When your child first pulled themselves up from crawling to standing, you no doubt suddenly realized that there were a lot of thing that were suddenly within reach that had previously been safely out of sight. So anything that could have been a hazard got moved up to a higher level.
When your child began to walk, everything got pushed back or placed even higher up? so what do you do now that you have a very adventurous toddler who has a knack of finding the most dangerous places to perch/objects to play with? We can?t wrap them in cotton wool, and it’s far too expensive to pad the walls and floor of every room? so here are some top tips on making your home a safer place for you little explorer.
Firstly, know that there will always be accidents ? there will be bumps and bruises, falls and tumbles. It is impossible to avoid them and even if you could, your child would never learn how to fall safely and get back up again if they never had a little stumble. The trick is in minimizing the damage.
General Safety
Sometimes the most obvious causes of danger are the ones that get ignored. We have all heard the true horror stories about children being killed by strangulation due to blind cords hanging dangerously and yet some of could look up right now and see an uncut, untied cord. While many of us have open fire guards, many of us also forget the importance of fixing them to the wall. It is easy to forget the safety advice we are given or that we thought about when the child was younger. It is also easy to underestimate how high the child can reach or how good their climbing ability may be if they are motivated enough! Look around your home objectively and try to see it in terms of potential hazards. While it isn?t healthy to become obsessed, simply looking at your home from a different perspective can really help. Think about your child’s eye-level ? what can they see? What looks enticing enough to make your child want to reach up or climb to reach?
Soften the Edges
Tables with sharp edges or fireplaces with tiles are some of the worst hazards you will come across, simply because if a child falls and their head comes into contact with a sharp or very hard edge, the damage is going to be much worse. You can get edge covers to soften hard edges and padding for tiled steps, otherwise, rearrange furniture to make the room safer and get a fireguard that covers the whole hearth, keeping tiles out of reach.
Guards
Fireguards, stair gates and bed rails are not just for very young children; as your toddler grows, the need for these types of guards is just as pressing, if not more so. Make sure your inquisitive toddler has not mastered how to open safety gates and guards ? they can be surprisingly good as dismantling things if they choose to!
Kitchen Dangers
At this age, you child is more independent and may follow you to the kitchen for a snack. If this moves on to them feeling that they should be able to get themselves a snack, you need to think about thing in the kitchen that could pose a hazard. Keep locks on cupboard that contain cleaning supplies or medication, as well as keeping dangerous appliances out of reach and turned off. Always remind children that the kitchen is a place for grown-ups and that they always need a grown-up ?helper?.
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