Your home should be a safe haven and sanctuary: a place where you can ensure that your family will be protected from harm. Because young children spend most of their time indoors, you want to create a healthy environment and take the necessary steps to childproof your home.
Here, we show you hidden hazards for children, as well as the many ways you can keep your family out of harm’s way inside your abode:
Keep Things Clean
A healthy home environment is a key to preventing everything from asthma to skin allergies. When your home is free from mold, bacteria, and dust, you can rest assured that there is a lower risk of sickness. Almost everything that you do inside your home creates germs – eating dinner, touching doorknobs, and using the toilet.
As such, you want to make sure that you do regular cleaning of the different areas inside your home to kill daily germs and prevent them from making your family sick. If your hectic schedule makes it difficult for you to perform a deep cleaning of the house every few weeks, one good option is to outsource some of your cleaning duties. Using cleaning services ensures that your home will receive the best clean and that you will have a better opportunity to save time and energy.
Make the Kitchen Off-Limits
Kids see the kitchen as an interesting place because it’s often bustling with activity. They see you getting colorful items from the cupboards and smell the aroma of the cake you are baking, so they will often yearn to participate in what you’re doing. Because this part of the house is full of risks, hazards can occur when your child’s curiosity takes over, and you fail to give them your undivided attention.
To childproof this room, we suggest securing lower cabinets with a magnetic lock so that pesticides, dishwashing detergents, and other toxic household chemicals are kept out of reach of children. It’s also a good idea to store sharp tools such as knives and graters in latched drawers.
Have a Window Guard
Keeping the windows open is great for letting some fresh air in, but it also increases the risk of accidental falls when you have children at home. Since there is always a possibility that your child could call out of a window, it’s crucial that you practice window safety. If your window is low to the floor, then a window guard is a must to ensure the safety of children, especially those who are under five years of age. When installing window guards, you must screw them securely to your window frame to make them difficult for kids to dislodge. Window stops, which prevent windows from opening more than 4 inches, can also be added to your window frame as a safety device.
Opt For Non-Toxic Cleaning Solutions
A lot of conventional cleaning products contain chemicals that are harmful to children and pets. If you have ever cleaned the house using store-bought cleaners that come with warning labels, you know how they cause your lungs to constrict. Sure, the chemicals help remove tough stains, but they also pollute the indoor air and affect lakes and rivers. In addition, harsh cleaners expose your children to certain health risks. The fumes from cleaners can cause skin irritation on infants, make asthma symptoms worse, and irritate your infant’s airways.
Born in Belarus, 1985, a pedagogue and family psychologist, mother. Taking part in procedures of social adaptation of the foster children in new families. Since 2015 is a chief editor of the motherhow.com project, selecting the best and up-to-date material for those, who are planning, expecting, and already having babies.