Do you sometimes feel like a headless chicken running after your child as they joyously smash your grandmother’s antique vase, sample bits of grime from your husband’s hiking boots, or experiment with your hairspray on their piece of apple pie?
While child rearing may seem like a test of your insanity and an Olympic sprint to the finish line, keep in mind your child is simply exploring their world and learning how to live in it. Before entertaining morbid thoughts of pushing your child into the toilet as they try to drown your guinea pig, here are some solutions to ease your troubles.
Since we cannot alter the natural way of children developing into adulthood, we can alter the environment they live in, a home that will foster healthy, safe, and positive development in your child.
How to Keep Your Young Children Safe at Home
In order for your child to run around your house freely, make sure it is very safe for them. Your house has to be a house designed for your child. Your child is a vital member of your family and should be given priority considerations when you decorate or design your home. I know it might be heartbreaking for some of you who enjoy interior decorating, but this will actually make your life easier and your house prettier. Smashed figurines and picture frames do not make a pretty home.
1. Install safety gadgets.
Install gadgets you can use to make them explore the environment without you running after them. To avoid electric shock, use safety plugs so that they may not insert any dangerous metals, avoiding electrocution.
Pad all sharp corners with foam and tape in your home. There are many attractive paddings that are sold at home and hardware stores nowadays. Shop around and you may find a lovely fabric to wrap corners of furniture.
2. Keep all inappropriate objects away from your children.
By inappropriate, I mean sharp and breakable objects, toxic substances, and items children can swallow. Keep your golf trophies in closets, your fine bone China in cupboards, and your Prada high heels up above the shelf.
Keep cooking pot handles out of reach. Turn the handle around so it doesn’t stick out of the stove.
I had a student reach up to a pot of boiling water to find out what her mother was cooking. She was lucky the water didn’t scald her face. But this painful accident could’ve been avoided.
When my children were little, we had a Christmas tree that looked like a half-stripped dancer. I decorated my Christmas tree only at the top, leaving the bottom part empty, so my children couldn’t grab any dangerous ornaments.
That’s OK. I could live with a half-pretty tree rather than having the risk of my children choking on some trimmings.
3. Keep cleaning products and medicines out of reach.
Store detergents in a high cabinet, not under the kitchen sink. If you want to keep them in a lower cupboard, attach a safety latch so your children cannot readily open it.
Medicines and vitamins in high doses can cause poisoning for your children. An adult dose can be detrimental.
4. Buy sturdy, balanced furniture.
Maria Montessori designed her classroom to fit the size of the children. Remember, your home is also your child’s home. Buy child-sized furniture so your child can safely sit and eat without falling off.
Some furniture is not bottom-heavy, like certain couches. Although children are not usually allowed to climb the backs of a sofa, keep them close to the wall to avoid tipping when children climb them.
Put your glass top tables back in your shed until your child is old enough to manage using furniture without the risk of breaking the glass.
Pay attention to the space between crib and balcony rails. Make sure they are close enough to avoid having your child’s head or knees stuck between them.
5. Install safety gadgets.
Children climb anything, including furniture. That’s part of their nature. Anticipate this behaviour and make sure all furniture and unstable, top-heavy objects do not tip over or fall on your child.
Use anti-tip brackets, braces, or wall straps to attach tv sets or shelves to the wall. Sometimes, children try to pull themselves up from the ground using these objects.
Use safety gates at the tops and bottoms of stairs and attach them to the wall, if possible. Read the manufacturer’s instructions and warning labels to make sure you have the right gates for your needs.
Install window guards or stops and move furniture away from windows to prevent falls.
When I was a child, I fell off a window. My brothers and I were playing a tickling game. Running away from them, I jumped on a table by the window ledge, calling our babysitter in the backyard who was hanging out the laundry. When my brothers caught up with me, they tickled me and I fell backwards, landing on the grass. I blacked out. Luckily, I experienced only relatively mild injuries; a concussion and some bruises. If we had window guards and furniture away from the wall, I wouldn’t have fallen.
Prevention
As naïve and curious as they are, you never know what children will do. They are as unpredictable as the Northwest weather.
A little ounce of prevention is a pound of safety. Keeping your home safe will ensure your child can explore with little limitations and worry. You will create a happy home of security and ease.
Safety means freedom for you and your children.
Once your home is safe, you find yourself feeling more at ease. Your children can explore around the house as they learn through their environment. Safe kitchen gadgets and toys are readily accessible for them to play with.
You won’t have to chase after them to make sure they’re safe.
They will grow more independent as they are able to get their own food and things they need. Set out a low shelf or cart of their daily cereal and snacks so they can help themselves when they’re hungry. Attach low hooks to hang and get their own coats and sweaters.
A safe home is a home where freedom prevails.