Accidents are one of the most common causes of death for children and can happen not only outside of their own four walls. There are often many dangers in the home that parents are not even fully aware of. Even when the offspring arrives, it is important to get enough information and take precautions. Especially in the first year of life, parents have other things to do than think about how best to childproof the home. All the better if everything is well prepared. The motto here is to be active and can prevent accidents from occurring that could harm the child.
Consciously perceive the apartment
More than 1.5 million children have accidents in German households every year, sometimes seriously. Curious kindergarten and school children are not necessarily affected. In fact, it particularly often affects infants and small children. The trend for child accidents is increasing and shows how important it is to deal with the problem. Small changes in the household are often enough to sustainably reduce the risk. The frequency of accidents can be broken down by room and area of the apartment:
- nursery
- Kitchen area
- Staircase area
- Garten
- Rest of the living area
Children are particularly often injured by falls, for example down the stairs, from the changing table or from the bunk bed. Ideally, parents should put themselves in their child's position and look at the apartment:
- Sit on the ground and look around
- Crawling around the apartment
- Pay attention to what can be reached from the ground
- Pay attention to what can pique children's interest
Writing a checklist and noting what is noticed is the first step towards a child-safe home.
Make changes step by step
We start by adapting the apartment to the needs of the children, ideally before they are born. The children's room is the first port of call. At thePurchase of furnitureIt is important to ensure that the furniture is robust and child-safe. Lockable cabinets and drawers with damping systems are a good alternative to classic pieces of furniture. The changing table is set up so that the offspring cannot fall down the sides. If the furniture has corners and edges, they are provided with light padding. There are special attachments that are easy to attach.
The tipping resistance should not be underestimated. When the children start to pull themselves up on the furniture, they need a firm footing. Chests of drawers and cupboards are best attached to the wall.
Creating organized systems is a tip that parents can take to heart. Even if it's just the toy box that the toys are thrown into again and again. In this way, tripping hazards can be quickly removed and the floor of the child's room does not pose a danger.
Electricity is still an issue. Socket protection is now part of almost every household with children, but there are even more areas to consider:
- Be sure to completely hide power lines
- Conceal cables to electrical devices such as CD players and lamps so that they cannot be tripped over
- Use battery-powered night lights
Note: It's tempting to quickly replace the crib with a loft bed. Despite broad fall-out protection, however, many children still fall down from the loft bed. It is therefore recommended that you only use the loft bed when your child is at least six years old.
Stairs – this is how children can be protected
Does it still take a while until the offspring can crawl? It doesn't matter - the sooner the stair guard is installed, the better. It only takes five minutes of work to protect the child from life-threatening falls. A stair gate ensures that the children do not try to go down or up the stairs alone. From the dangerous stair area the view continues into the kitchen.
Children tend to always be where their parents are. Therefore, the kitchen is of course an exciting room. A play area in the kitchen is ideal for distracting the child. Here the children are given pots and wooden spoons that they can use. It's just as little work to fill the accessible cupboards with harmless things, such as lunch boxes and pots. Cleaning products, knives and scissors, on the other hand, should be stored particularly high up. There are also special additions that can be quickly installed to secure the oven and dishwasher.
Important: Keep an eye on the cables and avoid tablecloths. Children pull themselves up with anything they can grab. The kettle that has just been turned on quickly falls down or the teapot makes its way from the table to the floor with the tablecloth. Scalding is particularly common in household accidents.
Bathroom and garden – the underestimated danger
In addition to the children's room, stairwell and kitchen, there are even more danger areas for children in the house and apartment. This includes the bathroom and the garden. The bathroom, usually tiled and fitted with runners, contains a large number of slip traps. If the child falls and lands on their head, this can have serious consequences. Children should therefore not be left alone in the bathroom. Wherever possible, slippery runners should be avoided. It is also important to lock away cleaners. These are often still kept near the ground. However, it is the bright colors and great smells of bathroom cleaners and detergents that attract young people.
Anyone who has a garden has a reason to be happy. Here the children can play, run around and enjoy the fresh air. But dangers also lurk in the garden. A fence for the garden pond is a must. Garden tools also belong in onestoragein when parents leave for just a few minutes. It is particularly important to check the garden for poisonous plants.
Thought of everything? An overview in the form of an advice brochure can be used as a supplement to preparing the house and apartment for the offspring.
