Make Your Home Child Friendly

Tips from Raising Children

• When cooking, always turn the pan handles towards the back of the stove to avoid having your little one knock them over or try to reach for them.
• Avoid using tablecloths as they’re easy to pull on. Use placemats instead - they’re more fun!
• Always keep knives and scissors in a drawer up high, with a childproof lock.

Tips from Drugs.com

• Place hard plastic covers over stove knobs so that kids can’t turn them on.
• Try to cook on the back burners rather than the front ones.
• Unplug portable appliances when not in use.
• Install drawers that close slowly rather than abruptly, as they can slam on your child’s hand. If you can’t install these drawers, consider screwing a plastic bumper inside the drawer to slow it down when it closes.

Tips from Raising Children

• Keep chemical products up high, out of reach of children.
• Mark hot and cold taps accordingly so the little ones don’t accidentally turn on the wrong one.
• If you have a cabinet for medicines, razors, and hair products, consider replacing it with one that is child-resistant, or simply secure the door with a latch or lock.

Tips from Drugs.com

• Never leave your child in the bathtub alone.
• Don’t leave buckets of water around without a lid.
• Lower your general hot water temperature (set it at 49°C or below).
• Place non-slip stickers on the bathtub or shower floor to prevent slips.
• Unplug any electrical bathroom appliances when bathing your children, or when they’re wandering through the bathroom.

Tips from Embracing Homemaking

• Use a toilet lock to keep the toilet lid down. Kids can drown in a little amount of water, and should you have any nosy children, they might get a little adventurous.

Tips from Parent Guide

• Always watch out for mould and mildew growth. It can be harmful, especially to developing bodies. This can even grow on children’s toys, so always keep the bathroom clean.
• Don’t overlook the rubbish bin. Things you’ve thrown out can be dangerous to your child should they choose to rifle through the bin. If you can, use a childproof rubbish bin.
• Installing a security screen instead of a flyscreen will mean you can safely open windows without the worry that your child will fall through the screen.

Tips from Raising Children

• Install safety gates at the top and bottom of stairs.
• Consider paddling all table corners with bits of foam to avoid having children run into them.
• Use anti-skid mats under all rugs to avoid having children trip and slip.
• All fabrics should be made of low flammable materials.

Tips from Oh Joy Blogs

• Consider using an ottoman instead of a coffee table if you’re able. Not all coffee table corners are dangerous for kids, but the sharp edges can also be enough to cause injury.
• Kids can be naughty and messy, and that can ruin your expensive couch. Use a tight fitted sheet to cover your couch for all those nasty spills that are inevitable with children.

Tips from Raising Children

• Install a child-resistant lock on your baby’s room to keep any naughty siblings from coming in and disturbing the peace.

Tips from Baby Center

Crib safety:

• In order for a crib to be safe, the space between its slats needs to be no more than 6 cm so as to prevent your child’s head from getting caught in between.
• Make sure the mattress fits snugly with no gaps in between.
• Lower the crib mattress and avoid using bumper pads as they can be possible suffocation hazards.
• Position the crib away from windows and especially blinds, lamps, and heaters.
• Do not leave pillows or stuffed animals inside the crib when your baby is in there.

Tips from Hello Charlie Blog

Room environment:

• Try to keep a clean and non-toxic environment for the baby. You can achieve this with plants or an air purifier to remove toxins from the air.
• Minimise the use of electronics in the bedroom.
• Always choose organic products when possible, even with air freshener.
• Dust the room regularly.
• Try to find furniture that is made from genuine untreated wood if possible.
• Choose wooden floors over carpet if possible.

Tips from Raising Children

• Always have smoke detectors installed around the house.
• Cover chains and springs with a sheath.
• If you need to use a heater, try to use ones that are fixed to the wall and have fireguard screens as they are safer.
• Install safety guards across balcony entries or to block stairs. Flat solid ones are the best.
• Move chairs out of the way.
• Keep a basic first aid kit in your car and home.

Tips from Embracing Homemaking

• Anchor large furniture to the wall. The gap between a couch and the wall could be dangerous for small children.
• Keep breakable and glass objects away.

