ORIGINALLY POSTED: September 19, 2010
GUEST POST – by Jane Thompson
With parenthood come a lot of responsibilities. Parents have not only to provide all the basic needs but also ensure that the baby is safe in the home. Child proofing your home is actually the first step in providing a safe home environment to your bundle of joy.
New parents need to understand that there are too many dangers lurking in the home and they need to protect their child from them. Child proofing your home actually means allowing your baby to grow up safely and at the same time buying peace of mind for yourself.
- The fact that children tend to explore by putting everything in their mouth poses a big problem. Anything small enough to go into the baby’s mouth is a potential danger. Imagine what happens if your baby was to put something like toilet paper, buttons or coins in his mouth. There are reports of small children child deaths from swallowing balloons. You need to keep all such things out of reach of children to prevent choking. Keep all toys in a safe place and let your baby play with them only in your presence.
- Keep things like matches, cleaners, garden supplies (insecticides and pesticides, medicines and any sharp object in cabinets and drawers that are either locked or high enough so that children cannot reach them.
- Once the baby starts crawling there is no way to know where all he will go to explore his new world. Install safety gates on stairs and around openings leading to outdoors or any other area where the child should not be. Pay special attention to the pool area.
- The harmless looking blind cord, the electric cord of an electric appliance and curtain cords is another potential danger that you should pay attention to. Place your child’s crib away from these. And if the baby is now able to crawl, remove electric appliances and tie curtain cords high enough to protect your child from strangling.
- Never leave your baby alone in a bathtub, not even in a bucket. Babies can drown even in two inch deep water. The number of deaths from unintentional drowning is startling enough for you to be careful and not leave your baby near water, not even for a second.
Over two million children get hurt in their own homes every year. Proper attention tochildproofing your home can prevent injury to your child. Childproofing homes is not rocket science and a simple tour of your home will help in identifying what all is required to be put away out of reach of your child and the areas requiring installation of safety gates, door knob covers and locks.
The more important aspect of protecting your child is parental supervision. Parents need to do some detective work and keep an eye of the baby’s movements and what he is up to. You need to prepare yourself as well as your child for the life ahead.
