Grandchild-Proof Your Home Before Holiday Visits

Home safety should be a top priority for every older adult. And if you are lucky enough to have grandchildren, or if other small children visit your home, an extra set of precautions should be on your list. A little preparation before the little ones arrive allows you to enjoy your visits even more!

Maybe your grandchildren live nearby, and you often fill in as a babysitter. Or perhaps grandkids live at a distance, and visits are an eagerly awaited special event. Maybe you and your grandchildren are visiting an elderly senior relative. In any case, when grandchildren are in the home, you want them to be safe...and you want to be able to enjoy their visits without worry.

Your concern is justified. According to Safe Kids Canada, each year 18,000 children are seriously injured—some fatally—by hazards in the home. Most of these accidents were preventable. Read on for a quick refresher course in childproofing your home, including some information that may be new to you if it's been a while since you scrutinized your home for things curious little hands could get into.

A few things to remember:

Child safety precautions may seem more stringent. Health and safety experts continue to refine ideas about keeping children safe. For example, toy safety regulations are much more strict than they used to be. Read labels to be sure toys are safe for the age of the child. And if you've saved treasured playthings from when your children were young, or picked up fun-looking items at a garage sale, inspect them carefully to be sure they contain no small parts that could cause choking (smaller than two inches in diameter), sharp edges, or materials that could break into pieces. Some heirloom toys are best kept on display—out of reach.

Outdated safety equipment may be UNsafe. Child safety devices have come a long way! For example, the evolution of the child car seat alone would make quite a story. Remember the pre-seatbelt days when kids crawled all over the back seat during family trips? And those unanchored car seats with a toy steering wheel? Since then, child car seats have been continually improved, so that even a decade-old car seat is probably not state-of-the art. The same goes for home safety equipment. For example, the common flat plastic outlet protector could fit in a small child's mouth—a choking hazard. Or, a child's neck could get caught in the old scissor-style safety gate. Hand-me-down or garage sale equipment may not provide an acceptable degree of protection.

Our homes have changed over the past few decades. The homes of today are likely to have exercise equipment, hot tubs, home offices with computers, and other relatively recent features requiring a new set of precautions. Computers, for example, are often placed on the floor within reach, and heavy monitors can be pulled down by the cord.

Some grandparents recommend having a designated "kid friendly" section of the house, keeping more dangerous areas locked off (for example, the home gym and garage). Be creative! If the living room has the fewest hazards, make it the playroom while you have visiting little ones.

Be open to suggestions. Don't get your feelings hurt if your kids correct you. They're Mom and Dad now, and they've probably done plenty of homework about childproofing. Be proud of them.

Child Safety Checklist for Grandparents

Give your home a room-by-room "grandchild-proofing" inspection before the next visit!

All Areas of the Home:

• Try to "think like a child." What can little ones reach? What could fit in a baby's mouth?
• To guard against choking hazards, remove any small objects within the child's reach. Don't forget wastebaskets. 
• All electrical outlets and plugs should have approved safety covers.
• Place protective padding on sharp edges of furniture.
• The cord pulls of blinds and curtains are a strangulation hazard; trim them, or secure them high out of reach.

Stairways

• Place a safety gate at top and bottom of stairs.
• If necessary, block off side rails and banisters with mesh or other protective covering.

Kitchen

• Place childproof safety latches and locks on drawers, cabinets, dishwasher, stove. 
• Place all cleaning supplies and other hazardous substances out of reach. 
• While cooking, never leave children unsupervised.
• Use back burners first, and turn pot handles towards rear of stove.
• Keep refrigerator magnets out of reach.

Bathroom

• Never leave a small child unattended in the bathtub, even for a moment.
• Install a scald guard in the tub.
• Install safety latches on toilet, cabinets, medicine chest.
• Make sure no electrical appliances are near sink, tub or toilet.
• Keep all medications out of reach of children, preferably in childproof containers.

Bedrooms

• Keep dry cleaning bags and other plastic bags out of reach.
• Lock windows, or install window guards.
• Be sure baby's crib is safety-approved, and position it away from window coverings and heaters.

Garage

• Make garage off-limits, if possible.
• Keep power tools, chemicals and cleaners locked away.
• Automatic garage door should automatically reverse when making contact with an object, so that a child can't become trapped.

Having small visitors is a lot more fun when you don't have to follow them around with a constant chorus of "No, no, no." Take these steps and enjoy your grandchildren while keeping them safe. And remember: no gadgets or modifications can take the place of close supervision of children.

For More Information

Visit the Safe Kids Canada website to learn more about protecting children around the house, and to download a free brochure to help you see your home through the eyes of small children.