As we creep closer to Christmas day, it’s easy to let the excitement take us and forget about our safety. With the arrival of winter, it’s essential to have a hazard-free household to make your Christmas less stressful and more enjoyable for yourself and your family. Whether you have young children, toddlers or even newborns, these are a few ways you can improve the safety of your home. making your house more child-friendly and also letting them have fun during the festive period too!
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Make Your House More Child-Friendly This Festive Season
Use safety gates and secure high windows
Whatever you do, put up safety gates to prevent your child from reaching dangerous spots in the house. Attach them securely to doorways that may lead to stairs, the garden, the attic or anywhere else which could be unsafe for your little ones. By doing this, you’re preventing your child from falling and hurting themselves. You could also take the time to cushion or pad any sharp edges to furniture such as tables, couches, and cupboards. This way if they go banging into it, it at least cushions the blow.
Another big way to stop your toddlers from falling from a height is to make sure any climbable objects next to furniture is removed. Also, if you live in an apartment or a two-storey house, ensure that windows cannot open more than a few inches by using window restrictors. Not only does this put your mind at rest, but makes the house a safer place for the little ones.
Child-proof your Christmas decorations
There are a variety of ways to make your tree less hazardous. From buying shatterproof baubles to using a heavier stand, these little things will make Christmas safer. Instead of decorating the house with traditional glass baubles and trinkets, why not use decorations which are made from safer materials? Use fabrics like cotton and wool, so that if anything does drop on the floor, they won’t cause any harm to your child.
Store away any shatterable ornaments and dangerous items
Yes, ornaments are very pretty, but children could easily pick them up, drop them, and either step onto sharp pieces of glass. This would be a nasty accident and would probably require hospital treatment. To avoid this, store away any fragile ornaments in cabinets or high, unreachable places. Make sure these containers are lockable too. If you have any toolboxes or outdoor tools lying around in the house, make sure to put them in the garage or greenhouse.
If you don’t have a greenhouse but would love one for extra storage, visit https://www.greenhousestores.co.uk/Orangery-Greenhouses/ for your ideal one. For the kitchen area, make sure glasses, dishes and other dangerous items, are stored in high cabinets. By doing this, you’re making the house more child-friendly and decluttering too!
Lastly, have working alarms and the required checks
This last tip is crucial! To keep your family safe, it’s essential that you have a fire alarm that works right. In the unfortunate event of a fire, young children are twice as likely to be in harm’s way as they’re less able to escape. A Carbon Monoxide alarm should also be installed and working correctly. By doing these required checks, you can relax and put your feet up this Christmas!
As featured in the Ultimate Christmas Planning
2 Comments
Great tips and just in time for me as we are putting up our Christmas tee this week with our two year old!
I always make sure any breakable ornaments are up high where they can’t be reached when family visit.