Tips to Keep Kids Safe At Home

Written by Marie Hunter

Keeping your kids safe is your number one priority, so how do you protect them from the many dangers they face every day? Start by implementing five safety precautions at home, all of which will foster good habits in your kids that will last them a lifetime.

1. Wash your hands regularly

Your kids use their hands to play in dirt, eat food and pick boogies. Fight germs by insisting your children wash their hands thoroughly with hot, soapy water. While you cannot keep every surface of your home germ-free, you can stop germs from spreading when you teach your kids to wash their hands after they use the bathroom, wipe their noses and prior to and following snacks and mealtime.

2. Serve pure drinking water

Everyone needs to drink water in order to stay hydrated and healthy, especially growing children. While kids crave soda and juice, these beverages contain sugar and dyes. Bottled water is expensive and its bottles often end up in landfills instead of being recycled. Tap water contains harmful sediment and bad-tasting chemicals. Solve this dilemma by installing a clean refrigerator water filter every six months. The filter traps contaminants and gives your kids access to fresh, clean water that keeps their thirst quenched.

3. Practice Internet safety

You can’t always sit beside your kids as they play online games or research a school project. Invest in a good filter from your Internet service provider and keep the computer in a public room. Teach your children not to share personal information like their name, address or telephone number with anyone online and to ask you before filling out forms for any kind of offer. With these precautions, your children can safely surf the web.

4. Keep poisons safely locked in a cabinet

As you know, cleaning supplies like bleach and ammonia can be lethal if swallowed, but items like over-the-counter pain medication present risks as well. Keep potential poisons like cleaning supplies and medications safely locked in a secure cabinet to prevent accidental ingestion, especially if kids arrive home before you do.

5. Exercise food safety in the kitchen

Fussy kids might balk at eating anything green and leafy, so make dinner together. As young children wash the vegetables, older kids stir rice and you brown the meat. Discuss the importance of proper food handling. Children can learn how to read the refrigerator thermometer, use different cutting boards for meat and veggies and cool leftovers before placing them into the fridge. With these habits, your children stay safe in the kitchen and learn to eat a balanced diet.

After you’ve done your best to keep your kids safe at home, relax. Kids will bring home germs from school and you won’t be able to sanitize every surface they touch. Concentrate on proper hand-washing techniques and take care of the safety measures you can control. Equip your kids to be safe and trust that the lessons they learn at home will follow them when they are in school or with friends.

About the Author: 
Maire enjoys yoga, babysitting her nephews and walking her Scottish Terrier, Pete.