Your Child’s Security and Safety

Your child is an explorer. He will set out to discover the whole house everyday – and risks of accidents are everywhere. Your child will use his hands, mouth and all means possible to learn about the world around him. As he grows, you will need to be aware of your child’s security and safety around the house. Here are a few tips to ensure your child’s security.

Preventing domestic accidents
It’s important to look at everything around you through the eyes of your child to make sure your child stays safe. Here are a few precautions:

•   Never leave your child unsupervised on the changing mat, and always keep one hand on him – children like to wiggle about when being changed and can easily fall.
•   Never leave your child alone in the house, in the bath or with another child.
•   Lay your child on his back to sleep. Dress your child in pyjamas. Blankets and other covers are not advisable until your child is 1 year old.
•   Keep his toys together at the foot of the bed.
•   Always check the temperature of the food you give to your child. •   Never leave your child alone with an animal.
•   As soon as he starts to walk, remove everything small that he can swallow from low furniture — Mum’s rings, peanuts, plant pots filled with soil... Small children like to put everything into their mouth.
•   Never let your child run with something in his mouth.
•   Remember to put cleaning products, medicines and cosmetics in cupboards that your little explorer is unable to open.
•   In the kitchen, make sure knives, appliances and plastic bags are out of reach.
•   Protect him from burns by fitting a protective grille on your oven door and always point saucepans and pot handles on the stove towards the back wall.
•   In old houses, be careful that your child does not eat flakes of paint, which may contain lead.
•   Ensuring your child’s security also entails putting a gate across the stairs, covering electric sockets, blocking windows and doors, closing off balconies and swimming pools, protecting sharp corners on furniture, checking heating apparatus, etc.
•   As your child grows up, you need to be constantly vigilant – without becoming paranoid, of course.