Home safety

Keeping our homes safe keeps our kids safe and making sure that every detail is perfect insures us all a good nights sleep knowing that everything is ok for our kids. Some of the things I worry about the most are:

• Doors
• Windows
• Cabinets
• Outlets
• Water faucets

Now, let me explain each one a little.

Doors: I worry about little fingers being pinched or slammed in doors. For this there are great little plastic pieces you can buy to keep doors from closing all the way so little fingers don’t get hurt. Another reason for doors is because, in our house we have a door that leads to our basement. Little Miss has figured out how to move the door handle just right to open it which increases her chances of falling down the stairs. Make sure you have door handle covers so that little hands cannot open doors. There are even child proof products for sliding doors which will prevent fingers being stuck in between bi-fold sliding doors. We have metal ones in our house and they are dangerous. A friend of mine knew someone whose child almost got their finger cut off by one, so please make sure that yours are safe.

Windows: I always make sure that when the kids are laying down for naps or going to sleep at night that the windows are closed and locked. There’s nothing more terrifying to me than thinking that either my kids could open a window and fall out or someone could climb in through one of them. Yes, I am one of ‘those moms’ that worries about everything. lol

Cabinets: We keep everything in our cabinets thinking that they are safer there. Truth is though, that no matter how high I place things in the cabinets little hands can always get inside of them since my children are like little monkeys. lol Making sure that you have child locks on the inside of the cabinets and keep all medications and cleaning products locked in childproof containers is the only way to completely assure that they are safe from monkeys kids.

Outlets: These are usually one of the first things parents childproof besides cabinets. They are cheap and easily fixed, right? Well think again, did you know that most of the childproof outlet covers are a choking hazard? Yep, that’s right! The best way to make sure that your outlets and child are safe from each other is to get larger sized outlet covers, especially if your kids are anything like my youngest who thinks that anything and everything is edible.

And finally water faucets. Making sure that your hot water heater is set properly will ensure that your kids won’t get burned or scalded in the bathtub or while washing their hands. It’s not something we all think about but as soon as your child is old enough to sit in the tub by him/herself then we have to remember that water temperature is important. And I’m guilty of starting a bath thinking the water temperature is fine until I put my hand in a couple minutes later only to find that it warmed up and is now really hot! That could be dangerous! Make sure your hot water is set at around 120.  But please ask your childs pediatrician what they suggest first.

There are many great online sites where you can find some awesome child proofing products for your home. Google childproofing my home and see all the amazing things you can find to make sure your kids are as safe as can be inside your home.

If you have any safety tips I’d love to hear them!