Dear Mr. Dad: I always seem to be hearing about children who are seriously injured (or worse) in their own houses. We just brought our new baby home from the hospital, but I want to start getting our house childproofed right now. How should we start and what should we do?
A: When it comes to your child’s safety, there’s no such thing as too soon, especially at home, where accidents are among the biggest (and most-preventable) causes of injury and death to young children. And because kittens grow up to be cats, there’s also no such thing is being done with childproofing. It’s a process that will last until he or she moves out of the house (although you’ll have to start all over again when your grandchildren arrive).
Your first order of business is to think like a baby. That means getting down on your hands and knees and exploring your home. Electrical outlets look like perfect places to stick forks, don’t they? Drapery cords and dangling corners of tablecloths are almost begging to get yanked on; the dried out carrot that fell under the dining room table a few months ago looks delicious; and what about all those buttons and knobs on the stove? Hopefully you get the point.
Let’s start with the basics. We’ll go into more detail in future columns.
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