The following is a guest post by Nate Goold, Via Christi Health digital specialist.
Kids get into trouble all the time. I know, because I have two active children, 5 and 3 years old, and an infant who is sure to become like her older siblings.
As our first child began exploring her surroundings, my wife and I baby-proofed our home. We covered electrical sockets and restricted her ability to access cabinets and drawers in the kitchen and certain areas of the house, like the bathroom.
When our son was born, we opted to keep many of those same mechanisms in place. Since they helped prevent injuries with our daughter, we figured that was good enough for our son. We’ve found out that it isn’t.
Before he transitioned to a toddler bed, he rarely climbed out of his crib. So it it’s a surprise to us that as he’s become older, he likes to try to climb furniture, regardless of being told no. Sometimes he does it because he thinks he’s being silly. Other times it’s because we’ve tried to put something he wants — like an obnoxious toy — out of his reach.
Even though nothing has happened, we’re always working to prevent trips to the ER.
The other day, a local television station reported that a 4-year-old girl was rushed to the hospital with a head injury after a television fell on top of her. The TV, which police said was top-heavy, had been on her dresser and the girl may have just been trying to change the channel.
From our own observations and others’ experiences, we know that, in addition to being a baby-proofed home, it needs to be toddler-proofed, too.
Now we’re anchoring our bookshelves and other heavy furniture to the wall to prevent a major accident, which is recommended by Safe Kids USA.
We’re also implementing other Safe Kids recommendations in our home:
- We don’t place toys or items on top of furniture that will tempt our son to climb.
- We’ve placed furniture away from windows.
- We’ll be installing safety guards on windows to keep our kids inside.
- We always keep windows locked when they’re closed.
