{"id":65802,"date":"2017-05-09T09:00:13","date_gmt":"2017-05-09T07:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/?p=65802"},"modified":"2017-05-10T08:30:57","modified_gmt":"2017-05-10T06:30:57","slug":"10-tips-making-home-child-friendly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/news-headlines\/2017\/05\/09\/10-tips-making-home-child-friendly\/","title":{"rendered":"10 tips for making your home child friendly"},"content":{"rendered":"

You can make your home<\/strong><\/a> as safe as is possible, but you are your most important safeguard. Young children must be watched constantly.<\/p>\n

Even if your home has been childproofed, it takes one second for babies and toddlers to fall, run over to a hot stove, or put dangerous items in their mouths.<\/p>\n

Most household accidents happen in areas with:<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

    \n
  • water –\u00a0in the bathroom, kitchen, swimming pool or even a bucket of water<\/li>\n
  • heat or flames\u00a0<\/b>–\u00a0in the kitchen or at the braai area<\/li>\n
  • dangerous substances –\u00a0<\/strong>under the kitchen sink, in the medicine cabinet, in the garage or even in your handbag<\/li>\n
  • fall potential – on stairs, slippery floors, from windows, or from furniture<\/li>\n
  • choking hazards – Keep an eye out for tiny objects that your child could choke\u00a0on. Pick up any coins, marbles, beads, paper clips, and other small objects on low tables or the floor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Safety measures you can take<\/h3>\n

    Install safety gates\u00a0<\/strong>at the top and bottom of all staircases and keep them securely closed.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Make sure that buckets have lockable lids\u00a0and install snap locks on toilet lids. Small children are top heavy and can easily drown in a little water.<\/p>\n

    If you have a\u00a0pool, you should have a fence with a lockable gate as well as a safety net.<\/p>\n

    Store medicines and chemical cleaners in closed, preferably\u00a0locked cupboards, out of reach of any furniture children can climb on.<\/p>\n

    Install plastic safety guards in all unused plug points to keep out curious little fingers, and put snap locks on low cupboard doors.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Hide lamp and appliance cords behind heavy furniture as they may topple over if your baby pulls on chords.<\/p>\n

    Attach cushioned corner-and-edge protectors to coffee tables and desks. They may not prevent a fall but they can help lessen an injury.<\/p>\n

    It is best if your kitchen is gated as it is a room full of risks. Make it off-limits when you are not around.\u00a0When cooking, make sure that the handles of pots and pans are turned away from the edge. A pan handle can look very tempting to a curious child.<\/p>\n

    Put non-slip pads under mats that don’t already have non-slip backs.<\/p>\n

    Keep your car locked even when parked in the driveway or garage.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Even if your home has been childproofed, it only takes one second for an accident to happen. Your vigilance is your child’s best protection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7782,"featured_media":65803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hasGravity":false,"cxt_article_byline":"Caxton Central","cxt_disable_google_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[6747,6748,6749],"class_list":["post-65802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news-headlines","tag-childproof-your-home","tag-how-to-make-your-home-child-friendly","tag-tips-to-childproof-your-home"],"category_labels":{"Category":"News","SubCategory":"Local news"},"tag_labels":["childproof your home","how to make your home child friendly","tips to childproof your home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7782"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}