Making Your Home Child-Safe: 4 Essential Strategies

Home is meant to be the safest place a child can be. That is why it is our duty as parents to deal with any potential hazards. Making your home child-safe is essential to ensure the safety and well-being of your little one. This is important whether it’s a child you are currently expecting, or you are thinking about being a foster parent or guardian. If you are wondering what is foster care, it’s a great way to be a parent to a child, but you’ll need to make sure the home is safe first.

How to Make Your Home Child-Safe

Remove Choking Hazards

The sad truth of the matter is that there are many potential choking hazards in the home. Of course, as a parent, part of our job is to identify these and remove them so our little one is safe.

Be sure to do a sweep of your home both before the baby is born, and again as they start to become more mobile. When they begin scooting, crawling, and walking, there will be all-new hazards to deal with.

Look out for things like pins, small toys, coins, and even deflated balloons. Take special care with batteries of all kinds, too, as these can not only be choking hazards but are full of nasty acid that can be fatal if ingested.

Minimize the Risk of Fire

Another significant risk to the safety of your children in the home is fire. In fact, both burns and smoke inhalation are two of the most common injuries occurring in the home. The good news is that there are several things that you can do to minimize the risks associated with fire in the home.

The first is to avoid open fires where possible and, if you do use them, be sure to invest in a robust child-proof fireguard that won’t get too hot. Next, be sure to install fire and smoke alarms through the home and test them regularly.

You should also keep any flammable liquids and chemicals outside of the home. Finally, investing in good quality fire extinguishers is a smart idea, as well.

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Prevent Poisoning

There are many poison hazards around the home that we parents need to be aware of. Cleaning chemicals can be incredibly risky and can cause a child that has consumed them to become very sick.

In particular, it is essential to keep things like laundry pods out of the reach of children. Not only do they look a little bit like candy, but there have been several cases where consumption has been fatal recently.

It’s not only cleaning products that can be poisonous, either. There are some things like plants and mold that grow around the home that can be problematic as well. With that in mind, it’s always best to check plants both in the home and garden to make sure they are safe when touched or ingested.

Additionally, if you come across black mold in your home, getting a professional setup like Advanced Catastrophe Technologies to come in and remove it for you is a smart move. After all, it has been linked to allergies and breathing problems, especially when it comes to younger children.

Protect Children From Electric Shock

Our homes run on electricity and, while we wouldn’t want to be without it, it can pose a real danger to our children. That is why it’s essential to use things like socket protectors when your kids are young. The socket protectors will prevent children from sticking their fingers or other objects into the electrical outlets.

Also, be sure to unplug and remove any electrical items such as hairdryers and curling irons while your child is in the bathroom. This will prevent them from being accidentally knocked into the bathtub or sink.