10 Must Have Child Safety Products for Your Home
Whether you’re expecting, and just want to get a head start, or you already find yourself chasing after a toddler who gets his or her hands into everything, there are 10 essential child safety products your home must have to ensure a safer environment for your child, not to mention a calmer parenting experience for yourself.
Of course, no safety product can ever replace a parent’s careful supervision. But these gizmos and gadgets are a big help.
Plug Covers
Every home with a baby needs plug covers, to prevent little fingers and toys from getting into outlets. Word of warning – those little plug covers aren’t hard to take off, and once they are removed, they became a safety hazard – a child can choke on them! While you can buy the inexpensive white, plastic plug inserts, it’d be even better if you could replace all your outlets with the larger plug covers or locks that actually help keep the plug away from little hands, even when an appliance is plugged into the wall.
Baby Gates
Baby gates can be helpful in both keeping babies in and out of places. A baby gate on the kitchen will allow you to keep the door open while you work, but still hear and see what’s going on in the room next to you. While a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs is ok, you must be extremely careful about placing baby gates at the top of steps. If the child pushes on the gate, it can fall, along with the child.
Doorknob covers
Keep kids out of the rooms you’d rather them not enter unattended. You can place plastic doorknob covers over the basement door, bathroom doors, closets, even your front door (if it fits). This child safety product takes time to adjust to – you really have to squeeze tightly to open and close doors – but if it keeps your kids safe, it’s worth it.
Wall Anchors
Toddlers love to climb. Before your child starts climbing up bookshelves or toy shelves, be sure to secure the furniture with wall anchors. Don’t forget the TV stand, a place where many children get hurt.
Cabinet Latches
Keeping kids out of cabinets and drawers will help you keep your home cleaner, as well as safer. The trick is finding the kind of cabinet latch that will work best with your cabinets and kids. It’s worthwhile to invest in spring loaded or magnet based locks, as the less expensive latches don’t work as well (and some kids figure them out on the first day!)
Baby Monitor
While it’s called a baby monitor, they aren’t only for babies. They can help you have a second pair of ears while you’re busy in the kitchen, and the kids play upstairs or in another room. (Just remember to turn them off when you’re mother-in-law is visiting, if you and your partner decide to chit-chat next to the receiving end.)
Toilet Lid Lock
Keep the toddler out of the toilet water! Turns out that not just dogs like getting into the toilet, but young children also like to splash (yuck). Some kids love flushing tissues down the toilet, so you might want to also move your toilet paper to a higher spot.
Porch Net
Here is a child safety product that can keep your kids from sticking their arms and legs through the spaces in railings, both inside and outside the house.
Bed Rail
Bed railings aren’t just for toddler beds, but also are good to use on the parent’s bed, if kids tend to sneak in to sleep there in the middle of the night. Bed railings come in a variety of styles, my favorite is Safety 1st’s Portable Bed Rail.
Oven Knob Guard
Make sure the kids are only helping in the kitchen when you want them to. Oven knob guards are used when your oven knobs are on the front of the stove, where little hands may be tempted to play with them.