Your guide for effectively baby-proofing your home
How to keep a step ahead of your child and ensure they’re as safe as possible
Babies can hit developmental milestones at a surprising rate: One minute your infant is laying on his back, cooing, the next he’s crawling across the floor. When it comes to ensuring your home is safe for your child, you need to stay at least a step ahead. As an emergency physician at The Hospital for Sick Children, and a trauma and injury-prevention specialist, Dr. Daniel Rosenfield has seen the resulting injuries from accidents involving young children. Here are his tips for keeping your home safe.
When should parents babyproof their home?
Earlier than you think. You need to be ahead of your kid. Maybe not when you’re pregnant, but at least three to six months ahead of the next projected developmental stage. Parenting is exhausting to begin with, and by the time you realize your child’s able to do something, you may have missed the boat from an injuryprevention perspective.
For example, by the time you notice your child is curious and sticking his fingers in electrical sockets, it’s well past time for you to put plug locks in the outlet. If your baby has just started to crawl, you’ll want to get the baby gates up. And if he’s pulling to stand, you need to think about whether he can climb out of his crib.
Where are baby gates essential?
At the top of any set of stairs. And make sure your gate is firmly nailed or screwed into the wall. People like pressure gates because they’re less likely to damage the wall, but too often kids are strong enough to push them over.
That said, pressure gates are great almost everywhere else in your home as a way to prevent kids from going into potentially dangerous rooms, such as the kitchen and bathroom.
What can be dangerous in the kitchen?
Think about where and how you’re storing hazardous materials because I guarantee you, your toddler will find them. Typically, we’re talking about the cupboard under the sink where you might store things like household cleaners, detergent pods or bleach.
The best way to protect kids is to move those substances from accessibility — put them in a high area locked up. If that’s not possible, make sure you’ve installed either a gate preventing your child access to the kitchen or locks on the cupboard doors.
What are typical bathroom hazards?
Obviously, the bathtub is one. Never, ever leave young children unsupervised in the bath. A child left unsupervised for even an instant can drown — regardless of how much water there is in the tub.
Keep prescription and overthe-counter medications in their original childproof containers. Parents sometimes put them in a Ziploc bag to take to work, for example. But kids can find and ingest those, so keep them up and away in childproof containers.
Also, some over-the-counter painkillers, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, can come in bulk-size containers without childproof lids. If you have any of these types of containers, make sure they are out of reach.
What are some potential trouble areas parents typically don’t think about?
Consider how and where you place your TV. Flat-screen TVs have become thinner and lighter, but they’re still heavy enough to injure an infant or small child if they were to fall. TVs should be wall-mounted wherever possible. Never put your TV on top of a dresser because your child can climb up and pull it down. If you can’t wall-mount your TV — maybe you live in a home where you’re not allowed screw things into the walls — tether it to the wall. You can buy tethering kits for this purpose.
Also think about windows and window coverings. Because they are a huge choking hazard for kids, all window cords should be fixed to the wall.
As for windows themselves, unfortunately, every year we see one or two children who fall out of windows. For this reason, windows should be closed and locked in a way a child cannot unlock them. The same goes for patio doors on balconies: If your child is exploratory, doors need to be locked or blocked so they can open only one or two inches.
What else do you see in the ER at SickKids that parents may not be aware of ?
We’re seeing a very significant increase in emerge visits by kids and teens who have ingested cannabis edibles. And sometimes it’s through no fault of the parents.
In some cases, grandparents are babysitting and mistake cannabis gummies or chocolate for actual candy. Anything with cannabis should be labelled and locked away.
Also, a lot of kids’ vitamins look like gummies or candies, and a child can overdose on basic vitamins. Every year, we see kids who’ve eaten them because they taste good. Plus, kids know that Mom and Dad think these things are good for them, so they assume they’re perfectly safe — even in large quantities.
Finally, make sure your young children don’t have access to batteries. Especially button batteries, which we’re seeing a lot more of in everything from hearing aids to kids’ toys.
Button batteries are particularly dangerous because they can get stuck in the esophagus and can quickly burn through tissue. If a child swallows a double-A, it’s bad, and still needs to be removed or watched very closely, but it typically doesn’t have the same devastating impact as button batteries. If you suspect your child has swallowed any type of battery, get to your nearest emergency department ASAP.
Every two weeks, Healthy Kids will feature questions about childhood health issues answered by professionals from SickKids. Email your questions about nutrition, common ailments, mental health or growth and development to healthykids.to@gmail.com. We will try to feature as many questions as possible. Always consult your family health-care provider with specific health concerns. Torstar, the Star’s parent company, is in a fundraising and educational partnership with SickKids Foundation to help raise $1.5 billion for new facilities.