Tips from Drugs.com

• Use proper childproof latches to keep doors, lids, and drawers closed. Don’t use glue, tape, or staples.
• Avoid turning household chemicals and medicines into a major safety hazard, keep them locked away.
• On top of installing smoke detectors and fire alarms, carbon monoxide detectors are a good addition to improving your kid’s safety. This gas is highly poisonous and has no odour, which makes a leak hard to identify.

Tips from The Stir

• If you have a fireplace in your home, the safest thing is not to use it at all. Keep it covered if you can.
• The TV should always be mounted to the wall. Kids might try to climb on them and can knock them over and hurt themselves.
• Keep your picture frames out of reach. If they fall, they can break and scatter glass everywhere.

Tips from Raising Children

• Lock all windows, especially the upper-storey ones. Use window locks or latches.
• Keep beds and furniture away from windows.
• Regular window screens are not made to be baby proof, so don’t rely on these to protect your kid from falling through. Use fall-safe screens to keep children safe around windows.
• Install a security screen door on balcony doors so you can still enjoy the summer breeze without worrying that your child will go out onto the balcony

Tips from Embracing Homemaking

• Use cordless blinds if possible. It’s good to try to minimise the use of unnecessary cords around the house.

Tips from Parent Guide

• You can use a charley bar to babyproof sliding windows.
• Installing window guards could be a good choice if you wish to keep your windows open.
• Adding a protective film to your windows will provide extra safety in case the glass breaks.
• People often forget, but window sills can be sharp edges you wouldn't want your baby to fall into. You can cover them using corner cushions.

Tips from Raising Children

• Keep doors leading to your balcony closed at all times.
• When installing balcony guardrails, make sure they are at least one metre high.
• Try to have heavy furniture that cannot be moved around, and make sure your kids can’t climb anything.

Tips from Parent Guide

• Shorten any appliance cords that are too long.
• Secure any extension cords along the ground with tape, so your kid doesn’t trip over.
• Don’t let cords hang over the side of tables, if they are not in use it’s better to keep them on top of tables.
• Cover all power outlets that are not in use, whether wall outlets, power strips, or extension cord ones. You can use electrical outlet caps.
• Secure cords that are plugged in so that your baby can’t unplug them. The best way to do this is by placing furniture in front of the outlets.
• Babyproof power boards are a great option to keep them safe from prying hands. If you don’t have these, consider securing the cords with duct tape.

Tips from Drugs.com

• Take extra precautions with any gasoline, detergents, pesticides, paint, and all similar toxic items, and store them where kids can’t get to them. Don’t put any poisonous items in food containers like water or soda bottles.
• Weapons, guns, and knives should be secured. Always keep the bullets separate from the gun.
• Buy medicines and vitamins with a childproof lid, and store them out of your baby’s reach.

Tips from Drugs.com

• Pool safety is a crucial issue. Putting a fence around the pool is mandatory in Australia, and is an effective safety precaution. According to Fair Trading NSW, inappropriate pool fencing remains a major factor in the rate of drowning among children under 5 years of age.
• If you wish to use pool covers, always go for the hard ones. Kids, and even dogs, can get trapped underneath the soft covers.
• Needless to say, keep outdoors appliances and tools safely stored and out of reach.

Tips from the Tradies Blog

• Install a pool alarm, which is designed to detect any sudden water movement.

From The Birth of a Mom blog

• Keep an eye on visitors and where they leave their belongings. They might have a bag with pens, keys, and coins that they leave on the floor, and your baby could easily find and choke on these things. Always ask guests to leave things on a high surface.
• Regularly check your couch and cushions. Small items can often fall in there, causing a choking hazard.
• Do the ‘toilet paper test’. If an object fits through a toilet paper roll, then it is a choking hazard for your child.

From A Mother Far From Home

• The first thing you should do to ensure your kids stay safe is to teach them what “no” means. When they learn the meaning of the word they’ll be better able to follow and understand your instructions and directions.
• Don’t make every area in the home off limits, but teach the kids where to play and where not to play. They should be able to successfully avoid the places they’re not to go.
• Move precious things out of reach and give babies designated areas to roam. If they’re bored and crawling through the house they could come across something dangerous. Designating a few safe spaces ensures that babies can be free to play without danger.

