Household Baby Safety
A few years ago, after placing the family evening meal on the table and commencing to sit down to eat, our four year old boy decided that running around the coffee table would be a great pre-dinner game. After about 10 seconds, he tripped and hit his head on the corner of the table and cut his eyebrow open (a common place for children to have their first stitches)...so needless to say, dinner was off and a trip to our local hospital was on. There are two things we learned from this: firstly, corner cushions positioned on sharp furniture corners are a good idea, and secondly, home safety devices are not only for babies, infants and toddlers.
According to Kidsafe (an independent foundation dedicated to preventing unintentional death or injury among children throughout Australia), 'young children under the age of five years are most at risk of unintentional injury, and account for around half of all child injury deaths'. So how can risk of injury in the house be avoided or reduced? The best way is by "baby-proofing" the home by assessing risk areas and installing appropriate safety devices.
Corners and Edges Safety - I don't know many children that haven't hurt themselves on the corner of a table. Fortunately Dreambaby can minimise the risk with their array of protectors,Corner Cushions and Corner Protectors are very popular, as are Glass Table and Shelf Corner Cushions, with all of them easily attached with adhesive.
Cabinets and Drawer Safe
I recall another niece drinking some kind of cleaning fluid from under the kitchen sink when she was 2, requiring stomach pumping and an overnight hospital stay. It's really important to secure all cupboards and drawers, as they often contain things children shouldn't touch (or in this case, drink). Dreambaby provide a comprehensive range of cabinet and drawer safety devices, such as: Safety Catches, Drawer Catches, Sliding Locks, Spring Latches, Mag Locks, Slide Away Catches, Angle Locks, Secure A Locks andCabinet Glide Locks. Safety 1st also have a Bi Fold Door Lock. Note that some of these locks or catches are internally fitted items, which require simple installation, while others are externally fitted where no tools are required. Dreambaby also offers general and multi-purpose latches that are adhesively attached, such as the General Purpose Latch, Multi-Purpose Latch or Mini Multi-Purpose Latch.
In the Kitchen
Kitchens are probably one of the most dangerous rooms in the house for children, as they have appliances which can make things really hot and most parents and carers store a small chemical warehouse under the kitchen sink. The best solution is to fence off the kitchen with a Safety gate, but many modern homes today are large and open plan. So if this option is out, there are a number of safety devices that can be used to make it a safe place. The first place of protection is the area under the sink, where cleaning fluids and plastic bags are usually kept -these can be closed securely with cabinet locks of varying strengths. Then the stove area needs to be looked at. If you don't have the luxury of an induction cooktop, then gas and electric cooktops, which can be more hazardous, can be babyproofed with Dreambaby Oven Knob Covers - preventing children from turning on the gas or an element. While a Dreambaby Stove Guard stops little fingers tipping over boiling liquids, it's a good habit to putting the handle of a pot or pan towards the splashback. Children raiding the fridge is not necessarily a dangerous thing, although drinking chilled antibiotics or tasting crushed chillies should be avoided. Dreambaby has a great Appliance Latch that can be used for fridges, freezers and microwaves. The Dreambaby Microwave Oven Lock is a great idea, considering that many modern kitchens now have the microwave at kiddy level, below a bench. Modern ovens today have child-proof knobs and glass fronts that stay cool, however if your oven is not one of these, then a Safety 1st Oven Front Lock is a must.
Electrical Safety and Lighting
Having experienced an electric shock myself, you definitely don't wish it upon a child. For wall sockets, try Dreambaby Outlet Plugs. If you have a power board on the floor, covering it is the best option, with either a Safety 1st Power Strip Cover or Baby U Power Board Safety Cover. Both of these products can expand to cover large boards. Not only sockets can be dangerous, but also the cords themselves, which have been known to choke small children if caught around their neck or by children grabbing the cord and pulling something on top of themselves. Dreambaby supply a Cord Shortener, which could also be useful for blind cords. Most modern homes today have a flat screen TV...and they are big and heavy. You might be surprised by the number of children crushed each year by a falling free-standing TV. Flat screens are particularly susceptible to toppling over due to their dimensions. Thankfully Safety 1st has come out with a Flat Screen TV Lock, which secures between the wall and TV. Finally, front load washers are another serious potential hazard...remember the cat who got washed by a toddler in Australia last year? (and lived!) Or more disturbingly, the baby who was dried by a toddler in England a couple of years ago (who died)?Safety 1st offer a washer/dryer lock that prevents little fingers from opening a front loading appliance.
