as knives or scissors from inside the drawers. It is best to use the back burners when cooking on the stovetop, and keep the handles of your pots and pans turned out of a curious child’s reach while cooking.

Safety latches should be installed on drawers and cabinets in your bathrooms as well to keep them out of unsafe household cleaning products and medicines. Make sure you unplug any electrical appliance such as a blow dryer or curling iron directly after use and put it out of a child’s reach. Teach them early that water and electricity do not mix and that no electrical appliances of any kind should ever be immersed in or placed under running water. Toilet locks should also be used in homes that have small kids to keep lids down. Young kids are ‘top heavy’ and can easily fall into a toilet if they lean in to play in it. Since a young child can drown in less than just an inch of water, it is vital to closely supervise them in the bathroom at all times.

Around your house, be sure to secure furniture such as bookshelves and heavy furniture that could tip easily to the wall using brackets. Use doorknob covers to keep them out of any rooms with potential hazards and to keep them from leaving the house unsupervised. Make sure your window blinds do not have looped cords on them as they can be a strangulation hazard to a young child. And always cover your electrical outlets with protective covers to keep small fingers from them and small objects from being inserted into them.

Check out your house very carefully for any other potential hazards and resolve them immediately. With these precautions and some common sense, your home will be a haven for your child and their friends.

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These articles offera advice that works equally well whether you need to potty train a little girl or boy.

Tags: childproof home, home safety, mommies magazine, parenting, providing save home for children, safe home