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Health and Safety of Children at Home

 

Child safety at Home:

Most common accidents:

  • Playing with chemicals (medicines, detergents, cleaning products and others).
  • Toy-related accidents.
  • Falling down.
  • Burns.

Home injuries and accidents can occur at any time; some of their causes are obvious and others may not be easily noticeable. Below are guidelines for you to prevent such accidents in each of the following places:

 

Kitchen:

  • Keep your children away from the kitchen when cooking.
  • Keep the handles of pots and pans away from the outer side of the oven, and make sure that you use the inner cooking stoves rather than the ones near the outer side of the oven.
  • Keep hot food away from the reach of children, and do not leave it on the edges of table surfaces.
  • Keep sharp objects away from the reach of children, and place them in locked cabinets.

 

Bedroom:

  • Make sure that the child's bed or crib is safe and that it has railings to prevent your child from falling off the bed while sleeping.
  • Avoid putting cotton toys near your sleeping child to prevent any accidental suffocation.

 

Bathrooms:

  • Always monitor your child when giving him a bath. If you have to leave to get a phone call for instance, you must take him out of the bath first.
  • Make sure that the water temperature is suitable to avoid burns.
  • Keep electrical devices (such as hair dryers) away from water, and make sure the devices are disconnected while the child is taking a bath.
  • Make sure that the doors of all bathroom and laundry rooms are closed.

 

Electrical Safety:

  • Cover unused electrical outlets with special outlet plugs.
  • Place wires inside insulation panels and keep them away from the path of children's strollers.

 

  • Chemicals (medicines, detergents, and others):
  • Place all medicines, detergents and cosmetics in the upper shelves or in locked cabinets; children sometimes do not differentiate between them and sweets.

 

Toys:

  • Makes sure to buy toys that are age appropriate.
  • Be careful when children are playing with toys with sharp edges or those consisting of small parts.
  • Always read the instructions that come with toys to learn about the age range for which such toys are appropriate, and learn more about ways to clean them.
  • Caution is necessary when children are playing with toys that consist of small parts that may lead to suffocation (such as small balls).
  • Keep children's toys away from newborns.

 

General Guidelines:

  • Make sure to have a first aid kit in your home.
  • Make sure to keep the house doors locked to prevent children from going out to the street without supervision.
  • Make sure that windows are secured to protect your children from falling off.
  • Keep furniture away from windows to prevent your children from climbing them and reaching the windows.
  • Make sure to install safety gates at the top and bottom of the stairs.
  • Keep plastic bags away from the reach of children.
  • Keep cigarettes away from the reach of children.
  • Keep weapons away from the reach of children. If you have a gun inside your house, make sure that its magazine is empty and that the gun is well-hidden while the bullets are kept somewhere away from the gun.
  • Stay near your child when he is sitting on high seats and chairs.
  • Keep lighters and matches in locked cabinets that are far from reach.

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