subject: Toddler Safety Around the House [print this page] Toddler Safety Around the House Toddler Safety Around the House
Copyright(c) 2010James Peinkofer
Toddler Safety
As young infants get older, they start to crawl and then walk around the home. This is a time of learning and growing, but it also can be a time of danger. To keep your child safe, parents need to find and fix the dangerous places around the house. Keeping your toddler safe is a part of your job as parents. It is a balance to allow a young child's desire to explore everywhere with a parent's need to keep the child safe. Toddlers are not responsible to childproof their homes, parents are. Toddlers often forget the rules about safety. To enjoy your children, nothing can substitute for parental supervision, it substantially reduces the likelihood of injury. Childproofing your home should work in conjunction with supervision.
Children can injure themselves in the blink of an eye. Household dangers occur quickly there are boiling pots of food, swallowing dangers, choking dangers and more. It's hard for parents to anticipate all the potential dangers or safety problems around children. The trick to keeping a safe environment for your children is to stay one step ahead of them at all times. By spotting dangers before an injury happens, children are protected from harm. So, you must prepare your home properly by providing a safe environment for your child:
Use safety gates at the tops and bottoms of stairs. For the top of stairs, gates that screw to the wall are more secure than "pressure gates.
Put cleaners, medicines, alcohol and other poisons in a cabinet with a child safety lock or latch.
Know to call 1-800-222-1222 if someone takes poison. This number will connect you to emergency help in your area. Keep the number by every phone.
Have toilet lid locks and use them.
Put locks on the outside of the bathroom door to keep children out.
Use safety straps when on high chairs, changing tables, and strollers.
Once a toddler stands upright, this reveals a whole new world of places for your child to explore tabletops, shelves, drawers, and other spots previously out of reach. Look all around where your toddler can get to. Get down on all fours to figure out your childproofing strategy, and then start looking up as your toddler might try to reach the top of a cupboard or cabinet just because it's there.
Finally, make sure others who watch your child have their homes toddler-proofed. You will be providing safety both in your home and others.