From The Mombot

• If you want to babyproof your staircase, but keep it stylish, you can always buy a door, paint it, and cut it in half to make a door for the stairs. You can also make a DIY railing guard with plexiglass sheets.

From All Things Thrifty

• Wanna stop your dining chairs and other fabric furniture from being stained by your kids’ grubby fingers? Use some clear plastic to wrap your furniture and voila - no stains!

From The Life of CK and Kate

• Yes, there’s a chance that your toddler might find their way to the bathroom and unroll a new toilet paper roll just for a bit of fun. Stop this from happening by wrapping a hair band around the roll.

From I am a Momma Hear me Roar

• To stop your kids from slipping on hardwood floors, apply some Tulip Slick Paint to the bottom of their socks. You could even get extra creative and draw some patterns.

From My Home Truths

• You really need to get down to a child’s level to see all the possible dangers. So get down on your hands and knees and assess the environment from a child’s point of view.
• Find and secure everything accessible, including handles and locks on windows and doors.
• Identify any potential climbing opportunities and remove them.
• Seek out electrical risks and ensure they’re safe and in good order.
• Pay close attention to the spaces under cupboards, beds, and furniture, and ensure kids can’t hurt themselves should they go exploring.

Idea from Instructables

DIY safe table corners

You’ll need:

• Pool noodle or foam pipe insulation (which is cushiony on one side and sticky on the other),
• Scissors, and
• Tape.

Cut a piece of the pool noodle to your desired length, according to your furniture. Cut the foam in a “V” shape and secure to the corners with tape.

Ideas from The Stir

Use tennis balls on corners

Put those tennis balls you’ve got stored in the garage to good use, and make your tables safer around the house by poking a hole in the tennis balls and wedging it into the corners of your furniture.

Keep your kid in his/her crib

If you have a baby who likes to try and get out of the crib, a good idea is to sew a 5 cm wide strip of fabric between their pyjama pants. This will comfortable enough for them to still move, but will prevent their legs from widening enough to allow them to climb up the crib.

Door stopper

Use a piece of a pool noodle as a door stopper!

Cabinet lock

Instead of purchasing locks, you can use headbands or rubber bands to keep cabinets secure.

Slip-proof rugs

Avoid nasty falls by using rubber matting underneath your carpets (the same kind that’s used to line cupboard shelves).

Covering power outlets

Don’t have power outlet caps? Not to worry, you can easy duct tape them, making sure your kid is not going to be able to just easily rip it off.

Ideas from Parent Guide

1) Power outlet caps - AUD $2.50 each

• Worried about your child shoving metallic objects into your powerpoints? Pick up a set of power outlet caps to plug up any holes and avoid any potential life threatening harm. It’s easy to overlook, but an easy fix could make all the difference. You can pick them up from your local Bunnings.

2) Childproof rubbish bin - About AUD $150

• Rubbish bins are gross enough without children going through them. Plus there’s often harmful and undesirable objects piled up in all the mess - some of which could cause harm to your child.

3) Baby proofing power board - AUD $7.99

• Slip on a hard cover over any unused power boards to keep out any foreign objects or experimentation.

4) Window wedge - AUD $40

• Allow your windows to open partially rather than fully. You still have the benefit of the window but you have the peace of mind knowing that no one can fall out.

5) Toilet lock - AUD $6.95

• Maybe it sounds crazy, but babies really don’t need much water to drown. And aside from that more dramatic consequence, no one wants a toddler to become creative with toilet water.

6) Tub guard - AUD $68

• Actually, this one is for you. Cushion the side of the bath tub, making it a lot easier come bath time as you can now rest your elbows on the side.

7) Puj tub - AUD $50

• An easy and extra safe foldable and soft bathtub, made for newborns.

8) Cupboard door lock - AUD $6.98

• Pretty self explanatory, but you can pick these up for quite cheap and they can make a big difference. You can find locks for just about any other doors you need to secure.

9) Pinch Guard - AUD $8

• An easy fix to prevent young ones jamming their fingers in doors.

10) Lever handle locks - AUD $29.99

• This lock blends in with existing lever handles, but allows you to add locking functionality to doors that previously allowed easy access.

Enjoy an extra piece of mind with CommandeX’s safety screens and security doors.
Stop pests and intruders coming in, and curious kids from crawling out.