4 Household Accidents You Can Avoid
Household accidents are the cause of many minor and major injuries that children of any age can suffer. Sometimes these accidents can even be fatal.
Therefore, all parents should know what steps they can take to make their home a safe place where their children are protected from possible harm. While you can’t prevent all of your children’s potential mishaps, there are still some household accidents that can be avoided.
Remember that the home should be a safe place for your family to stay and relax. You should therefore take this responsibility very seriously and identify and eliminate possible dangers at an early stage.
It is also important to prepare all people who are particularly at risk of domestic accidents (children under 5 years of age, older people and mothers who are at home) for potentially dangerous situations in the household .
This is how you can prevent the most common household accidents
Below we name the four most common household accidents and tell you how you can best prevent them.
1. Common household accidents: falls
Falls are very common because your child’s motor skills are not yet sufficiently developed. These accidents happen when your child has difficulty walking and is still unable to balance properly.
You can also fall because objects (such as toys) are on the floor or you, as an adult, did not pay enough attention. We therefore recommend the following measures to prevent your child from falling:
- Make sure that no toys or other objects are left on the floor.
- You should also make sure that the floor is always dry. If anything has been spilled or there are wet spots on the floor, clean and dry it immediately.
- If your baby is in a crib or in a playpen, it is important to secure the bars securely .
- In addition, you should always keep the doors and windows closed and keep young children away from chairs and stairs.
2. Ingestion and suffocation
This tragic accident can happen when children put foreign objects in their mouths and swallow them, or when they cover their faces with the pillow or blanket while they sleep. Therefore, parents should take the following precautions to prevent their children from choking or choking:
- Choose safe and age-appropriate toys for your children. This will help prevent them from accidentally swallowing it and choking on it.
- Avoid putting plastic bags, strings, or cords within reach of your children.
- Additionally, teach your children to sit still while they eat. This will reduce the risk of them choking.
- You should also make sure that your child’s duvet isn’t too heavy and that they don’t cover their face with the blanket.
- When your children are bathing or near a body of water, you should never leave them unattended. It doesn’t matter how shallow the water is.
3. Household accidents leading to burns
Fire, hot water, and kitchen appliances can cause severe burns to anyone. However, children are particularly at risk. These injuries are often not only superficial, but also affect deeper layers of the skin.
Therefore, in many cases it is necessary to have these burns treated immediately by a doctor. If you want to avoid these household accidents, here are some precautions you should take:
- When you have your baby in your arms, you should never hold a hot drink in your hand. Also, make sure that there is no hot drink or liquid within your child’s reach.
- When feeding your baby, it is very important that you keep the food at the right temperature. Under no circumstances should it be too hot.
- It is also a good idea to put a grille or door at the entrance to your kitchen. This will prevent your children from getting near hot objects.
- Before you bathe your child, you should definitely check the water temperature.
- In addition, you should keep matches, lighters, and hot irons out of the reach of children.
4. Poisoning
Children can be exposed to toxic substances and be poisoned by ingesting medicines, detergents, insecticides, and other household products. This poisoning often occurs when children ingest these substances unobserved.
To avoid this, you should take the following measures:
- Keep medicines and chemical products in a safe place that is out of the reach of children. Ideally, you should keep them in a lockable cupboard.
- You should also make sure that your children’s toys (especially plasticine) do not contain any toxic substances.
- Explain to your children that they should never take tablets, capsules, or syrup unless you have given them to them yourself.
- Never store a hazardous chemical in a container made for food.
Final thoughts
Despite all the precautionary measures taken, accidents can still occur. If this has happened, you should stay calm and get medical help immediately. Basically, however, your first priority should be to take measures to prevent such accidents and to protect your family from the consequences of household accidents.
While you can’t avoid every accident, there are things you can do to reduce the risk of these household accidents. Therefore, you should definitely improve the security in your household by taking appropriate measures.
