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Home › Articles › Safe Family › Hazards, Where Are You Hiding?

Hazards, Where Are You Hiding?

Hidden Household Safety Dangers Often Overlooked

By Shannon McKelden

Pages:  1  2  3  4  

Baby gates, for example, are a safety staple. But they aren't perfect. McReynolds discovered this when her daughter started crawling. "Our house was built in the '60s, and the doorways are of an odd [width]," McReynolds says. "No baby gates we could find would fit snugly." This resulted in the occasional collapse of a baby gate, she says. Thankfully, her daughter wasn't hurt by a falling gate, though a family pet was hit.

"Pressure gates can be pushed over by children and pets and are another potential hazard," Appy says. The Home Safety Council recommends choosing hardware-mounted gates. Also, make sure the openings in the gate are too small to fit a child's head through.

Another common mistake is installing gates only at the top of stairs. "Children crawl up and then fall right back down," Appy says. Hardware-mounted gates should be installed at both the top and bottom of the stairs.

For Figgs another unexpected danger turned out to be a suction-bottom baby tub seat. "[It didn't] stick and my 5-month-old overturned underwater while I was washing the hair of her older sister," she says. "Luckily I caught her just as she went down face first."

"Maintain 'touch supervision' around water," Appy says. She also recommends using toilet seat locks, using doorknob protectors or outside locks to keep children from entering the bathroom, and always emptying buckets and turning them upside down when not in use.

Another safety item proved not so safe for Andrea McMann, a mother of two from Norfolk, Neb. "Both of my kids were able to pull out [plastic electrical outlet covers] by the time they were 18 months old, and in my opinion, they could pose a choking hazard," she says.

Above all, protect your children with your presence. "Remember, 'babyproofing' can never be 100 percent effective," Holtzman says. "Proper supervision is always required."

A Home Safety Checklist

According to the Home Safety Council, an average of more than 2,000 children under age 15 (75 percent of those under the age of 5), die as a result of unintentional injuries in the home each year.

"While the number of steps required to keep children safe in the home may seem daunting, the actions for parents to take are actually simple," says Meri-K Appy, president of the Home Safety Council. "By developing a home safety checklist and following the recommended safety practices, parents can help keep their children (and the entire family) safe in the home."

More safety information can be found at the following Web sites:

  • Home Safety Council – Personalized checklists, safety tips and interactive resources.
    www.homesafetycouncil.org
  • iParenting Media Awards – Find award-winning safety products for your family.
    www.iparentingmediaawards.com
  • The Safety Expert – Contains more tips and lists of potential household hazards.
    www.thesafetyexpert.com
  • American Association of Poison Control Centers – More household poison safety information.
    www.1-800-222-1222.info
  • Banner Poison Control – Further tips for child safety.
    www.bannerpoisoncontrol.com


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