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When little ones creep, climb, toddle, and scamper through the house, accidents are inevitable. The curiosity of small children makes them especially vulnerable. But you can take a few preventative steps to minimize your home’s dangers to small children.
Materials
Cabinet latches
Receptacle covers
Smoke detectors
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Tools
Screwdriver
Marking pen
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Materials
Cabinet latches
Receptacle covers
Smoke detectors
Tools
Screwdriver
Marking pen
Overview
Children often lack understanding of dangers, so where small children are present in a home, it’s important to protect them from hazards. And hazards are everywhere in a house: household chemicals, electrical outlets, objects small enough to go into a child’s mouth, and many others. It’s important to spot dangers and eliminate, reduce, or block them. But don’t let childproofing be a substitute for supervision; childproofing measures provide an obstacle to danger but don’t eliminate it. Paying attention to your child is critical to safety.
Immediately post emergency numbers. On a separate card for each phone in the house, write down the phone numbers for police, fire department, and ambulance (in many areas, 911 will connect you with all of these). Also note the number of a poison control center, family physician or pediatrician, health plan medical number, and any other numbers that might be important, such as those of parents’ work, neighbors, relatives, and friends. Post these cards where all family members and the babysitter can find them.
If you don’t already have one, add a small bottle of syrup of ipecac to your first-aid supplies. If your child ever swallows poison, a doctor or poison control center may instruct you to use this to induce vomiting. But only use it if directed to do so by a doctor or poison control center. Vomiting a caustic or petroleum-based product, such as furniture polish, can increase internal harm.
Here are a few key childproofing steps:
1 Pick up objects.
Comb floor surfaces and furniture for anything that is tiny enough to fit into a baby’s mouth or be otherwise dangerous. After thoroughly vacuuming carpets and floors, get down on your hands and knees and survey from a baby’s point of view. You’re likely to discover buttons, coins, pins, paperclips, and other small objects a child could find.
 2 Protect cabinet doors & drawers (shown at right).
Kitchen and bathroom cabinets contain many hazards, from household chemicals to sharp objects. Screw pressure-release latches (see illustration) on lower cabinet doors, following the instructions on the packages. Protect drawers by installing spring-loaded latches that are secure but easy for adults to unlatch. A plastic cabinet padlock can be used to latch together the handles or knobs of double doors. To prevent a small child from entering a room altogether, you can fit a doorknob with a special plastic sleeve that requires an adult’s grip to turn.
3 Eliminate any unnecessary extension cords and lamps
A tug on a cord can pull a lamp off of a table, and chewing on a cord can cause severe electrical burns. Ideally, temporarily eliminate table and floor lamps. Otherwise, run cords out of sight and reach. You can buy special plastic cord retainers at baby stores.
 4 Protect electrical outlets (shown at left).
Electrical shock and fires are a serious hazard. Prevent small children from sticking objects into electrical outlets by covering the outlets with caps or—better yet—spring-loaded offset cover plates or box-style protective covers. With the latter two devices, a child cannot pull out the cord to gain access to the slots. To install both types, simply turn off the circuit’s power at the electrical panel, unscrew the center screw to remove the existing plastic cover, screw the new protective cover in its place, then turn the circuit back on.
5 Make the bathroom safer.
If you’ve been using automatic toilet-bowl cleaner, remove it from the tank and discard it in the outside trash; such products are toxic. To keep the toilet lid down so your toddler can’t explore the toilet, buy a simple self-gripping strap or a toilet lid latch at a baby store. Hide the wastebasket in a safety-latched cabinet; be sure the diaper pail has a locking lid. Make sure the bathroom doors can be unlocked from outside in case your child locks one from within. If necessary, change the lockset.
 6 Turn down the water heater (shown at right).
Adjust the thermostat on your water heater so tap water gets no hotter than 120 degrees F. (run hot water into a bowl and test the temperature with a cooking thermometer) and mark the setting. Be aware that a child’s skin is very sensitive to scalding. Before baby’s bath time, check the bath water with your elbow (not your hand, which is less sensitive) or buy a bathtub thermometer at a children’s store. Bath water temperature should be comfortably warm—about 90 degrees F. Note: Never leave your infant or young child during a bath--not even for an instant. Drowning can occur in just one or two inches of water.
7 Empty out your cupboards.
Remove these items from storage inside your home or, at the very least, store them safely and well out of reach: plant-care chemicals; polishes; matches, lighters, or tobacco products; pesticides; petroleum distillates or paints; art and hobby supplies such as finishes; and cleaning agents.
6 Install or check smoke detectors.
Mount a smoke detector on each level of your home and outside each sleeping area (one detector in the hallway can serve all bedrooms if it’s within 10 feet of every door). Mount detectors according to the manufacturer’s directions, paying special attention to recommended clearances and setbacks from walls and corners. Test the battery in each detector by pressing the test button. Replace batteries twice a year.
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