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Simple Steps To Improve The Safety Of Your Home.

You finally sit down to relax. You have vacuumed the living room, clothes are washed and put away, and dinner is in the oven. It’s calm and quiet–almost too quiet. Suddenly you hear a flush and run to the bathroom, and there’s your sweet toddler flushing their teddy bear or action figures down the toilet. Now, if you had baby proofed your bathroom, this wouldn’t be an issue for you or your wallet. At A&R, we love helping our customers. However, there are some preemptive measures you can take to make your life a little easier and a lot less stressful.

Consider Baby Proofing all Bathroom Doors

Get into a routine of always shutting the bathroom door behind you. Besides the toilet, the bathroom is full of things that could harm your children, such as cleaning products and small objects they could ingest. If they are tall enough to reach the door, baby proofing the door would be an excellent option for your growing family. Baby proofing the bathroom doors is the first step to making your house safe for younger children, but you can’t stop there.

Baby Proof Your Toilet by Securing the Lid

Proofing your toilet is not only for your wallet’s sake but also for your child’s safety. CSPS reported that 16 toddlers drowned in toilets between 1996 and 1999. In 2012, there were another two reported deaths and one injury involving a toilet. Securing your toilet lid is another optional precaution to keep your child out of harm’s way.

Not all toilet bowls are the same size and shape. Manufacturers often have suggestions and guides to help their customers make a decision. However, they are not always accurate. One of the best methods is purchasing a multi-purpose latch; the soft plastic is flexible and bends to perfectly fit your toilet–saving you another trip to the store.

baby proof, How to Baby Proof Plumbing Fixtures

Stowaway Dangerous Bathroom Items

Many everyday grooming items pose a threat to curious toddlers. Anything a child could put in their mouth and choke on, like nail clippers and tweezers, cannot be left out for a child to grab. Any razor or scissor also needs to be kept out of reach or in a child-proofed cabinet. Don’t forget about items toddlers could ingest accidentally like medicines, vitamins, soaps. A good rule of thumb: stow away anything that isn’t a textile in a child-resistant cabinet.

Practice Water Safety

Young children can drown in water only an inch deep, so never leave standing water out or children in the bath unattended, even if it’s for just a second. Additionally, hot water is a potential danger most parents don’t anticipate. To prevent scalding burns, set the water heater thermostat to below 120 degrees Fahrenheit. That way, even if your child accidentally turns on a hot water fixture, they’re unlikely to be burned.

Watch Out for Electricity

Install Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCI) in places where water might come into contact with electricity, like the bathroom and the kitchen. They prevent someone from being electrocuted by cutting off the power as soon as the GFCI“senses” a difference in electricity outflow and inflow. GFCI save lives by preventing shock in case of an electrical wiring issue, bathroom flood or another water-related incident near an outlet. In addition to installing GFCI, prevent electrical grooming tools from getting near water and stow them away from children.