Childproofing- Child Safety - Baby Proofing

Protecting What Is Most Precious - Our Children

There is nothing - absolutely nothing more precious and more important than the safety and well being of our children. Did you know that unintentional injury is the leading cause of death in children 14 years old and under with a third of them occurring in the home? One of the top reasons a child under the age of three will visit an emergency room is because of household injuries and sadly, 70% of children who die from unintentional injuries are under the age of four. Every room in the home will present its own set of child safety issues. Two of the prime danger zones are the kitchen and the bathroom. Before I became a young mother, I crawled around the house on my hands and knees to see things from a child’s perspective. You would be amazed at what you can discover by doing something so simple. We didn’t have outlet covers or toilet lid locks (my son did flush quite a bit down the toilet - including the car keys - no kidding, they will flush). But did you know that a child can drown in just one inch of water? A child is top heavy because their heads are bigger than their bodies and can easily fall into the toilet.

What can be more tempting to a child than an eye level dark hole in the wall just begging for something to be poked into it. Eighty-six percent of electrical outlet injuries involved children one to four years of age. Keys and hairpins are the most common things used to insert into outlets. Fortunately today, we have a wide variety of available outlet covers and plugs to prevent this type of injury to your children. The leading cause of unintentional injuries is falls in children under the age of fourteen. If you have stairs in your home, then that risk is increased. To protect your children from potential injury install baby gates at the top and bottom of the stairs.

Some safety tips to prevent injury to your child in the bathroom are: keep all medicines out of reach and install child safety latches on all drawers and cabinets, install a toilet lid lock, install anti scalding devices on showers and faucets. The kitchen is the center of activity and there are a number of pitfalls. Nothing is more intriguing to a child than something behind a closed door. Make sure all chemicals, cleaning supplies, and toxic materials are out of reach - better yet, locked away in the garage and out of site. Keep children away from the stove when it is in use and install stove knob covers to prevent curious little hands from turning it on. Using child safety gates will also prevent a child from entering these areas when necessary.

You might be surprised with the number of children falling out of windows every year. According to the Consumer Product Commission, thousands of children are injured falling out of windows and the number increases during the summer months. Something as simple as a child leaning against a window screen can result in a serious or even fatal injury. The best way to prevent this type of injury is by installing a child safety window guard. Children are curious by nature - it is how they learn - from experience. As parents, we do the best we can by providing as much protection as possible to ensure the safety of children. And as there are so many products out there to help us do this, there is nothing like good old-fashioned supervision. So, use common sense, and products that help you child proof your home, and you will have provided a safe environment for your children to grow into adulthood.

This article written by "Safe Home Sue", a product specialist for Safe Home Products®