As a couple, starting a family is a very exciting part of your lives; although it brings plenty of joy and happiness, it also brings new stresses and worries – there are many dangers in the world, including those in your own home. Whilst waiting for your little one to arrive, you will need to buy clothes, baby supplies, and ultimately prepare your house for their arrival. Babies wouldn’t deliberately be seeking danger, but they will certainly be unaware of them, so keeping the dangers away from them is vital. Other house preparations you will need to make is ensuring your house has good heating as a cold house could make your baby poorly; if you need new double glazed windows to keep the warmth locked in, you may want to get in touch with Cheltenham Double Glazing window fitters, or window fitting companies near you who supply and fit windows for your home – your house will be nice and warm in no time.
Furniture Dangers
You may not typically see your furniture as a danger to children, but what if your inquisitive child wanted to climb on the furniture? If your child was to pull the piece of furniture whilst attempting to climb on it, the furniture could topple over and fall on the child, and this could create serious injuries or could be fatal. If you have furniture that topples over easily make sure to fix it to the wall so the child can’t pull it over. There is also the dangers of a child falling over and hitting its head on the corner of a piece of furniture; this could be seriously dangerous for active toddlers that have learnt how to walk, so make sure to hide furniture with sharp corners, or cushion it with pillows.
Electrics and Wires
Another hazard in your house is electrics and wires, so make sure to keep them wrapped up and hidden. Babies and toddlers are very inquisitive, and ultimately learn with touch, so if they were to put their fingers in a live socket, or get hold of a faulty wire, this could be extremely dangerous for them – not forgetting the trip hazard. Dangling wires in your home can be hidden with cable protectors that wrap around them to keep them concealed. You can also buy wire and cable covers for the ground to keep them hidden. If you have lots of wires behind a TV, you could use a cable tie to keep them together – keep them out of sight and mind for your little ones.
Toxic and Hazardous Products
There will be many Toxic and Hazardous products in your home that is fatal for people, and worse for a small child; make sure to move all cleaning products to a high up cupboard that can’t be accessed by your toddlers, and for extra protection, you could buy a lock for the cupboard. Many hazardous and medical products have a safety lock on their packaging which makes it difficult for children to get inside. Keep your bag of tablets and medicine in a locked cupboard too, as these could make your children ill if they were to accidentally eat one.
Stair Gates
Stair gates have been used for many years by families with small children and pets; this means that a child will not be easily able to climb upstairs where they can fall and hurt themselves. If you are cooking in the kitchen where there are hot stoves and dangerous kitchen supplies, adding a stairgate to the kitchen entrance will keep them away from hazards.
The Nursery
When putting your child to bed at night time, there are many potential hazards that could harm them, and climbing or falling out of their cot is one of them; make sure not to put furniture close to their bed that they could climb on, and check that their cot bedding is low enough so it’s harder for them to climb out, and ultimately make sure you buy a cot that has high bars on them. Check that the baby monitor is working every night, so you can hear and check on them if they cry. Don’t forget to add a gate across the nursery entrance, so they can’t get out of their room.
Blind Cords
You may not think that your window blinds are a hazard to your children, but they are in fact one of the most common causes for child injuries in the house. Blind cords are the main reason blinds are dangerous, as young children could get their necks trapped in the cord, which could be fatal – make sure to keep the blind cord away from your child’s reach. Here is more information on the dangers of blind cords.
