One of the primary goals for any parent is to ensure that their kids are safe while at home. We want our homes to be a place where kids can feel at ease, and where nothing can happen to them while they are under our roof. For this to happen, there are a few things you need to do. While you may not be able to prevent every injury or emergency, you can at least prepare your family and make them less likely to happen. Here’s how:
Have a Proper Home Inspection
Before you even move into the home, you’ll want to have a home inspection. A home inspector will go over every inch of the home and check for problems or signs of danger. For instance, then will check out the roof and make sure it is strong enough to hold large snowfalls or be able to hold up against strong winds and rain.
Hiring a professional home inspector is the best method to check for flaws and other potential issues when buying a new home. Home inspectors are trained to spot the things we normally miss. Even if you’ve been living in your home for a while, it’s not a bad idea to hire a home inspector and get a thorough home inspection. This can give you some piece of mind, or point out any areas that need attention.
Baby and Child Proofing
Next, if you have young children, you’ll want to take some steps to safeguard your home for them. This means things like covering up electrical outlets, putting foam on sharp corners of furniture, and putting child-locks on cabinets that you want your kids to stay out of. Young kids often don’t know what they’re allowed to touch and what’s dangerous, so take the decision out of their hands by locking these things away.
The type of child-proofing you need will vary based on their age. For example, a five-year-old likely doesn’t need socket covers anymore, but they may need something alongside their bed to keep them from falling out. You can learn more about child-proofing your home based on age here.
Home Security Systems
Unfortunately, sometimes the danger to your children comes from outside the home. Putting some systems in place to protect your home will safeguard both you and your children. This includes locks on all of the doors and windows, along with outside lights that turn on at night. You can also get yourself a home security system, one which will alert the police if there is a break-in. If you have kids who are old enough to stay home alone, a home security system is even more vital for the times you’re not around.
Emergency Drills
Another great thing you can do is conduct emergency drills with your children. Do they know what to do in case of a fire? You should have a detailed plan laid out, and occasionally run drills so that everyone knows the plan. Have escape routes planned out from each of their bedrooms, and a meeting place outside the home. A good emergency plan will not only help everyone to get out safely, but it will let you know if someone is still stuck inside since they haven’t gone to the meeting spot.
This is also a good time to remind your kids not to try to save their stuff and just get out. Nothing is worth their lives, so in the event of a fire, get out of the house immediately, no matter what.
Finally, if your kids are on the second floor, consider getting them an escape ladder for their room. An escape ladder will easily attach to their window and allow them to climb out, rather than finding their way through the smoke-filled home.
Online Safety
In today’s world, you not only have to worry about physical danger to your kids, but also the online world. There are many things online that you likely don’t want your kids exposed to, and so it’s important that you put a priority on online safety. Use parental controls to block adult websites, and monitor what they’re doing when they’re online. Make sure they’re not chatting with anyone they’re not supposed to, or that no unfriendly sites are making their way through the block.
Child Protection Never Stops
No matter how old your child gets, you’ll always want to protect them. While you may not be able to do this as well once they move out, you certainly have control while they live under your roof. Take steps to remove any dangerous items from the home, add some security systems, go over emergency procedures, and watch their activity online. If you can do all of this, you should have no trouble making your home a safer place for your kids.
