Childproofing Your Home

In addition to having emergency phone numbers at hand, here are some useful tips for childproofing your home:

• Turn the water heater down to prevent scalding.
• Install non-slip stickers on the floor of the bathtub, and place non-slip bath mats on tile floors to prevent falls.
• Keep electric appliances such as hair dryers, curling irons, and electric razors out of reach, and never place an electric radio or appliance next to a water source, such as a tub, toilet, or sink.
• Install safety latches onto cupboard doors, and place chemicals and cleaning supplies in a locked cabinet.
• Store knives in a knife block or locked cabinet out of a child's reach.
• Install cupboard latches so that children cannot open cupboards within their reach that might contain heavy pans or chemicals.
• When cooking, always turn the handles of pots and pans inward or toward the back of the range.
• Remove tablecloths when the meal is finished. A child can pull the hem of a tablecloth, pulling everything off the table and onto him.
• Always latch the door of the dishwasher to prevent a child from climbing inside. If you have a chest freezer, install a lock and use it. It may take a few extra minutes to find the key to open it, but you may save the life of a child by keeping the freezer locked at all times.
• Install outlet covers on all of the electrical outlets in your home.
• Wind up window blind cords to prevent strangulation.
• Install a toilet seat lock on all of your toilets to prevent a child from falling in and drowning. A child can drown in only two inches of water.
• Install safety gates at the top and bottom of each stairway, and choose the type that screws into the wall instead of the pressure gate. Never use an accordion gate, as a child's head can become trapped and cause strangulation.
• Use furniture anchors for heavy furniture to prevent it from falling over on a child if he tries to climb on it.

Use cordless phones in your home so that children won't have a cord to tangle around their necks or pull off of a table. However, it is a good idea to keep a push-button land line telephone to use in emergencies when there is no electricity.