There are plenty of items around the home that can harm adults, especially in the top 10 danger zones of the house. However, if you have small children, you must take extra precautions to protect them from harm. Here are the most common household hazards that can cause injury and how you can ensure home safety for your children.
11 Items that Can Harm Small Children
Poorly secured cleaning products
One of the most common ways children may suffer from poisoning, upset stomachs, or death, is because cleaning products are readily accessible. While it may be convenient to store cleaning products in an easily accessible cabinet, like one beneath the sink, according to a 2020 report by America’s Poison Control Center, 10 percent more children 0 to 5 were exposed to detergent packets, drain cleaners, oven cleaners, and all-purpose cleaners. Coming into contact or ingesting these chemicals can lead to nausea, vomiting, and burns.
How to protect your child: Keep dangerous chemicals and household cleaning products out of reach of small children by moving them to a higher cabinet or shelf. If they must stay in lower cabinets, install temporary childproof locks that prevent children from opening them.
Electrical outlets
Do you recall the game in which you would take blocks of different shapes and fit them into the corresponding hole? This is so much fun for kids, and conceptually, they may consider the holes in an electrical outlet the perfect place to try to fit something into. Unfortunately, sticking items into these electrical sockets can shock or burn a child.
How to protect your child: Replace outlets with tamper-resistant receptacles (TRR) that are designed with spring-loaded shutter mechanism that will block a single-prong entry. You can also cover unused outlets with outlet plugs that look like plastic caps. For outlets that are being used, add an outlet cover or power strip cover, which prevents little hands from pulling on cords and accessing the outlet.
Stairs
Once your baby starts crawling, there’s no telling where they will want to explore next. A flight of stairs can be a very dangerous place for small children. Even toddlers who have learned to walk up and down steps can still fall and injure themselves.
How to protect your child: Block stairways with baby safety gates that children won’t easily open or push over at the top and bottom of the steps. It’s important to use safety gates with hardware that is drilled into the wall, as opposed to pressure-mounted gates, which are less secure. Also be sure to keep doors that lead to attic or basement stairways closed at all times.
Unanchored furniture
Many children love to climb. But if they climb on something that’s unstable, the result can be tragic. In a split second, top-heavy, unanchored furniture can tip over and severely harm a child. A report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) revealed that between 2018 and 2020, an average of 10,000 children went to the emergency room annually as a result from being crushed by a television, piece of furniture, or appliance. And between 2000 and 2020, there were 472 tip-over-related child deaths.
How to protect your child: Secure furniture such as bookshelves, dressers, and television stands to the wall to keep them from tipping over and trapping your child underneath. There are several types of furniture anchors on the market, but be sure you use a product that can handle the weight of the item you are looking to secure and that you use the appropriate hardware for your wall.
Windows
According to the CSPC, about 12 children die each year from falling out of a window, and more than 4,000 go to the ER with fall-related injuries. This should be a concern particularly if you live in a home that is more than one story high. Children whose curiosity leads them to open and close the window could easily get their fingers jammed in the window. It is also easy to accidentally fall out of a window if they manage to open the window and push the screen out.
How to protect your child: Avoid placing furniture near windows, which allows children to climb on them and access the window. Also, if you have a window open, watch your children carefully to ensure they are not playing too closely near the window. Instead of opening the window from the bottom, it may be a better idea to open the top if you have a double-hung window. A screen is not enough to stop a child from falling out of a window so install a window guard or window-stopper device to prevent the window from opening more than 4 inches wide.
Window blinds
Besides the windows themselves, blinds can be dangerous. In 2018, the Window Covering Manufacturers Association changed the standard for corded window blinds. With a major push by the CPSC, all window coverings in the U.S. must adhere to strict safety measures, either creating cordless blinds or cords that are inaccessible. However, there are plenty of homes that still have blinds with strings in them. Unfortunately, these strings can be a strangulation hazard for children.
How to protect your child: Replace any older blinds in your home that are equipped with cords with cordless window coverings, some can even be controlled via a remote.
Pools and other areas filled with water
Teaching your children to swim, especially if you have a pool, is a great way to minimize the possibility of them drowning. However, swimming pools aren’t the only drowning threat in a home. According to the CPSC, other drowning threats that exist for small children are toilets, buckets full of water, spas, and bathtubs. In fact, young children can drown in just a few inches of water.
How to protect your child: Give your child your undivided attention while they are bathing since this accounts for two-thirds of the reported drowning deaths in a home. Place child locks on toilets to prevent children from climbing into them. Build a fence around your pool at least five feet high and ensure that gates are always closed. Always monitor children when they are in or around the pool or other areas with water.
Ovens and stoves
Kids often like to watch adults cook, and they may be tempted to play kitchen when you’re not looking. As a result, your child can get severely burned.
How to protect your child: Turn pot handles so children can’t pull them off the stove. Try to use the back burners more often to avoid the more accessible front burners from getting hot. Also, use an oven lock to keep children from opening the oven door. It’s also a good idea to get stove knob covers to prevent children from turning on the stove.
Scalding hot water
Scalding hot water from a boiling pan is one way for a child to get severely injured but not the only way. According to John Hopkins Medicine, 75 percent of scalding burns are completely preventable. There are many other threats throughout the house. Children who love to participate in helping out in the kitchen may find the faucets to be fascinating. As a result, water set to the standard temperature of 120°F on a faucet can burn them.
Another possible threat is water coolers that have hot-water spouts. Some companies have created buttons that only adults can comprehend to minimize hot water from burning children. However, it doesn’t take long for children to imitate adults and potentially burn themselves.
How to protect your child: Reduce the temperature of the heat faucets put out to well below 120°F. Also, when purchasing a water cooler, buy one that includes a childproofing feature on the hot water button. Many companies offer child locks to prevent children from getting scalded by the hot water.
Fireplaces
While it may seem obvious to watch small children playing by a fireplace that is actively burning, some parents may not realize how dangerous an inactive fireplace can be. For one, if the fireplace has not have cooled down entirely, a child can still burn themselves. Additionally, it’s dangerous because your child may ingest the soot and other particles within the fireplace, and the hard edge of the stone hearth can cause harm if they trip and fall.
How to protect your child: Always monitor your children when they are playing in a room with a fireplace, especially if it is lit. It’s a good idea to install a fireplace safety gate to prevent them from exploring the area. Also make sure to store fireplace tools where they cannot be reached by children.
Chipping paint
Chipping paint may not seem like a threat, but if the paint contains lead, it could cause severe cognitive disabilities to your child long-term. Many paint companies avoid using lead in paint sold today. However, if you reside in a home built before 1978, there’s a possibility that the paint in the house may contain lead.
How to Protect Your Child: Always use paint that doesn’t contain lead. If you have an older home with lead paint, have an expert remove it.
Additional Safety Tips for Childproofing the House
To keep your children safe from injury, harm, or death, home safety should be a top priority. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when childproofing your home.
- Keep small items out of reach to prevent choking.
- Put sharp items and breakables away.
- Ensure that baluster spacing on stair and deck railings isn’t over 4 inches wide so your child can get stuck or slip through.
- Cover pointy furniture corners and edges with adhesive safety bumpers.
- Install childproof locks on drawers or cabinets containing medications and supplements. Be mindful of additional medicines stored in handbags or nightstands.
- Keep items containing lithium batteries, coin-sized batteries, or small powerful magnets out of reach.
- Avoid buying toxic house plants such as peace lilies, philodendrons, and poinsettia.
- Keep a first-aid kit easily accessible.