While living in Europe when my children were very young, we often went on road trips which would involve travelling on major roads and highways with lots of long, dark tunnels. My baby son would always cry in the tunnels, then stop while driving out of them - needless to say he never really enjoyed being in the car. Now this is a classic example of a child who needed a nightlight! For many years, he needed some sort of dim light at night, such as those provided Dreambaby. Plug In Night lights,Neon Night Lights, Push Lights and Magic Lights provide comfort for children at night and prevent parents from tripping over things in the middle of the night (which recently took me two weeks to recover).
Stairs and Doorways
Speaking from experience, it is not much fun to watch your two-year-old fall down the stairs head first, causing a haematoma the size of a golf ball, 3 hours before a long-haul international flight...Baby safety gates are one of the more popular safety devices purchased by parents and carers. Dreambaby sell a great range of black or white sturdy baby safety gates in varying widths that are available in standard height (.7m) or extra tall (1m). The great thing about these baby gates are that they are pressured mounted, which means they don't need to be fixed to a wall with screws. There are 3 advantages here: (1) They can be easily moved from room to room or house to house; (2) they are convenient for people who rent (as tenants aren't normally allow to put any holes in walls) and (3) they can be adjusted by 200cm in width. Dreambaby also have a comprehensive range of children safety gate extensions, to cater from narrow openings of minimum 36cm to large openings of up to 308cm that are so often prevalent in modern, open plan houses today. Safety 1st also sell economical baby safety gates, in standard width and height with narrow extensions but also offer gates with built-in extra features, like a sensor night light or alarm when opened.
One of my nieces lost the top part her pinkie when she was 3, when a door slammed shut on her tiny hand (thankfully, it was successfully reattached). Door stops installed on doors prevent accidents like this, such as Dreambaby's Foam Door Stopper or Stop Slam. If restricting access is necessary, try the Safety 1st Top of Door Lock or a Dreambaby Door Knob Cover. I wish I had had access to one of these restricting devices before our daughter decided to hide the car/house keys in Daddy's shoe in the wardrobe, which took two frustrating days to find!
Also, if children venture outside on a balcony or veranda, Dreambaby now supply Wooden Safety Gates, to blend in with an inside wooden balistrades or outside decks (which are raw and can be stained to match), and Safety 1st sell Rail Nets to fill in the gaps on balconies.
Bathroom Safety Every year there are horror stories of children who literally melt when their delicate skin comes in contact with overly hot water. It's a great idea to reduce the maximum temperature of the household hot water system. Also, keep in mind there are some devices to help parents and carers evaluate correct bath temperature, if you don't trust the 'elbow test'. Safety 1st offer a cute Buddy Bath Thermometer in the form of a duck and Dreambaby also supplies a Bath Thermometer in the shape of a fish. Children can also be protected against the heat of a hot water tap with a Dreambaby Soft Bath Spout. Not only is water temperature a hazard, but so is slippage in the bath. This issue is not confined to small children, as demonstrated by a sister-in-law, who at nearly full-term, slipped in the bath and spent an anxious night in hospital being constantly monitored. Dreambaby have Non-Slip Bath Strips and Appliques, and Safety 1st have a cute Froggy Friends Bath Mat. Finally, the toilet is not something to be overlooked. My eldest brother used to offer glasses of water to my parents' guests when he was 2. Mum thought this was admirable at the time and didn't discover until months later that he was actually sourcing the water from the toilet (yuck). And I caught my daughter, when she was 18 months, sucking on the toilet freshener (double yuck). While these things won't cause any real injury to anyone (but possibly boost the immune system), its worth considering installing a Dreambaby Toilet Lock. It's a great, cheap device and will also prevent little fingers from being jammed when the seat/lid gets accidentally slammed down.
