How to keep kids safe at home?

Keeping kids safe at home and ensuring the family safety is the main task for every parent. Our blog will help you identify and prevent various hazards.

When you grow up, home is the one place when you have most of your adventures, yet feel safe and protected as if nothing can ever happen to you. We've all had our injuries as kids, many of them at home and as we grow up we tend to just laugh it off, and forget about it.

That is until our own kids are born, and suddenly all the safety hazards hiding around can no longer be ignored. While some injuries can be little more than scratches, others can be life-threatening.

Here are some tips on how to protect your kids at home.

Don't leave your child alone in the kitchen.

The kitchen is like hazard-heaven for children. Make sure to never leave your kid around pots, and always turn the handles towards the wall. Keep kettles, toasters and similar appliances out of reach. Don't leave hot mugs close to the edges of the table, or somewhere your child can grab them. And make sure to hide all sharp thinks such as knives, forks, peelers and can openers in a place that the child cannot access easily.

Be careful with kids around water.

This includes both the bathroom and near pools, hot tubs and the sea. Your child should never be left unsupervised even if it's old enough to know how to swim. For toddlers, make sure to not leave any buckets filled with water around. Because their head is heavier than the body they can easily drown even in about 5-10 cm of water.

Choking hazards.

If your child is still young enough, choking could cause serious troubles. Keep small objects away from reach, including foods like nuts, candies, raisings, popcorn. There's plenty of time later in life to enjoy them all.

Poisoning.

This is another very dangerous scenario for young children at home. Throw away and clear out any poisonous chemicals that you might have been using. Lock away any cleaning products and keep medicine out of reach. You also need to think about your pipes, especially if you live in an old house, as they might still be lead ones. You will need to replace your pipes, if they are lead as we now know it's poisonous.

Secure the windows.

Install guards to keep the kids from opening the windows wider than a few inches, but make sure they can easily be removed in case of fire.

Invest in a Home Maintenance Plan.

Emergency breakdowns, such as leaking pipes, and faulty wiring can cause a number of hazards for your children. Choose a home repair plan, like Rightio's Care Club so you know that any repairs that need to be done will be dealt with quickly and by industry experts with more than 5 years experience!

Add barriers.

Not only your windows need barriers. If you have young children you'll need a safety gate to keep your children away from the kitchen, while still being able to supervise them. Additional one should be added around the stove and at the top of the staircase, if the house has more than one floor.

Electricity danger.

This is easily the most common advice ever, but make sure to secure your sockets with covers and keep cables (such as chargers),1, and hair styling appliances at places where children would not easily access them. If you've been ironing your clothes, never leave the hot iron unattended.

Fire safety.

Inhaling smoke and burning themselves are two equally dangerous hazards for children. This is way you have to make sure lighters, matches and flammable liquids are always kept out of reach. Never allow children close to candles and heaters, even if you plan to be in the same room, as kids can often be faster than you could imagine. Finally, install a fire alarm and invest in a fire extinguisher.

Stranger danger.

Teach your children to never open the front door, even if they think it's a relative. They should always come and get you to open the door. Explain to them that friends won't mind waiting a couple of minutes on the door.

Having a child is a wonderful gift, yet we can never truly stop worrying about them, regardless of how old they are. While we can't always protect them from every danger out there, we can at least make sure our home is safe and secure for them.