How to keep your toddler safe from dangers in the home
My little boy is now well and truly Oscar Mike. That's army speak for on-the-move. We got the phrase from the HBO series Generation Kill.
When Tom goes crawling manically around our flat causing mayhem, my husband will often call out: 'He's Oscar Mike!' The follow-up is: 'Eyes on the target?' which is another military term. I jump to attention like a squaddie.
This army lingo is fitting, as Tom leaves a trail of devastation in his wake: newspapers are shredded and strewn, toys spread to all four corners of the room, and books pulled off shelves. It's like a team of crack soldiers lobbing grenades.
So the operation to babyproof our home has taken on military proportions. Table corners? Check. Wiring? Check. Kitchen cupboards? Check. Stairway? Check. Is the coast clear? Check.
I joke, but it's a serious subject. One of the biggest threats to children's safety is their own home.
There are a variety of websites that I use for advice. Among the best is babycentre.com According to the site, 'children between the ages of one and four are more likely to be killed by fire, burns, drowning, choking, poisoning, or falls' than by anything else.
Falling causes the most injuries and fire the most deaths. It makes for sobering reading.
I run through their checklist and decide it falls into three categories: keeping the baby from danger, preventing the baby getting into dangerous things, and minimising the pain involved in any fall.
Task one is easy. A couple of safety gates and the kitchen and stairs are off limits. Window locks and external bars are important, especially in Hong Kong high-rises.
Another big danger is doors slamming on little fingers. I can hardly type that without wincing in pain. Make sure all doors are jammed open or are closed. You can get hinge protectors to stop doors slamming online at Babycentral. Be careful with hot items. A hot drink can still scald a child 15 minutes after it's been made. And keep matches and lighters away from children.
Task two requires an eagle eye. You need to go round your home at the baby's level and remove all dangerous objects. This includes removing or tucking away curtain, blind and lamp cords, putting stickers on large areas of glass which they may crawl straight into, hiding wiring, and so on.
As for task three, you may not be able to prevent a fall, but you can minimise the damage done by putting corner-and-edge protectors on tables and desks with sharp edges. I also covered our hard floors with rugs or baby mats.
A final word from those safety guys at Babycentre: 'The best device is still supervision.' With that I'd better get my eye back on the target.
