by Ed Horne
My wife and I had a close call over the weekend. I was in the shower, our two small boys were playing in the bathroom and my wife had gone to get their clothes for the day. When she came back into the bathroom, the boys had crawled up on the window sill (both bathroom windows were open) and the smaller of the two was pressing his little face against the screen.
Luckily, she grabbed him before he fell out of our second story bathroom window, but it definitely got me thinking - child safety is something we so often overlook.
Being that I’m on my second child with a third on the way, you’d think I’d be a pro at spotting safety hazards a mile away, but we all get distracted sometimes. Trust me, all the things you think your kids will never do, they’ve already thought of, will think of, or have already attempted.
So, my project this weekend was to review safety at our home and to update the house with some necessary childproofing. My hope is that some of my ideas are ones that you’ve overlooked as well and can put to good use.
First and foremost, windows! My wife and I have newer windows with child locks. The locks, when set, only allow the bottom portion of the window to open about two inches. Check to see if your windows are equipped with something similar.
In addition, we’ve discussed the fact that we’ll only be opening the windows from the top, especially on the second floor. For those of you who don’t own such a device, retailers sell powder coated metal window guards for all sizes of windows. They do need to be installed and require a drill, drill bits, measuring tape and a pencil to do so. Also, to avoid strangulation, we’ll be purchasing retractable blind cord shorteners.
In my next entry under “Childproofing”, we’ll discuss cabinet and drawer safety.
