Summer time is a popular time for the grandchildren to visit. As you plan for their favorite foods, toys, and activities, don’t forget to plan for safety. We grandmas could all use a refresher course in how to child-proof our homes. The Home Safety Council offers these tips for making your home safe for the smallest visitors:

Don’t hang anything with strings or ribbons over the crib. Remove mobiles once your grandbaby starts to sit up.

Have a smoke alarm inside or near every bedroom. Test the smoke alarm monthly and change the batteries at least once a year. Replace smoke alarms that are older than 10 years.

Keep baby monitors and other cords a safe distance from cribs.

Keep all pot handles turned in over the stove area and make sure that there are no cords hanging down to entice a child to pull the coffee pot or toaster down.

Search every room of your house for small items such as buttons, coins, jewelry, and toys that could choke a child. Replace door stops that have removable caps. If an item fits in a toilet paper tube, it’s a choking hazard.

Secure pictures out of the child’s reach Don’t hang pictures or other heavy decorations directly over a crib.

Keep cribs, beds, chairs, and other furniture away from windows. Install a baby gate at the nursery door, at the top and/or bottom of stairways.

Install pinch guards on doors or drape a towel over the hinge side to prevent little fingers from getting pinched in door hinges.

Set the water heater at or below 120 degrees to prevent burns, and use a water thermometer to test bath water. It should be 100 degrees. Install special tub spouts and shower heads that prevent hot-water burns.

Put child-proof locks on all cabinets that contain cleaning materials or medications.

There’s a wealth of information for children of all ages on the Home Saftety Council website. But the one that caught my attention is an online tool to help people find and fix the leading causes of accidents in the home. Visit MySafeHome and you can take a virtual home tour, room-by-room. You’ll learn about the leading causes of serious home injuries. And you’ll see what you can do to keep your loved ones safe.

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1 Comment »

1. This is a great list — especially for us grandparents who used to keep our homes child-safe but got out of the habit. I just have a few more suggestions to add:

   * When you’re putting up those smoke alarms, put up carbon monoxide alarms too near the bedrooms.

   * Cover all electrical sockets with little guards you can get at the hardware store.

   * And if you’re taking care of infants, be sure to put them to sleep on their backs, not their stomachs as we were told to do back in the day.

   Comment by Sally Wendkos Olds — June 25, 2009 @ 2:35 pm

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