mothers
April 11, 2024
Minutes To Read: 6

22 Tips for Making Your Home Safe for Kids

Anyone who has a child at home knows: any slight oversight? even in a matter of seconds? may cause serious accidents.

Nathália Sarkis, pediatrician at the Santa Lucia Hospital in Brasilia, points out that most accidents involving children happen indoors. ? And this happens because this space is considered? Safe place? by many people. However, just a small distraction from parents, guardians or caregivers towards young children causes accidents to happen and cause sometimes irreversible damage ?, he says.

Gabriela Guida de Freitas, national coordinator of the NGO Safe Child, comments that suffocation, burns, falls and poisoning are the main causes of deaths of children aged 0 to 14 years in domestic accidents.

Maria Cristiane Guimarães, clinical otolaryngologist at Ceol Otorrino, from Brasilia, explains that, depending on the age group, some domestic accidents are more common. • In children under one year of age, for example, major accidents are related to falls (from changing table, crib pain or strollers); There is also a risk of suffocation by blankets, a small toy or even swallowing. Outlet accidents can also occur at this age, when children begin to crawl. Do I also highlight burns with hot bath water or spilling hot liquids (coffee, milk, etc.)?

In children between two and four years old, explains Maria Cristiane, the most common accidents are falls. ? As kids walk, they want to climb everything. Hence the risk of stairs, windows, or furniture that may support climbing on others, as well as the baby's own stroller. Do falls offer risks of fractures (bones, teeth) and even more serious injuries such as TBI (head trauma)?

Also read: 10 Habits That Will Strengthen Relationships With Your Children

Household electrical appliances also pose risks for children's curiosity in handling them, as well as cleaning supplies and medicines that, when easily accessible, can be ingested.

For all this, the prevention and careful care of those responsible for the child can prevent drowning, electric shocks, falls, burns, cuts with sharp or sharp objects, among other accidents. The little ones learn from their parents' example, are they the ones who need to advise on safety and precaution?

Objects and places you should keep away from children

Gabriela points out that children need constant adult supervision, as they cannot always assess the dangers and do not yet differentiate the playful world from the real world. "Almost all objects can be a potential risk because the child is more fragile and always very curious," he says.

Below are the main products and objects that should always be kept out of reach of children, according to experts:

Sharps / sharp objects (knives, scissors, stilettos, weapons)
Electrical outlets and wires
Medicines
Cleaning and garden products
Personal care products (which may cause poisoning)
Small ingestible objects (including removable small parts of toys)
Heat sources (stove, ovens, pans, iron, fire pits);
Tables and chairs
Glassware and crockery
Flammable products (alcohol, candles, phosphorus, lighter)
Water-accumulating containers (such as basins, buckets, children's pools)
Hot foods and drinks that can fall on your child and cause burns
Portable stairs
Breakable decoration objects (which may be within the reach of children)
Portable fans

Regarding environments, the same goes for all environments in a home can be risky because children are very creative and curious. It is always necessary for an adult to supervise children as they play around the house. In addition, it is important that parents or guardians observe their children's habits and prepare the environments to avoid possible accidents ?, recalls Gabriela.

Read also: 10 tips for dealing with emergencies with children

Despite this, the environments and points of the house that most attention, according to experts, are:

Kitchen (chairs, stove, oven, pots)
Bathroom (toilet, bathtub, glass enclosure)
Pool
Stairs
Windows and doors without protection
Laundry or service area (ironing board, electric iron, cleaning supplies)
Living room (containing furniture with exposed corners)

“The house where you have a child should be turned to her world, because the child is not aware of the danger yet and is interested in finding things out. Therefore, it is important for parents to be attentive and organize the house so that it becomes safer for the child ?, reinforces the otolaryngologist Maria Cristiane.

22 Items And Care That Should Be Part Of A House With Children

Below are practical tips and recommended items for keeping a home safe for children of different ages.

Use corner protectors for furniture;
Use protective drawer closure;
Have protection on the doors to prevent trauma to the little toes;
Use plug protector;
Have protective window screens;
Put cleaning supplies in the top or locked compartments of the cabinets and keep them in their original packaging. “Avoid putting them in soda bottles because they may arouse the child's curiosity,” says Maria Cristiane;
Leave medicines completely out of reach of children to avoid ingesting them;
Store household equipment after use, avoiding leaving it within reach of children;
Dispose of toys that contain removable small parts or removable batteries;
Put on children non-slip socks;
Arrange the arrangement of the furniture of the house avoiding to leave together furniture that can serve to climb to higher ones;
Avoid leaving tables, chairs and benches near windows;
Install gates to prevent access to the most dangerous areas of the house such as pool or stairway access;
Decrease crib height as your child grows up to prevent falls;
Never leave the child alone in the changing room or bathtub;
When cooking, keep the pan handles facing the stove to prevent them from being pulled out of curiosity and prevent the child from getting near the stove and the oven;
Prevent children from accessing wet floors, bathtubs, buckets and water tanks, toilets, as children may drown 2.5 cm deep;
Do not allow your child to have access to the iron even when turned off;
Be careful not to have furniture positioned midway, as well as very smooth carpets and floors;
Use proper lighting in environments;
Do not allow children under six to sleep in bunk beds. "If there is no other way, grids must be installed", highlights Nathália;
Test the temperature of food and liquids before giving to children, as well as the temperature of the bath water.

Domestic accidents with children are unfortunately a reality. Thus, it is essential to remember that prevention is always the best way!

8 products that help create a safe environment for your child

Check out where to buy some of these important child safety items and blogging moms' opinions about them!

Read also: 13 Most Dangerous Foods For Kids

Multipurpose Lock at Alô Baby

• Use drawer locks and cupboard doors not only to protect the prying little fingers from being trapped in the doors, but also to prevent the baby from gaining access to the stored items. ? Chatty Daddy (Blogger Mommy Blog)

Shop protective window netting at Shoptime

? When we talk about the safety of our children, all the care is little, right? In my previous apartment we had already installed the safety nets even before Samuka was born. ? Mothers like me

Non-slip mat at Alô Bebe

• You can place non-slip mats in the bathroom and also at the bottom of the baby's bathtub to prevent it from slipping. Even bedroom and living room rugs, for example, may have a rubber backing for added firmness. ? Mother cubed

Corner protector at Leroy Merlin

"It's certainly a big help to moms, who get that huge scare when little ones scrape on tables, shelves, chairs and balconies." ? Mom Gossip

Outlet protector at Leroy Merlin

"Outlets are attractive to children, although now we use deeper ones, yet we need to plug them in, because the little ones insist on wanting something, so protect!" ? Mother's prose

Read also: 10 smart habits for an always clean and tidy home

Care Gate at Walmart

? The most common accidents at home occur in the kitchen, where we prepare hot foods and liquids, and where knives, matches, other flammable materials and cleaning products are found. To avoid some of the major problems in this environment, we recommend placing gates or railings that limit children's access to the kitchen. ? Mother's Tricks

Cradle Protector, in Grain of People

• Crib protectors full of detail are beautiful, but they are often a trap for the baby to be asphyxiated. Prefer small screen models, which may be simpler but are safer. ? Mother at 40

Baby monitor with camera at Americanas

? The famous baby monitors are also very useful, especially those with cameras. So even though you are in another room, you can clearly and quickly see if the baby has woken up or is crying, for example. ? Powerpuff Mothers

For those who have children at home, all care is little! So it is worth paying attention to expert tips and investing in products that offer more security to the home, because even the small details? like a well-locked drawer? make a difference.