Is your home safe for children?

Having a child, particularly your first one, is a time of both excitement and anxiety. No matter how many ante-natal classes you go to or how many books you read, there is always something about becoming a parent that you were not prepared for.

In the non-stop rush of buying baby clothes, learning how to change nappies and trying to get a decent night’s sleep, it can be very easy to forget about keeping an eye out for potential dangers around your home.

Whilst a baby is still very young and in a cot most of the time this isn’t such a problem, but once they start crawling and developing a bit of independence it is vital that your home is safe for them. Things like covering fire places and not leaving knives laying around are obvious, but it’s just as important to make sure you don’t use table cloths or leave sharp edges of low coffee tables unprotected. If the child pulls on the edge of a table cloth they may well pull whatever is on the table on top of them. If they are crawling around, the edge of a coffee table might be at the same level as their face.
Some other things to look out for, both inside and outside your home, include:

• Make sure that heavy objects a child could pull over – such as vases and ornaments – are out of their reach
• Don’t leave wires and cords dangling within reach. This is particularly important with things like kettles, irons and toasters
• Buy a gate for your stairs to stop a child crawling up, and falling down
• A gate can also be used to keep a child out of the kitchen while you are cooking
• Buy covers for plug sockets so that inquisitive fingers can’t be put in them
• Keep cleaning products in either a locked cupboard or somewhere well out of a child’s reach
• Make sure razors are well hidden or locked away
• Keep the doors of washing machines and tumble driers closed – it’s not unheard of for a small to crawl in
• Never leave lighters or matches within reach
• Think about getting a radiator guard, or not having radiators turned up too hot

It will probably be good couple of years after their birth before a toddler is let loose in the garden, but once they are ready to venture outdoors there are other potential dangers to be aware of.
One of the biggest dangers is the garden pond, which only needs to be a couple of inches deep for it to be considered a real hazard. Every year children drown in shallow ponds, and tellingly the majority of these deaths are in the gardens of friends are relatives. If you are going to leave your child with friends or family, check that their house is as safe as your own.

Also in the garden, don’t leave things like garden shears, lawn mowers and weed killer laying around – keep them locked in a shed.

For more tips visit the website of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents at www.rospa.org.uk

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