Toddler Room Safety Tips
Monday, July 20, 2009 Posted by Piera Jolly
When planning Lucas' new big boy room, I knew that there were many safety issues that we would have to take care of. For instance, before we didn't have to worry about lamp cords or other hazards because he slept in his crib. When he was out of his crib, he was always supervised by an adult. In his big boy room, he has access to everything {scary thought LOL}! Here are some safety tips to remember when planning your child's room:- Make sure that lamps are out of reach and that cords are hidden away.
- Install covers on all outlets.
- Install latches or locks on all reachable cabinets and drawers. Kids can open drawers and stand on them causing furniture to topple over.
- Make sure that everything that is hung on the wall is sturdy and will not fall. Add reinforcements whenever necessary. We attached heavy duty Velcro {in addition to a picture hanger} to the backs of pictures to ensure that they stayed on the wall. Make sure that shelves are anchored to the wall studs.
- Use a bed rail or toddler bed to prevent children from falling off the bed.
- Remove any breakable or heavy items from places that toddlers can reach.
- Make sure that toy chests or boxes are either open or have a spring loaded top that prevents pinched fingers.
- Don't store any medicine in the room at all.
- Make sure that all furniture is stable and durable. Children will inevitably climb on them so you want to make sure that the furniture isn't going to topple over. Kid-sized furniture is great too!
- Make sure to childproof the closet as well! Lucas has started opening doors so we had to make sure that IF he got inside, it would be ok.
- Don't use nightlights that plug into an outlet within reach of a toddler! The one we used before did so we had to remove it.
- Remove the lock from your child's bedroom door and install a non-locking doorknob.
- If you live in a two story home, make sure that your stairs have stair gates installed.
- Make sure that blind pulls are wound up out of your child's reach. These pose a strangulation risk!
- Make sure that windows are secure and locked.
If you know of any others, please let us know in the comments!
July 20, 2009 10:16 AM
These are all great safety tips for your home, but there is one you forgot! A new fire-prevention outlet has came out, which is able to prevent electrical fires from occurring within the electrical circuit. There are multiple sensors within the fire-prevention outlet that can detect abnormal heat from within the electrical circuit, once those temperatures are detected, the circuit is shut down completely. With a device such as this you can be sure to prevent electrical fires from happening in your home. Being a mother, this is something that every mom should have installed in their home! If you want to learn more about the fire-prevention outlet, you can go to http://www.BSafeElectrix.com.
July 20, 2009 3:03 PM
Great tips! I worry about Erik and some of these things... I have yet to take the plunge into the toddler bed with him, but I might as well since he crawls out of his crib with the greatest of ease! I worry about the outlets the most... He has figured out how to pull off the outlet covers!!
July 21, 2009 4:04 PM
Those are really great tips, thanks for the reminders!!
To the Jacobsen's... my son learned how to do that also, and learned how to put them back in (I didn't know that). He also stuck a key into the outlet -- ONLY once though, got the ZAP of his life!! Then we discovered these covers at Home Depot that had outlets on them that were recessed and had to be turned with whatever you were plugging in before you could actually plug in the electrical cord. If Nik pulled out the cord, he could NOT figure how to get it back in, never did, and soon lost interest. I couldn't find anything exactly like the ones we had, but I found what they make now (it has been 20 years):
http://www.totsafe.com/proddetail.asp?prod=205
Hope that helps...
September 19, 2009 9:16 PM
Thanks for the info! It seems like there's always something new kids are finding to get into.