There are some safety hazards that parents of babies and toddlers find obvious: the jug of drain cleaner under the kitchen sink, the razor on the edge of the bathtub, the stairs.
Then, there are the hazards parents miss. The same ones curious babies seem to have a dangerous knack for finding.
“Electrical outlets are probably the best example,” says Bob Baker, owner of Kids Safe Childproofing, a Shelton, Conn., company that helps parents scout out home danger zones. “The little plastic things you stick in them cost about 10 cents each, but I’ll go into homes and be shocked to see they don’t have them.”
Another one is dried pasta: “Dried pasta is really a choking hazard, but when I quiz parents about that, they almost never guess it. The same thing for dried dog food,” says Charlie Conway, managing director of Fairfield County Safe Kids, a non-profit program.
Enter the professional childproofer. Baker has been visiting homes for five years, providing inspections and pointing out potential hazards. Parents also can buy safety devices and pay Baker to install them.
His fees range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, although he says most families spend about $500.
“What parents pay for when they get a good childproofer is a trained pair of eyes and somebody who knows exactly how to install these things,” says Baker, who admits that some products, such as cabinet locks, are not too tough to install. “But I can do in a half-hour what can take someone unfamiliar all day.”
Not every family needs every safety gadget on the market, Conway notes.
“Part of it is knowing your child,” says Conway. “Some are into everything, some never try to open a cabinet or stick their hand in a toilet.”
Toilet locks, he notes, are one of those safety gadgets that can be optional. “I’ll be the first to admit, a locked toilet is the last thing a guy wants to see at 2 a.m.,” he says. “But if you have a kid who thinks the toilet is like the sand-and-water table at preschool, then you need one.”
Baker adds: “One of the things I tell parents to do is have two inspections, one when the child starts to crawl, another when he starts to walk. At those two different stages you are going to have different needs.”
There are a few safety items the inspectors say they wouldn’t go without. For Baker, it’s outlets covers. Among Conway’s favorites is a rubber duck that contains a thermometer to gauge the temperature of bath water. “You can’t rely on your own hands,” he says. “Adults have a difference tolerance for hot water than babies do.”
Other suggestions include:
In the kitchen
Cabinets: Cleaning products must be moved out of arm’s reach. So, too, do choking hazards including dog and cat foots, pasta and nuts.
At the table: Be vigilant around hot beverages and with tablecloths; they can be pulled by a curious toddler.
Consider installing cabinet latches and or magnetic latches and switching to place mats instead of tablecloths for a while.
The stove: Keep highchairs away from stoves, turn pot handles in while cooking and install knob covers, which allow you to turn on burners, but keep little hands away.
Buckets: Like toilets, they are a drowning hazard and should always be promptly emptied.
In the bath
The medicine cabinet: Be as careful with non-prescription drugs as you would be with narcotics. “Never equate medicine or vitamins with candy,” Conway says. And take note that the American Academy of Pediatrics no longer recommends the use of Ipecac syrup to induce vomiting.
Toilets: A small child’s center of gravity is in his upper body, so he is in real trouble if he falls in. “With small kids, the fear is drowning, with bigger kids it’s flushing things down the toilet,” says Baker.
Consider installing toilet locks.
The bathtub: Never leave a child unattended. Be mindful of slips and scalding hazards.
Use a thermometer to take water temperature before baths; never put a child in water that is hotter than 120 degrees. Also consider putting decals made of a slip-resistant material on the tub bottom to prevent slippage.
Living spaces
Conway recommends crawling around on your knees–as a baby might–to seek out hazards from a child’s point of view. Look for sharp objects, cords and anything that can go into the mouth.
Consider wall straps for bookcases and armoires, and wall-mounted containers for blind cords, which can be a strangling hazard. Consider placing bumpers or edge guards on coffee tables.
Smoke alarms: Put one in each bedroom and have at least one on each floor of the house. Also install carbon monoxide detectors, he says.
Stairs: Attach gates at the top and bottom of stairs to keep kids safe from falls.
Other tips: Take a first aid or CPR class. Post emergency numbers, including poison control’s, by the telephone.
