How You Can Reduce Accidents Around the House

Because small children are naturally curious, you’ll need to take steps now to prevent accidents in the home involving your kids. KidsHealth points out that 70 percent of kids who die from unintentional injuries in the home are under the age of four. This is why it’s crucial to childproof your home to prevent such unfortunate accidents. To begin, get down on all fours and view the home from their vantage point. This will help you pick out the places that need to be safer, from risks of pulling over unsecured dressers to sticking an object in exposed outlets.

Top of the Injury List

The number one cause of accidental death in kids remains drowning, according to BabyCenter. Sure, you may take extra precautions to secure your swimming pool out back, but there are many more obscure places where a small child can drown, such as bathtubs, buckets and toilets. Also at the top of the injury list are burns, choking and strangulation, along with ingestion of poisons, head injuries, gashes, falls, and broken legs and arms.

Window Safety 


Install window guards on the frames to prevent falls, which happens a lot more often than you may think. Window stops should be enabled on all windows as well, which means they can only be opened just a few inches before stopping. Never place a crib or toddler bed near a window and never let a window cord dangle. Instead, keep them wrapped up high so strangulation does not occur — better yet, purchase blinds that require no cords at all. Nearly 60 percent of window cord strangulation accidents were due to horizontal-type blinds, says the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), while 40 percent were due to continuous loop systems featured on vertical blinds.

Chemicals

Poisons lurk everywhere. The first place you think of is under the sink, and maybe you even have those easily-accessible cabinets locked to keep toddlers out. That’s a great place to start but you need to think of anywhere else that poisons can be. Don’t just think green liquids with skulls and crossbones; think over-the-counter and prescription medications that you may leave out on the sink as reminders to take them every day. You likely keep meds in your purse, but curious hands seeking out gum and other treats may come upon those meds and partake. After all, some of those pills do look like candy. Little ones may feel that medicine is supposed to make them healthy and will think nothing of ingesting some. Don’t think those child-proof caps will keep any savvy child out. As a parent you’ve probably seen how quickly they can get around those fail safes. As a result, be diligent about keeping all medications—even the seemingly harmless stuff like aspirin—up high in locked cabinets. Have guests hang up their purses when they come over, especially grandparents who often have many prescriptions with them at all times.

Burns


Burns due to scalding water represent a big risk for kids, especially babies who don’t have the reflexes or physical ability to react quickly to hot water. Consider the fact that exposure to 140-degree water can lead to scalding burns in just five seconds. Just setting your water heater to 120 degrees will go a long way toward ensuring your tub and sink water won’t ever get too hot.

By becoming aware of all the risks that could harm your child throughout the house, you are doing your part to keep them as safe as possible. If you or your children do become hurt, invest in affordable knee walker rentals to help with the transition.

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