Visiting (grand) children's safety

Is your home safe for kids?

When you’re not used to having children around the question of how to keep them safe can seem daunting.

It’s always nice to have the company of young ones around the home, even if you’re only babysitting for an hour or two.

However, nearly 10,000 children are admitted to hospitals with preventable injuries every year. These simple safety measures will help keep children safe in and around your home and give you peace of mind.

Keep it out of sight and out of reach

Items that can seem perfectly safe to adults or older kids can be dangerous for smaller children.

• Keep these things out of reach, and out of sight –
• Matches and lighters
• Medicines (even children’s own medicine)
• Household cleaners and chemicals such as dishwasher detergent, bleach and weed killer.

Watch children

You should always supervise young children around –

• Water (whether they are in the bath, in the swimming pool or by a garden pond).
• On stairs, steps and decks; where possible use a stair gate to prevent falls.

Remember Heat Can Hurt

Young children’s skin can burn quickly –

• Keep kettles, kettle cords and hot drinks out of children’s reach.
• Turn pot handles so that they face towards the back of the stove.
• Check the temperature of food and warmed drinks before you give them to children, especially if they're heated in a microwave.
• At bath-time run the cold water first.

Driveway Safety

Be sure you know where children are when you reverse a vehicle out of your driveway –

• When you leave the house, shut the door securely so that children don’t run outside after you.
• Before driving off, make sure you know where all children are. Check, check and check again.
• If you’re on your own and need to move a vehicle, get the children to ride in the car with you.
• It is safer to drive forward when leaving a property – consider whether you can reverse into your garage or driveway.

We hope these tips help you enjoy the young people in your care and keep them ‘safe as houses’.

Resource

For more information visit www.safekids.org.nz