While childproofing you home may not seem like a priority, with the holiday season just around the corner with potential visits from friends, family and possibly a grandchild, you might want to look around your home and consider what you could do to make it safe for “toddlers on the run.”
Here are 8 tips that will help childproof your home for your or anyone else’s child or grandchild.
1. Retrofit Old Blinds
Your blinds seem like the most harmless thing in your home, don’t they? Think again. While many newer blinds are designed to be very safe, older blinds present a dangerous choking hazard. In particular, the looped string that controls the position of the blinds (found mostly on older models) can become wrapped around your grandchild’s neck. Retrofit kits can help you make those old blinds safer.
2. Lock the Toilet
Toddlers have a way of finding toilets infinitely interesting, but that can be dangerous. Baby toilet locks can help keep the lid shut so your little one can look all s/he wants without getting into trouble.
3. Put Away Medications
It’s probably been a while since you had to think twice about leaving medication sitting on the countertop. You’ll find it’s not enough to hide it in a drawer. We recommend putting your medicines up out of reach, maybe in a basket on a floating shelf or in a wall cabinet.
4. Install Baby Bumpers
Toddlers who are just learning to walk have a way of running face-first into everything, including sharp coffee table corners. These accidents can result in devastating injuries. Baby bumpers take many forms—some are foam, others gel—but they all do the same thing: soften sharp corners to protect your grandchild’s beautiful little head.
4. Install a Fireplace Gate
Toddlers are natural pyromaniacs. They love the dancing flames and flickering lights. Unfortunately, your cozy fireplace is incredibly dangerous when your curious grandchild is around. It’s not enough to close the glass doors because the glass itself becomes dangerously hot. Fireplace gates attach to the wall around your fireplace and prevent your grandchild from gaining access to it at all.
5. Gate Off Dangerous Rooms
Since we’re talking about gates, now is a good time to bring up doorway gates, which can be used to block off staircases, garages, work rooms, sewing rooms, bathrooms and other dangerous places.
6. Childproof Cabinets
Basically every household cleaning product is lethal in the hands of a baby, which means that any cabinets with cleaning products and other chemicals must be locked up before your grandchild can come to visit.
7. Baby-proof the Electrical Stuff
If you don’t bother to cover your electrical outlets, you may as well put up a sign at every electrical receptacle that says: FINGERS GO HERE. (of course, your grandchild probably couldn’t read the signs…but you get the point) Plastic outlet covers are inexpensive and can be life-saving.
Want to know more? We recommend watching this short, informative video that covers a few points you might not have considered.
Tashman Home Center
Now that you’ve got a list of products for all your baby proofing needs, stop by Tashman Home Center in West Hollywood – we’ve go over 20,000 items in stock. And, if we don’t have what you need, we’ll be happy to order it for you and have it shipped to our store for your pick up without any shipping charge to you.