Home Safety

Winter weather keeps us all tucked warmly in our homes. But as children will be children, the toys often become boring and exploring for new play toys occurs. As the your child ventures around the house the most unassuming things can be pulled down, crawled on, opened and swallowed just to name a few. Being a good house detective can prevent many house hold incidents from becoming a major disaster. You might even involve older children to be involved and make it a fun activity.

Here are some common situations and what they look like to a small child.

1. Visiting grandma for the weekend. Grandma might need to take certain medications with a meal so she place several colored pills beside her cereal bowl. Little Suzy crawls onto the chair seeing what she thinks are bright candy and gobble the pills. Oh my gosh a serious poisoning may have occurred. Keep medication out of the reach of children.
2. The family lives in an apartment but the laundry room is down the hall. A large basket of clothes, laundry soap and bleach are just too heavy to carry. Mom finds an empty plastic green soda pop bottle and pours some bleach in for the trip to washer. When she gets back into the apartment she sets the basket down and heads to the bathroom. Her little one walking around spots the basket and the green bottle. The little one has had soda pop before from that same green bottle. As mom is in the bathroom the little one opens the top to take a drink, but wait that’s not pop its household bleach. Another poisoning incident could have been avoided. Never pour household cleaners into a different container and always store them safely out of a child’s reach.
3. Parents often encourage their children to help make a meal, bake cookies or for something to do. With mom’s supervision, the small child help stir the contents of the pot. The evening meal is cooking away on the stove while mom and child play at the table. The phone rings, mom engages in a conversation and fails to notice the child pushing a chair up to the stove. The child grabs the handle of the pot and in an instant hot boiling liquids cover their small body. Never leave cooking pots unattended and turn the handles towards the inside of the stove to prevent them from being pulled off the stove.
Three common household situations and three simple actions by family members can easily lead to serious injury. Become a house detective prevent injuries before they happen. Lock of cleaning chemicals safely and out of reach. Put away sharp items like knives safely out of a child’s reach. Prescriptions or other medications can prove dangerous for a small child. Being a good house detective means preventing incidents by putting away hazards but it also means knowing what do in case something happens. Learn how to respond to household emergencies by taking a first aid class. Visit www.redcross.ca to find a course near you!