5 Tips For Keeping Your Kids Safe Around The Home
Home should be a place where children feel safe and secure, and for many, that is exactly what it is. However, just because they feel safe doesn’t necessarily mean that they are – there are many hidden dangers within the home, and also just outside it, that you may not think of as a parent, but that could cause injury or worse if they were to happen. The following tips will give you a good idea of some things to look out for when making your home as safe as possible for your kids.
Heavy Items
Think about all the heavy items you have around your home, and you will realize that there are a lot of them. Items such as couches, TVs and their stands, music equipment, bookcases, and much more can all be a danger to your children. If they were to climb on them or knock them over, they could be hurt.
Even if the children are fine, there might be damage to your belongings, which will be expensive to fix. Therefore, you should secure anything that is heavy and could be an issue. You can secure some items to the wall and others to the floor or to other sturdier pieces of furniture.
Smoke Alarms
If you don’t have smoke alarms in your home, then it is imperative that you install them as soon as possible. This is your first line of defense against a fire, and it will alert you long before the flames become too fierce to escape from. Ideally, you should install carbon monoxide alarms as well (or buy a combination alarm to save space and money) to ensure complete safety for all within the house.
The alarms must be checked and tested every month, and you should keep a stock of spare batteries in a childproof drawer or cabinet so that you can replace them as soon as the old ones are done with.
Remove Mold
If you have any signs of mold and mildew within the property, then you will need to remove it straight away. Although not all molds are dangerous to health, some certainly are, and if you are unsure what type you have, you can take a swab and have it tested.
No matter what kind of mold you do have, removing it is important because even the ‘safest’ kind can affect a child’s lungs in terms of making them wheezy or even triggering asthma. Mold can cause damage to walls, ceilings, and even carpets, so once it has been removed, you may need a specialist contractor to fix the damage left behind.
Medicines
Even medicines that might seem harmless such as allergy pills or simple paracetamol for headaches can be dangerous for children, and prescription medicines that are often much stronger than those bought over the counter can be even worse, even fatal. This is why you must ensure that all medicines, no matter how ‘mild’ they may be, are locked away out of reach of children.
A lockable bathroom cabinet is ideal, as this will usually be placed high off the ground where small children can’t reach, and the lock is an added layer of security. Alternatively, you can choose to keep them in your bedside cabinet, for example. As long as the cabinet or drawer is locked, it doesn’t really matter where it is.
Something else to remember is that there are new ways to receive medication these days. You might, for example, request asthma inhaler prescriptions online and have them sent in the mail. Make sure your children don’t get to the package before you do, as you’ll want to collect your medication and put it somewhere safe right away.
Seatbelts
Just as important as keeping your kids safe in the home is your ability to keep them safe in the car. Some of this will be down to your safe driving – you won’t speed, and you will obey the rules of the road. Of course, that doesn’t account for other drivers, so you need to make sure that your child’s seatbelt is completely secure. Once it is clipped in place, tug on it a few times to make sure that it stays in the holder. If not, your child won’t be able to use it, and you will need to get the problem fixed immediately.
If your child uses a car seat, they should not wear a bulky winter coat at the same time. The coat means you can’t pull the straps tight enough, and if there was an accident, the child might be seriously injured due to this.
Kori
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