Dictionary For Dads

Nearly 2.5 million children are injured or die each year due to dangers right in their own home, It is a parents responsibility to baby proof there home in order to protect their children from being injured. Below is a guide to help parents protect their children.

Check The Landscape Of Baby Land

The most effective way to ensure your baby's safety is to inspect the landscape from your baby’s height. Lay down on your floors or on your hands and knees and scope out what your baby’s visual perception will be.

Carefully lock up  every potential poison or other hazard, including cleaning products, medicines, vitamins, and sharp objects.

Keep an eye out for any tiny objects that your baby could choke on. Pick up any coins, marbles, beads, paper clips, and other small objects you find on low tables or the floor or in low drawers or cupboards.

Be watchful when you have visitors. No matter how carefully you've childproofed the house, Your mother or a neighbor visiting probably hasn't applied your standards to their backpacks or pocketbooks.  Common items  that people typically carry with them such as medicines, make-up, tools, pocket knives, and many other items can be dangerous to small children.

Electrical Outlet Baby Proofing

It's a good idea to protect electrical outlets with outlet covers. However, the removable little plug-in caps can easily end up in your baby's mouth. Instead, replace the outlet cover itself — at least those that are accessible — with one that includes a sliding safety latch. If you're using any extension cords in your home, you should insulate the junction points with electrical tape.

Fire Prevention For Residential Homes

Nearly 2,500 children were injured or killed in residential fires in 2002, and more than half of those children were under the age of 5, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Smoke alarm minimizes the chances of dying in a fire. Install smoke alarms in every room of your home. Check them monthly to be sure they're working, and change the batteries when needed.
Always keep a fire extinguisher nearby but away from a toddler’s access, and have it serviced or checked according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Start talking to your child about the dangers of fire. Devise a family evacuation plan and practice your fire escape route regularly

Baby Proofing Furniture

According to the CPSC, at least 5,000 children under the age of 10 go to the emergency room each year with injuries caused when television sets, bookcases, and other furniture and appliances have tipped over on them. About six people die from furniture tip-overs every year, most of them children under the age of 5.

Large or heavy bookcases, dressers, and appliances are real hazards: Bolt whatever you can to the wall. Push items like televisions back from the edge of the furniture they're on or move them out of reach, and then secure them, too. Always put heavier items on bottom shelves and in bottom drawers to make furniture less top-heavy.

Babies start pulling up on furniture shortly after they start crawling. And when they learn how to climb, watch out! Some children scale counters, bookcases, and anything else they can grab on to. Take care to place floor lamps behind other furniture so that their bases are out of your child's reach.

Be sure to keep dresser drawers closed when you're not using them — they make perfect ladders. And be particularly careful to fully close file cabinet drawers, since pulling out one drawer could cause the cabinet to fall over.

Furniture corners are another common hazard, especially those found on coffee tables. Cover all sharp corners and hearth edges with bumpers to soften the impact if your child falls.

Safety Gates For Babies

Most parents consider safety gates essential childproofing tools. They allow you to open outside doors for air while keeping your child indoors, they contain babies within a designated room, and they block his access to dangerous stairways and dangerous rooms. (such as the workshop bathroom or kitchen).

Unfortunately, if out-of-date or used improperly, safety gates can themselves pose a hazard to children. In general, look for gates your child can't dislodge but that you can easily open and close. (Otherwise, you'll be too tempted to leave them open when you're in a hurry.) For the top of the stairs, install a gate that screws to the wall rather than one that stays put by using pressure — it's much more secure.

It's best to buy brand-new safety gates, making sure they display a seal from the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA). Choose a gate with a straight-slat design rather than an older accordion-style gate with V-shaped openings which can pose an entrapment and strangulation hazard to toddlers

Window Treatment Baby Proofing

According to the CPSC, the cords on window coverings are a frequent cause of strangulation of children under 5. The younger victims, usually between 10 and 15 months of age, are typically in cribs placed near windows with pull cords.

Window treatments/ blinds pose a particular hazard because a baby's neck could become trapped in the cords that raise the blinds or run through the slats. A child can become entangled in a looped window cord and strangle in a matter of minutes.

If the crib must be near a window, either cut off the pull cords or wind-ups to keep them out of reach of children. You can also replace a cord loop with a safety tassel. All window shades and blinds sold since November 2000 must have attachments on the pull cords to prevent a loop from forming between the slats.

If you bought your blinds before November 2000, visit the Window Covering Safety Council's Web site or call (800) 506-4636 to order a free repair kit.

Secure your windows and doors

According to the CPSC, every year thousands of children in the United States die or are injured in falls from windows. Most of the children injured or killed are under the age of 5.

Always open double-hung windows from the top or fit them with safety locks in order to prevent small children from opening them. Low windows shouldn't open more than 4 inches. Window safety stops for children are available which can prevent a child from opening windows more than 4”. Most newly installed or replacement windows come with window stops already installed in the window structure for your home safety.

Never depend on window screens as a preventative measure. Window screens are not strong enough to prevent children from climbing or falling out of a window. Dictionary For Dads suggests you install window guards, which screw into the inside of the window frames in your home to protect your children. These safety devices have  safety bars which are less than 4 inches apart and are interchangeable for all window types.

