You can never be too careful when it comes to small children in a home designed for adults. This is not to imply that your home is a death trap, but let’s face it: Babies and toddlers simply aren’t equipped to deal with things like heavy cabinet doors, fireplaces, and electrical outlets.
Childproofing your home might seem like a monumental task, but with the right strategy, making it safe for your little one should be a cakewalk.
Create a Checklist
You’re going to want to create a checklist of the most dangerous things to secure, as well as those things that may require a bit more effort. It’s often best to repair things that need fixing first and then move on to securing things.
Be sure to repair anything that could potentially be dangerous, such as a broken water heater that could result in scalding bath water or chipping lead paint that needs to be repaired.
Work Room to Room
The best way to tackle any home project that encompasses all or at least the majority of your home is to work room to room. Start with the rooms that your family and small child will spend the most time in the living room, kitchen, bathrooms, nursery, etc.
Mount Heavy Furniture
Heavy furniture should always be properly secured in a home with small children. This includes dressers, bookcases, TVs, or anything else that could topple over and hurt a child. Even if the furniture is heavy and difficult to move, children can still attempt to climb on open drawers.
The best way to mount heavy furniture is with actual furniture anchors. The anchor should be properly attached to the wall stud, and the restraints should be tight.
Lock it Up
When it comes to everyday household objects that can harm a small child, the list seems nearly endless. From choking hazards to sharp objects and household poisons, there’s likely a lot of stuff in your house that should be kept out of reach from children.
Putting things up high and out of reach of children is one approach, but as noted above, children are curious and often try to climb things. A better solution is to keep items like scissors, household cleaners, matches, or any sort of choking hazard in a drawer or cabinet with a secure child-safety lock.
And while we’re talking locks, stove knob covers are also a wise idea.
Cover Corners
Everyone has banged their knee on a coffee table and knows just how much it hurts. Now imagine only being two feet tall and running head-first into the sharp corner of that coffee table – yikes!
A good piece of thick foam should do the trick, but plastic corner table guards can also work well if you’re not keen on cutting up some pool noodles. Corners aren’t the only things that need to be childproof; electrical outlets should also be covered for safety.
Every parent wants a safe home for their children, and the same goes for the community they live in. Contact us today to learn more about all that the master-planned Crosswinds community has to offer.