Tuesday, July 05, 2005

The National Security Council's Baby Proofing Your Home Checklist

The National Security Council provides a comprehensive safety checklist to help you make your home a safe place for your baby.

I think that all the gadgets that we use to make our lives and the lives of our babies better are great. But many high tech and low tech items in our homes are hazards to small children. The best way to deal with these hazards is to become informed and to take measures to prevent our children from getting into trouble.

The checklist points out that children are natural explores and will quickly find and test all boundaries in their environment. Because of this they sometimes expose themselves to hazards.

The check list addresses the most dangerous hazards and provides some suggestions on how to prevent accidents from harming your child or any children that you might have visiting you.

A few suggestion from the check list are;
  • Keep toys with long strings or cords away from infants and young children.

  • Use child safety gates at the top and bottom of all staircases and be sure they’re installed correctly.

  • Avoid accordion style safety gates with large openings that children could fit their heads through.

  • Set your hot water thermostat for 120° F. A baby’s bathwater should be 100°F

For the complete checklist visit the NSC web site @ Baby-proofing Your Home.

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