Being a parent isn’t easy. It can feel like a never-ending juggling act as you try to make sure your children are happy, healthy and safe. Of course as a parents we want them to be all three, but the priority has to be safety. 

Childproofing your home is of the utmost importance, especially when you are dealing with babies and toddlers as they naturally put things in their mouths and touch everything. So how do you make your home as safe as possible for children? 

Photo by Sandy Millar on Unsplash

Here are four helpful tips to help new parents to childproofing their home:

1) Carefully Choose Flooring

For starters, let’s focus on the flooring in your home. Young children crawl around on the ground getting all kinds of dirt on their hands. Many parents choose carpet flooring because they think this is more child friendly, however it could be quite the opposite. 

Carpet can trap all kinds of grime inside its fibres, allowing bacteria to grow. It’s also not very good for children who suffer from allergies because it tends to collect pollen spores and dust mites. Instead it's better to choose flooring made from LVT and laminate from a UK wood flooring shop you can visit. 

These materials are hygienic and non-allergenic. They are also very low maintenance, making it easier for parents to clean up after their children make messes (which will happen a lot). You can find a wide range of laminate and LVT flooring by looking at https://www.woodfloorwarehouse.co.uk/ where they have a fantastic selection of products available.

2) Add Safety Gates

Areas in the home like the kitchen and stairs can be dangerous for children to enter unaccompanied, particularly when they are just learning how to walk, but you can easily keep them out by putting up safety gates. Ideally you should have a gate near the top and bottom to the stairs as well as at the entrance to the kitchen. This will stop young children gaining access unless they have a parent or carer nearby. 

There may be other areas in your home where you want to have safety gates to keep ensure children keep out, or stay in suitable areas. 

3) Look at Electrical Points

It goes without saying electricity can be dangerous, but young children don't understand this yet. It's worth reviewing electrical points around the home to make sure they are all safe. 

Fortunately in the UK our 3 pin plug sockets are very safe and if the socket is working properly it is difficult to electrocute yourself because the top "earth" hole has to be held open before the other 2 points are accessible, but that's not to say there aren't risks. It's important to turn sockets off when not in use and think about what is left in them eg charger cables where children may be tempted to play with dangling wires or put in their mouth.

4) Use Safety Latches

Cupboards are always an interesting place to explore for children so it's important to ensure that they can't access cupboards where they could get hurt by anything or where items might get broken. This includes most of the cupboards in the kitchen and bathroom. 

You might also need to secure furniture to the walls so it doesn't tip over. This is particularly important for chests of drawers where they can easily be pulled over. 

You can't prevent every accident around the home, but by considering the advice above you can avoid many of the the common accidents families experience at home.