Unsupervised babies can easily fall down stairs or into a bath, choking on food, ingesting cleaning products or medicines and becoming poisoned as a result.
These injuries are often preventable. Children are naturally curious, putting anything they come into contact with into their mouths, so all cleaning solutions, medicines and bathing supplies should be stored away from reach either in locked cabinets or far out of reach.
Stoves
Fall hazards for children in the household include falls, fires and accidents as well as poisoning, choking and drowning risks that should be considered.
Scientific research and medical studies point to an association between indoor air pollution and respiratory illnesses like asthma. A recently conducted peer-reviewed study determined that families using gas stoves for cooking create additional benzene emissions that are as toxic as secondhand smoke in their home environments.
Install a range hood over your stove to provide proper ventilation, consider switching to an electric stove to reduce indoor air pollutants, and always have at hand a childproof fire extinguisher with red label capabilities to fight all forms of home fires.
Water
Young children tend to be highly curious and lack judgment, making them vulnerable to household hazards that they accidentally access. Water-related injuries such as drowning are among the most frequent, as this form of injury can occur with just an inch or two of water present – such as bathtubs, swimming pools, spas, wading pools and toilets posing serious danger to babies and toddlers. Supervision remains key when preventing accidents but barriers such as locks on doors/windows/gates as well as home insurance may help – possibly covered through an employer/union plan plan or similar plan.
Toys
Many toys pose serious choking hazards for toddlers who frequently put objects in their mouths as they explore their environment. Small objects like buttons and beads from clothing, coins, marbles, paper clips and sewing needles may all pull apart or block airways in children.
Long strings, cords or ribbons on toys that could become tangled around a child’s neck pose another potential hazard, while magnets could potentially adhere to each other inside his or her throat and stick together causing serious health risks for kids. Avoid older or hand-me-down toys as these may no longer meet current safety standards.
Care should be taken when purchasing toys that emit loud noises that could damage hearing. Also watch out for toys with sharp points that could puncture or stab children.
Electrical Wires
Electrical wires transport electricity throughout circuits, appliances and electronic devices. There are various materials, casings and sizes available to meet various electrical loads and conditions.
Domestic household wires usually contain 120-volt circuit voltage, making them unsafe to touch. On the other hand, smaller wires used for telephone or data networking carry lower current levels and should be considered safe to touch.
Your electrical wiring must remain safe and up-to-date by having it regularly inspected. Keep young children away from outlets by installing outlet covers. Furthermore, avoid drilling into walls that host electrical receptacles as this could endanger the wires running alongside or above them.
Chemicals
Chemical hazards are any substances that pose a potential threat to people and the environment, from simple skin rashes to long-term adverse health impacts. Common household chemicals include cleaning products, medications, petrol and pesticides; to lower your risk of poisoning accidents be sure to store these in a location out of reach of children – use cabinet locks or childproof latches on these storage areas if you have children in your house.
Assure all carbon monoxide detectors in your home are operating as they should and don’t store anything flammable in a crib.
Furniture
Furniture-related injuries are an increasing source of accidents at home, particularly among younger children. Luckily, most such accidents are preventable.
Dressers and TV stands are often used by children as climbing toys, leading to tip-over incidents that can have serious repercussions – one child is taken to the emergency room every hour from furniture and TVs falling onto them!
Other hazards for babies and toddlers include window dressing cords that pose strangulation risks to babies and toddlers. Make sure these cords are out of reach; all sharp objects like kitchen knives or scissors must also be stored safely away from children.https://www.youtube.com/embed/pPJ1gK5YVpw