Childproof your home

Prevent serious injury to your baby/toddler

The distress caused when a child is seriously injured at home is immense. The safe haven that is home is full of hidden dangers - childproofing your home provides protection to both your children and your property. Childproofing can save minor injury, and often permanent disability or in some cases lives - that’s why it is regarded as ‘the greatest achievement in child safety since the child car seat’.

So what is childproofing? It is taking practical measures to prevent injury and ensuring that parents understand the potential dangers in their home.

Curious children left unattended, even for a moment, will wonder into rooms that hold potential dangers. All parents wish to provide the very best possible environment for their young children to grow up in and any unnecessary bumps, tumbles, burns, fractures, and even more serious injuries can easily be avoided with a little understanding and common sense of the dangers and how best to avoid them.

Childproofing is no substitute for responsible parenting; the slightest distraction like the telephone ringing or another child requiring attention can cause the one you’ve been looking out for to be off courting trouble. Make sure your environment is safe.

• Hidden hazards
• Top 10 dangers
• Second time around

Just how safe is your home

• Get down on your hands and knees and see the world from a toddlers eye view - you'll see what they can see and reach for
• Stairs to tumble down, sharp corners to fall on to, plug sockets to poke inquisitive fingers into and all manner of interesting machines crying out to be investigated. Your safe, safe home can suddenly seems a dangerous place when you have a baby
• If you have young children, you frequently wish you had eyes in the back of your head
• Turn around for a second and an inquisitive toddler will decide to explore something dangerous
• According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accident, more than 600,000 children aged four or under needed hospital treatment following accidents in the home
• A lot of parents have no idea how dangerous the home can be
• The Department of Trade and Industry say most accidents happen in the lounge and dining room, closely followed by the kitchen, bathroom and stairs
• Most accidents occur during the day, in particular between the hours of 6pm and 7pm, when people are often beginning to get tired and clumsy
• Another common time is during stressful periods, or when there is a distraction, for example when you are trying to cook
• Lots of parents don’t have the time to fit safety gadgets and they haven’t a clue what to buy’ ‘They should be thinking about making their home safe long before their baby starts to crawl. By six months a rumbustious baby will want to touch, feel and taste everything within 4 ft of the floor
• Untidy homes cause more accidents than tidy ones

Some personal experiences