Childproofing Health Article

In the living room

The living room can be dangerous for children. The following are some safety measures to take:

• Cover all unused electrical outlets with safety plugs.
• Pad sharp tables, and remove glass-topped tables, if possible.
• Pad the corners on a raised hearth or cover the edges with heat-resistant padding.
• Place a protective screen around the fireplace, and never leave children unsupervised when the fireplace is in use.

Hallways and stairs

Hallways and steps can be dangerous for family members. The following are some measures to take to make them less so:

• Install a smoke detector on every level of the home, as well as in the hallways outside every sleeping area. Change the batteries yearly.
• Use a carbon monoxide detector outside each sleeping area and near appliances which burn fuel.
• Teach children to use the handrail on stairways and to walk, not run, on the steps. Keep stairways cleared of all objects.
• Use safety gates that screw to the wall at the tops of stairways.

In the yard

The property around the house poses some dangers for children. Here are some steps parents can take to make the yard a safer place:

• eck to see if any plants in the yard are poisonous, and remove them or isolate them with fencing.
• Remove rotting or loose branches from trees promptly.
• Inspect gates and fences regularly to be certain there are no rusty nails or splintered wood.
• If there is a pool, it should be fenced, and all windows and doors providing access to the pool area should be locked. Alarms may be placed on these doors, to alert adults if children do slip into the pool area. Install a phone or keep a charged, waterproof cordless phone near the pool with emergency numbers posted on it.