Room-by-room safety

Ensuring safety in all the rooms of your home is essential as many household items are potentially dangerous, particularly for exploring babies and toddlers.

All children are naturally adventurous and inquisitive, and it is all too easy to underestimate the dangers your child may face in your home as soon as she becomes mobile. Many household items are dangerous to children. Every year children have accidents and many could have been avoided with a little forethought.

General tips for room-by-room safety

• Buy all medicines in child-proof bottles, and always keep them out of the reach of your child in a locked medicine cupboard. Ask your pharmacist if he can supply prescription medicines in child-proof bottles.

• Always keep medicines and chemicals in the clearly labelled containers that they originally came in. Never put a poison into a bottle that previously held a harmless liquid such as fruit juice.

• Store all drugs and chemicals as far away from food as possible.

• Don't leave aerosol cans lying around - the nozzle could easily be depressed by your child and could cause eye damage.

• Fit socket safety covers to all power points that are not in use.

• Make sure that flexes and electrical appliances are kept out of the reach of your child.

• All electrical flexes should be in good condition and not frayed or otherwise damaged; replace them if necessary.

• Fit window locks or safety catches to prevent windows opening more than 10cm (4in). Bear in mind that windows can be an essential escape route in case of fire so make sure the window keys are easy to find in an emergency.

• Never leave anything near windows that your child could climb up on.

• Keep pins, needles, matches, lighters, sharp knives and scissors out of the reach of your child, in a child-proof drawer.

• Cover hot radiators and pipes with towels or seal them off with pieces of furniture that your child can't move. Teach your child from an early age that radiators are hot and shouldn't be touched.

• If you own a gun always store it, and its ammunition, in a locked safe.

• Always buy flame-resistant clothing for your child.

• Make sure furniture is too solid and heavy for your child to pull over.

• Fit smoke alarms to ceilings on each level of your home. Check them regularly to make sure that they are still working.

• Replace old foam furniture; it gives off toxic fumes if it catches fire.

Avoiding risk factors for room-by-room safety

The chances of an accident happening are increased by the following factors:

• If your child is tired, ill or hungry.

• If parents are tired or ill or if the mother is premenstrual or pregnant.

• When there's great excitement in the home, such as when you're going on holiday or expecting the arrival of a new baby.

• If your child is considered hyperactive.

• If you and your partner aren't getting on, or if you're actually rowing.

• If your child hasn't got anywhere safe to play.

• If correct safety precautions haven't been followed.

• If the equipment you use for your baby doesn't comply with safety standards.

Dr Miriam Stoppard

New Babycare
Copyright © 2009 Dorling Kindersley
Text copyright © 2009 Miriam Stoppard

Posted 30.06.2010

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