Keeping kids safe in the home
Professionally installed swing gate and polycarbonate guard at Parco residence. Polycarbonate guard is a fail-safe way to protect kiddos from wide-spaced railings that can be a potential climbing hazard.
Safety is top-of-mind for every parent of young kids and many parents believe their own home to be a safe haven. Yet there are hidden dangers. Yearly, at least 3.4 million children suffer from injuries occurring in the home with the leading causes being suffocation, drowning, falls and poisoning, according to Nationwide Children’s Hospital. But the good news is that there are many options for childproofing a home, like installing hardware-mounted gates as opposed to pressure-mounted gates (pressure-mounted gates are not child safe because they can be pushed over) or hiring a professional childproofing company.
Mother and real estate agent Haley Parco moved to The Canyons with her family in the summer of 2023. Haley hired Child Safe Childproofing (CSC) to childproof her home. Haley explained, “It was such a time saver and gave my husband and me the peace of mind that we had everything correctly installed, especially as our son started to walk and run.”
Most childproofing companies, including the company Haley hired, offer home safety assessments to inform parents of potential risks for kids.
But if choosing to forgo hiring a professional service, there are childproofing additions that should be installed before an infant is six months of age, such as electrical outlet covers, gates at the top and bottom of stairways, bumpers on all sharp-edged furniture and wall anchors on top-heavy furniture. Never leave a child unattended near water – a crawling infant can drown in a family dog’s bowl of water. It is recommended to put Fido’s water in an elevated water dish; do not leave it on the kitchen floor.
According to the nonprofit organization Safe Kids Worldwide, a 3-year-old child has enough strength to pull the trigger on a gun. If there are guns in the home (nearly half of Coloradans are gun owners), it is essential to keep the guns out of sight, locked away and unloaded. When going to a playdate at another house, always confirm with the homeowners that their guns are kept safely out of sight.
Childproofing does not supersede parental responsibility when it comes to monitoring kids in the home, but creating a hazard-free environment makes parenting a lot less worrisome. A child safe home allows parents to stress a little less and fully enjoy the first crawl, the first steps and the first climb for the cookie jar.
For more information on child safety, visit nationwidechildrens.org, safekids.org or visit https://www.childsafechildproofing.com/.
Professionally installed, retractable gate at Parco residence. Retractable gates are great for stairways with a lot of foot traffic; easy to open and close but not for kiddos.
A professionally installed fireplace gate stops curious kids from getting into areas of the house that are dangerous.
By Grace Caroline Roubidoux; photos courtesy of Child Safe Childproofing and Haley Parco
