Raising a child is a big responsibility. While it’s great to see them growing in front of you, it comes with its share of vigilance. Small children are naturally curious, and as your child learns to walk, they are going to want to explore their surroundings. This includes exploring electrical cords and taking electrical wires into their mouth.
As parents, one of the most important things for you is ensuring your child’s safety. However, while the electrical system in your home is necessary, it is also a hazard. Therefore it’s essential to take steps to childproof your home’s electrical system to prevent accidents. Below we discuss some tips to help you make your home’s electrical system safe for children.
Understanding Electrical Hazards for Children
It’s crucial to comprehend the typical risks that kids get into before we get into the precise procedures you may take to childproof your home’s electrical system. Children in their early years are still unaware of the risks of electricity. They also don’t know how to keep their hands away from outlets or electrical wires. The following are some of the most typical electrical dangers for kids:
Electrical Outlets
Electrical outlets are a common hazard for children. For some reason, small children are attracted to the outlets and love sticking their fingers in the holes. They may also try to stick other objects into the outlets causing a shock or burn.
Electrical Cords
While electrical cords are not outright dangerous, they still pose the risk of a tripping hazard for children. Small children may also try to put the cord in their mouth and chew on it, leading to an electrical shock.
Appliances
If you have young children in your home, you need to be mindful of another electrical hazard: appliances. Household appliances such as curling rods, hair dryers, toasters, and others have exposed heating elements that can cause burns. Small children can also pull the appliances and get hurt if it falls on them.
Power Strips
Another source of danger for small children is power strips. Children may pull on the cords or try to plug in too many devices, which can cause an electrical overload leading to a fire hazard.
Tips To Childproof Your Home’s Electrical System
Now you are well aware of the electrical hazards in your home that hinder your child’s safety. Therefore, the following are some tips you can implement to make your home’s electrical system childproof.
Install Childproof Electrical Outlets
Installing childproof electrical outlets is one of the simplest ways to protect your electrical system from children. These outlets have spring-loaded shutters that prevent children from inserting objects into them.
Cover Unused Outlets
If you have unused electrical outlets in your home, make sure to cover them with outlet covers. Electrical outlet covers are an easy and inexpensive solution to prevent your baby from getting attracted to them.
Keep Power Cords Out of Reach
Modern homes are riddled with power cords that power our everyday utility items. Moreover, the cables can get twisted over time, damaging the insulating sheath and revealing the inner conductive wires.
One of the ways to babyproof wires is to replace all damaged and exposed wires in your home. Another thing to do is to make sure all wires are out of reach of children. To do this, you can use cord clips or zip ties to secure them on walls where children cannot reach them.
You can also conceal the electrical cords by rearranging your furniture and rugs. This way, you can limit access to cords. Additionally, if electrical cords are out of your children’s sight, they will not be attracted to touch them.
Keep Appliances Out Of Reach
The kitchen is the heart of the home, but it has its share of electrical hazards for small children. Ideally, you want to keep the area inaccessible to children. However, if that’s not possible, ensure keeping your benchtop space free of clutter and keeping appliances out of reach of children.
You can lock them in cupboards. Another thing you may want to practice at your home is unplugging the appliances when not in use. It reduces the risk of an electrical hazard even if a child reaches it. Moreover, make sure you never leave appliances on the edge of the counter.
Make Parts Of Your Home Inaccessible To Children
Another effective tip to childproof the electrical system in your home is to block off certain areas or rooms in your home that are more dangerous than others. For instance, it could be the garage or laundry room that is useless to children.
These rooms are a minefield of tools and objects that can become an electrical hazard. Your child should have no access to such parts of the house. Using barriers and gates to control access is one approach to achieve this. Furthermore, by doing this, you can also lower your risk of getting hurt.
Protect Your Things
Your child’s safety is your number one priority. However, it also helps to protect your expensive electrical appliances and gadgets from their inquisitive explorations. It is part of childproofing your electrical system that you keep everything out of their reach that poses even a slight electrical risk to them.
Cover Power Strips
Power strips are, without a doubt, very useful, but for small children, they are an electrical hazard. Children can easily trip over them or meddle with the strip and end up hurting themselves.
One of the ways to babyproof power strips is to invest in dedicated covers for the strips. These slide over the power strip easily and are made of plastic. Another thing you can do is hide the strips with furniture. If they don’t see it, they are unlikely to seek them behind a couch.
Educate Your Children
While children at this age are small, they do understand everything. Whether your child has started talking or not, it helps to keep warning them and telling them the potential dangers of exploring electrical cords and outlets.
Use GFCI Outlets
In your home, think about adding outlets with ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI). These outlets have the ability to identify electrical leakage and cut off the power, protecting users from electrical shock.
Conclusion
The electrical system in your home must be childproofed in order to protect your kids. You may make the electrical system in your home secure and safe for children by following the instructions in this article.
It’s critical to remember that childproofing is a continuous process. As your child grows and develops, they will become more curious and adventurous, so it’s important to continue to reassess and adjust your childproofing measures accordingly.
To make sure your home’s electrical system is safe for children and there are no potential dangers, you should conduct a routine electrical inspection of your home. Identify hazardous areas, wires, and cords and make them safe for your young ones. Additionally, you can hire electrical services in Kalamazoo that specialize in electrical system maintenance and corrections.
A professional company will help ensure your system is working correctly and that there are no signs of danger for anyone.
