Keeping Your Child Safe At Any Age

Although childproofing your home is not a substitute for parental supervision, it substantially reduces the likelihood of injury. The first step in providing a safe environment for your child is to prepare your home properly. Here are some ways you can keep your children safe in the home, whether you have a baby or preschooler, or maybe some of both!
When you bring your baby home from the hospital, you won’t have to ‘child-proof’ everything right away, since your infant is not able to move on their own. However, a baby monitoring system is ideal, since this will let you know if your baby is in discomfort or pain no matter what room you’re in.
When your baby becomes more mobile, you will have to pay attention to childproofing your home to prevent accidents and injury. For example, you will want to install locks or a window guard on upper story windows to keep them from opening more than three and a half inches. Keep all sharp objects and tools out of reach of little hands. And be sure to keep your floors clean and vacuumed. Toddlers have an amazing ability to find small objects that can end up in their mouths and cause choking.
Lock chemicals up in cabinets. Dangerous chemicals should ideally be kept high enough that the child can’t reach them, but sometimes that’s not an option. You can find inexpensive safety latches or locks to use on cabinets at a hardware or discount store. Better yet, keep your toddler out of rooms that contain hazards. Lock doors if you need to. If you can’t lock the door, you can buy a doorknob cover that will prevent your toddler from opening it.
One of the most dangerous, yet most accessible, areas of your house is the kitchen, so you need to pay particular attention to child safety in this room. Install safety latches on all doors and cabinets, especially where cleaning products and medicines are located. Remove all small magnets from the refrigerator, which can easily be grabbed by a toddler and swallowed. Move all glass items in the refrigerator to the higher shelves. Use the back burners on the stove and turn all pot handles towards the back of the stove.
In the preschool years, teaching your children about social safety is very important as well. Even when your kids are young, you should make sure that they know their address and phone number in case they have to direct the police or fire department to your home. Learning addresses and phone numbers will also help the authorities to return your children home if they are lost for any reason.
Child safety should be the number one concern of every parent, not just in the home but wherever you go. One way to gain some peace of mind when you’re out and about is with the use of a toddler restraint system. A toddler backpack harness is the perfect way to keep your little one close to you while still allowing a certain amount of freedom to explore.

--