How often do you walk around your home and purposefully ask yourself, “Am I safe?”, or “Is my family safe?”. If you have younger kids or a new baby, most will tell you to ‘child-proof’ and give a laundry list of items to barricade the house to hopefully ensure the little tike will come to no harm. But, what are the necessities? New parents are already on edge and stressed because they feel everything will never get done before their precious newbie arrives. Other considerations must also be considered in the home, such as the use of chemicals, medications, and weapons. Let’s dig into these!
Newborn Safety
So many new parents immediately start child-proofing, and that’s fine but I want you to take a second to consider the age that there’s an actual physical risk for a newborn…is it coming to you? Let your nerves calm down and focus on loving that little one as you have plenty of time to get that stuff in check. The majority of the time the newbie will be with momma or the rest of the family.
Safety precaution for newborns that should always be mentioned, however, is to place him/her on their back. Tummy time is a great time to play and get some supervised belly time.
Now, when the little one starts showing signs of crawling (or walking), it’s time to begin patching up a few things around the house. First, clean up and cordon off where little tyke will be. I’m not saying you have a messy house. It’s probably cleaner than mine 🙂 But, let me tell you, if you want something to be found, let a toddler roam around. It will be found and it will be in their mouth…or nose, or ear. I have had the wonderful experience of taking my first-born to the emergency room for shoving a bead up her nose. The remedy? The doc had me hold one nostril and blow through her mouth and out it popped…who do you think was more traumatized? Anyway, also with floor items, this includes if you have dogs that shed or leave piles of fur around. Second, if you’re used to having every little glass decoration or knick-knack on your table out for display to beautify the room, now is the time to remove it. Third, while you can attempt to capture every corner, every table end, and every piece of furniture with rubber or blankets, let me say this…regardless of the tremendous amount of effort we put into putting them into a bubble, they will still find a way to get booboos. Fourth, get outlet covers. These covers prevent them from getting electrocuted and outlets from getting damaged. I have experience with the damage. My 5 year old son thought it handy to shove pieces of crayon into the grounding port of one of the upstairs receptacles. I had to shutoff power and physically remove the outlet to get the crayon out. Fifth, as they get more curious and moving around past your cordon, lock the cabinets you don’t wish to be explored. Check out what has been successful for us.
The lower picture are magnetic locks that go on the inside of any cabinet doors or drawers. The packs I get come with 2 magnets and a small holder to put it where you’d like. Alternatively, you can place it on any corner in your house as most have metal trim beneath it. I’ll post a link to the products I have in the photos. Also, all of these locks and latches come off easily with slight heat from a hair dryer. Sixth is doors. I have a high functioning autistic child that has wandered off out of the house to the neighbors when he was younger SO, you will probably understand this picture (look top to bottom). I apologize for the paint destruction from kids and dogs. There is the digital lock and deadbolt, then there is the slidelock (same latch for the basement door), then there is a plastic handle cover so he can’t grip the knob to open it, then if all else fails, there is a latch up top that hits a pin on the outside. That one is only for him, not for home defense because it can be opened from the outside. You will likely not have to worry about this…I sincerely pray you do not. I also have a knob cover on the basement door, the laundry room door leading to the garage, and the garage door. This covers all the bases. Seventh and this one is for the extra curious kids is windows. Make sure the windows in your house have functioning locks. Not all of my kids have messed with them, but at least one has played with them (you can probably guess who), so it is something to keep in mind. It’s good for overall home safety as well. That specific kid (ahem, my son) is in part the reason we purchased a front door camera. But, again, that has more than one function.
General Safety
Now, what about when everyone has outgrown all this “stuff”? Do you use medicine cabinets for prescription and/or supplement storage? Are there weapons in the house? For this article, I will be neutral and assume the answers are yes to satisfy all. Everyone has their reasons and it’s not for me to judge either way. Here is my stance, although it has changed over the years for various reasons.
I DO have weapons in the house, numerous in fact, and I have no intention of parting with them. Both my wife and I also concealed carry. Are they loaded at all inside the home? NO! Are they outside of a safe? NO!
Medicine is locked in the same safe that the guns are. Noone gets any medication, including their prescribed ADHD meds without myself or mom. Is this a bit harsh? We are a family of 8 in a fairly large home with 5 bathrooms. I can’t keep track of that many medicine cabinets, so they have mirrors and, for me, I prefer to not take that risk.
Household chemicals are limited to necessity. We do not use items such as Bleach because there are other cleaners that are much less toxic. Outdoor chemicals are locked in the garage.
Fire Safety
I learned this out of a general fear of fire and from a home that was already within code. Believe it or not, all homes are not to code when it comes to fire safety, especially older homes not preinstalled with wired alarms. Now, I’m not going to give a blanket statement for smoke alarms here because you will need to look up your state for proper guidance. I live in Virginia so all new constructed is required to be hardwired with battery backup and interconnected. This means when one sounds, they all sounds. Also, effective July 1, 2022, repair or replacement of smoke alarms shall be with devices listed in accordance with UL217 and that are no more than 10 years from the date of manufacture. Battery-only powered devices shall be powered by a 10-year sealed battery. These may or may not be combination smoke/CO2 alarms. If you have any sort of gas/propane burning appliances, you have the potential for CO2. Do NOT forget these! Smoke alarms are required on each floor level, inside each bedroom, and outside each sleeping area (this is important because doors may not always be open). CO2 alarms are required on each floor. Lastly, there are two types of smoke alarms, identified by its sensor type, ionization and photoelectric. In a nutshell, ionization is better at detecting fast-flaming fires while photoelectric is better at detecting slow or smoldering fires. NFPA recommends both so switch it up or get dual-sensor alarms. Finally, and I can’t stress this enough, replace the batteries when you start hearing a beep every 30 to 60 seconds. That is of course if it doesn’t have a 10-year battery. If it has nuisance alarms, it may be the location (ionization is more prone to dust and nuisance alarms) or, if it just keeps beeping, check the date of the alarm on the back. If it’s more than 10 years old, that is an end of life alarm and it must be replaced.
Each level for multiple stories is recommended to have a safety ladder. Home Depot and Lowes carry these and they can be put in the closet.
Finally, fire extinguishers! Your primary defense will be 2-A:10-B-C rated extinguishers and should be on every level of your home and recommended no more than 40 feet apart. This could include locations such as living areas, garages, and workshops. I have one in the basement next to the water heater, one on the main level in back of a bookcase, and one on the second floor in the hallway (attached to the wall). You also need a kitchen 711a rated fire extenguisher. It’s important to have this one as it contains a special wet agent. Last, a garage fire extinguisher as there are normally items in there that are flammable. And that’s it. Can you go further? Absolutely! I actually have a can of First Alert fire stopping spray inside of every closet in addition to the extinguishers.
Well, I think that about covers everything. Tell me what you think, if I missed something, and what you do.
God Bless