Childproofing your Bathroom

The bathroom is often an appealing place for newborns and toddlers, but you need to make sure it is a safe place as well. Consider making some of these simple changes to the bathroom(s) in your home.

 

·        Decrease Your Water Temperature: Set your home’s water heater to 120 degrees, and install anti-scalding devices on faucets and showerheads. 

·        Hide Medicine: Even if all you have is Aspirin or Advil, keep it out of the reach of children, even though most children cannot open childproof lids. In addition, keep your medicine in its original packaging so that you have the ingredients and warnings handy.

·        Unplug Appliances: Don’t leave hair dryers, curling irons, hair straighteners, electric shavers, or any other electric devices plugged in and/or powered. Store these items out of reach (and definitely away from water).

·        Hide Sharp Objects: Razors, fingernail clippers, scissors can all easily cut a child, so keep those items well out of reach.

·        Lock your Toilet Seat: Toilet locks are relatively inexpensive and keep small children from crawling into, and drowning in, the toilet.

 

As with every room in your house, your childproofing is ultimately only as good as your supervision, so keep an eye on your child at all times. Don’t leave them alone in the bathtub, for example, until they can safely take a bath by themselves. Even then, you might want to keep a baby monitor in the bathroom so that you are immediately aware of any emergency.