It’s finally September aka National Baby Safety Month! While every month is baby safety month for parents, September is a little more special because it is completely and entirely dedicated to the happiness and safety of our children. The team at OnTime Service encourages you to take the time to childproof your home so your kids can have fun without any hazards in the way. To help you out, here are some great ways to babyproof your home for National Baby Safety Month!
1. Use a Power Strip Cover or Outlet Plug Covers
Toddlers can experience electric shock from poking metal utensils into unprotected outlets. That’s why using a power strip cover is one of the most effective ways to babyproof your home. This covering can encase the entire outlet or power strip, only leaving space for plugged in cords to poke out. This is ideal for devices that need to be plugged in full time.
You can also use outlet plug covers that are plastic pieces and can be plugged directly into the outlet’s sockets; covering them from prodding fingers or utensils.
2. Use a Toilet Lid Lock
To prevent your child from messing around with the toilet lid, install a toilet lid lock. This way, you can prevent your child from getting into harmful situations such as falling into the toilet. There are various lid locks on the market and their price range is between $7-$15.
Remember, for the lock to work you must put the lid down after use.
3. Keep Toxic Products Out of Reach
The medicine you take can be incredibly harmful to your toddler to ingest. To avoid this, make sure the security caps on your medicine bottles are locked. In addition, you can lock your medicine cabinet for extra precaution.
4. Secure Heavy Furniture
Children will often lean on or climb over shelves and dressers to reach something. If the furniture is not secured properly, it can tip over and severely hurt your child. Using furniture brackets or L brackets, you can secure the furniture in your home. These brackets can be found at any home improvement store with a price range of $5-$20.
Other heavy items, such as TVs that aren’t mounted on the wall, also pose a risk of tipping over. You can use anti-tipping straps that are between $7 to $20 or choose to wall mount the TV.
5. Childproof Electrical Cords
If you have any electrical cords running around your house, it’s time to tidy up during Baby Safety Month. To avoid any tripping hazards for your kids, run your electrical cords through a duct cord cover. These covers resemble a rubber, speed hump and can fit several cables inside.
In addition, you can shorten cords using a cord shortener, which allows you to store the excess of a long cord inside a container your child can’t access. Some of these shorteners come with plug or outlet covers so your child doesn’t pull the plug out of the outlet.
Remember, after you’re done using any cords, wrap them up neatly and store them away from your child’s reach.
6. Prevent Burns
When babyproofing your home for national baby safety month, it’s important to consider burn safety to prevent any injuries. Here are some ways you can prevent burns:
Don’t ever leave the stove unattended when you’re in the process of cooking something.
Avoid hot drinks from spilling by turning the handles of pots and pans toward the back end of the stove, so your child does not grab onto it.
When you’re done using hot devices such as electric kettles and clothes or curling irons, be sure to unplug them and store them away safely.
Use fire resistant fabrics.
Make sure the water temperature isn’t hot before a bath. You can reduce the temperature on your hot water heater to below 120 F, to avoid excessively heated water.
Call OnTime Service for More Safety Tips!
We hope this list of ways to babyproof your home is helpful and effective. If you want to learn how to be a safer homeowner, get in touch with OnTime Service! Our experienced and informed technicians can provide you with helpful safety tips to prevent any hazards. Call us today at 251-272-3595 or fill out a service request form on our website!
