Every parent is concerned about their child’s safety, whether at home or school. However, keeping an eye on your children is not always possible. As a result, it is critical to establish certain safety rules at home for children to follow.
A home is a place where children can discover and learn from the things they see, feel, and experience, allowing their minds and body to develop. However, even at home, children can be in danger or injured while playing. So, keep reading to learn about some home safety precautions you should teach your children for their protection.
Increasing child safety at home
A child could be in danger in your adult-friendly home. However, you can keep your child safe by first identifying the risks and then preventing or eliminating them. Even if you believe you have eliminated all potential hazards in the home, children can still slip and fall. As a result, one of the keys to child safety at home is supervision.
You should also be on the lookout for new hazards as your child grows and learns to climb and open things. You’ll almost certainly need to change the environment to ensure that your home remains a safe and creative place to play and explore. Along with supervision and a safe environment, you can improve home safety by teaching your child what is and is not safe.
Preventing burns and scalds
Keep your child away from fire and hot surfaces to avoid burns. Keep a close eye on your child whenever they come into contact with anything that can burn, especially stoves, ovens, microwaves, heaters, and other appliances.
Hot food and drinks, as well as overly hot baths, are major causes of scalds in babies and children. Here are some simple precautions to take to avoid these risks:
- Keep hot foods and drinks out of the reach of children.
- If you’re eating or drinking something hot, don’t hold your child.
- Before bathing children, always test the bath water temperature; the safest bath temperature is 37-38°C.
- Allow hot water to be delivered to your bathroom at a maximum temperature of 50°C. To get the proper bath temperature for babies and children, you must still mix cold water with hot water from your taps.
Electrical security
Here are some home electrical safety tips:
- To avoid electrocution, have a licensed electrician install safety switches that cut the power off quickly.
- Any repairs should be performed by a licensed electrician.
- Replace worn electrical appliances and cords.
- Make use of power point covers.
All home prevention
Falls are the leading cause of injuries and hospitalizations in all age groups.
You can help keep your child safe by keeping an eye on the new skills they’re learning and the new places they can go – and then adjusting your home accordingly. As an example:
- Install safety guards across stairwells and balconies once your child begins crawling. You must still supervise your child on stairs and balconies.
- Lock windows, especially upper-story windows, restrict window openings, or shield them with securely attached window guards when your child begins climbing. This will prevent your child from climbing out and falling.
- Leave a hall light on at night or use sensor lights to help older children get to the toilet without tripping.
Furniture security
Children can sustain serious injuries if furniture falls on top of them. Here are some ways to reduce the likelihood of this happening:
Check the strength of the furniture; your child should not be able to pull it down or knock it over. Anchoring furniture such as bookshelves and wardrobes to the wall or the floor reduces the possibility of them tipping over.
TVs should be braced or strapped to the wall or entertainment unit.
Remove sharp-cornered furniture from areas where children run, such as hallways and near doorways. If you are unable to move the furniture, cushion its corners with foam, cloth or corner protectors.
Garden safety and household tools
Simple precautions can assist you in keeping your child safe around household tools and other backyard hazards:
- Lock hand tools such as saws and drills away, and keep lawnmowers, chainsaws, and other sharp tools out of reach.
- When you’re using tools, keep your child out of the way.
- When you take a break, unplug and store your tools.
Glass security
When children are running around at home, they can easily collide with glass windows and doors. Here are some suggestions to keep your child safe around glass:
- Install safety glass in windows and doors, or cover windows and doors with shatter-resistant film in older homes.
- Place stickers at eye level on the glass.
Poisoning avoidance
Poisoning is one of the leading causes of injury in children under the age of five, and common household chemicals and medicines are frequently used to poison children.
You can make your child’s environment safer by doing the following:
- removing potential poisons
- putting a child-safety latch on the doors of cupboards where you keep household poisons.
Fires in the home
Cooking accidents, smouldering cigarettes, electrical faults, candles, incense, and children playing with lighters and matches can all start a house fire. Operational smoke alarms are an essential fire safety precaution.
Install a smoke alarm outside your home’s sleeping areas to improve overall fire safety. Installing alarms in bedrooms where people sleep with their doors closed is also a good idea.
Replace the batteries in your smoke alarms once a year. Every ten years, replace the smoke alarms themselves.
Preventing strangulation and suffocation
Everyday items in many homes can strangle or suffocate a child. Soft toys and bedding, blinds, cords and ropes, and bags, boxes, and packaging are examples of these items.
Here are some important safety precautions to take to keep your child safe from suffocation and strangulation:
- Keep stuffed animals, cushions, and piles of clothing away from cots and strollers.
- Wrap blind cords in cleats that are attached to the wall at least 1.6 meters above the floor.
- Keep knots in plastic bags and away from children.
Water security
Water safety requires constant adult supervision whenever your child is near water. This includes baths, pools, ponds, dams, rivers, and buckets filled with water.
If you have a pool, you are required by law to have a pool fence and a self-locking gate. Check and maintain the pool fence and gate regularly to ensure they are in good working order. Always keep the gate propped open.
To ensure safety, always supervise and pay close attention to babies and children under the age of five. Never leave a child alone in a bathtub or bathroom. Never delegate supervision to older children or siblings.