According to industry standards announced by the CPSC in June 2000, the guards must fit snugly but not so securely that an older child or adult can't remove them in case of an emergency. (The CPSC considers non-removable window guards safe for windows on the seventh floor and above.) Keep furniture away from windows to prevent children from climbing up and reaching the windowsill.

Poison Prevention

According to the CPSC, more than 1 million possible poisonings of children under age 5 are reported and an average of 30 children die from poisoning each year.

Be prepared. Keep the number for the national poison control center — (800) 222-1222 in the United States — and your local emergency numbers close to every phone.

Store poisonous products out of your child's reach. Put safety locks on all cabinets and drawers that hold bug sprays, cleaning products, medications, and other potential poisons. Remember that even some houseplants can be harmful if ingested.

Dispose of old or outdated medications. But don't flush them down the toilet or pour them down the drain, as they could contaminate the water supply. If you live in the United States, ask your local waste disposal agency whether there's a program in place for safely getting rid of them. You can also ask whether your pharmacy will take back expired medication. If these options aren't available, you'll have to throw the drugs away in the trash — but first be sure to secure them so your little one can't get to them.

Watch out for hidden poisons. Not all poisons are easy to spot. Carbon monoxide is an odorless and colorless gas produced by malfunctioning fuel-burning appliances such as furnaces, water heaters, ovens, stoves, gas dryers, and emergency generators. Although you can't see it, smell it, or taste it, carbon monoxide gas can be deadly.

To protect your family, install a carbon monoxide detector in every sleeping area in your home. Check the batteries every spring and fall when you change your clocks. If the alarm goes off, leave your home immediately and call 911 or the local emergency number.

Look out for lead. If you live in a building constructed before 1978, it may contain lead paint. Lead paint is especially dangerous to your child if it's flaking or peeling. Lead can also be found in tap water from older pipes that are lined or soldered with lead. Breathing lead dust or fumes or swallowing anything with lead in it can give a child lead poisoning, which can cause learning disabilities, kidney disease, brain damage, growth delay, and other problems.

If there's exposed or deteriorating lead paint in your home, have a licensed professional either remove it completely or cover it with an approved sealant. Until the lead can be removed, wash your child's hands and face, as well as his toys, often to reduce his exposure to lead-contaminated dust. For information on how to get a paint sample analyzed, visit the National Lead Information Center's Web site or call (800) 424-5323.

Prevent drowning

According to the CPSC, about 115 children under age 5 drown each year — not in a pool, but in their own home.

Tubs, toilets, and even buckets of water are all potential dangers to children. That's why it's important to practice water safety at home.

Most in-home drowning deaths occur in bathtubs. Never leave your baby unattended in the tub — even if he's in a ring or bath seat. In fact, supervise your child whenever he's in the bathroom, and install a safety latch on your toilet lid to prevent him from accidentally falling in.

Infants and toddlers can drown in as little as an inch of water, according to the CPSC. This seemingly unlikely scenario happens because young children are top-heavy. If they lose their balance (as they often do) while peering into a toilet or bucket, they can fall in headfirst and get stuck.

Never leave a bucket of water or other liquid unattended. If you're using a bucket of water for mopping or cleaning, pour out the water as soon as you're finished.

Please see our Page on Pool and Water Safety for Children if you have a pool or will be visiting areas such as lakes, beaches, streams or ponds.

• Keep cribs and other furniture away from windows.
  
• Have window guards or window. 
  
• Make sure an adult can open the window fast in case of a fire.
• Secure tall pieces of furniture by anchoring them to the wall stud so they don't tip.
• Use safety gates at the nursery door and at the tops and bottoms of stairs. For the tops of the stairs, gates that screw to the wall are more secure than “pressure gates.”
•  Window blind cords should not have a loop. Cut any loop in two pieces and place them up high where children cannot reach them. 
• Pick up small items like buttons, coins, jewelry and small toys. If something is small enough to fit in a toilet paper tube, it is not safe for little children.
• Make sure a smoke alarm is inside or near every bedroom.
  
• Test each smoke alarm every month.
  
• Push the test button until you hear a loud noise. Put new batteries in your smoke alarms at least one time each year.
  

• Set your water heater at 120 degrees F or just below the medium setting.
• Make sure the electrical outlet has a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). Test it monthly.
• Always stay close enough to touch your child when he or she is in or near the bathtub or near the toilet.
• Install special tub spouts and shower heads that prevent hot water burns. They will sense if the water gets hot enough to cause a burn and shut off the flow of water.
• Keep the bathroom door closed. Use an outside lock or door knob cover to keep young children out of the bathroom when you are not with them.
• Keep toilet lids shut and use toilet seat locks.
• Know the things in your bathroom that are poisons. 
• Look for the words “Caution,” “Warning,” “Danger” or “Keep Out of Reach of Children” on the box or bottle. Store all dangerous products, including medicines, cosmetics (makeup) and cleaning supplies in a locked cabinet.