After my son was born, I discovered why companies make child safety locks. He was into everything and curious about how everything worked. His sisters had never even bothered with the outlets, toilet lid, or cupboards. He, on the other hand, could not get enough. If he had a car in his hand, he would try and put it in an outlet. He was fascinated with the flushing mechanism of the toilet and wanted to flush the toilet over and over. Although I had already installed child safety locks before he was born, out of concern for my other children, I had not seen them put to good use until he came along. Child safety locks are important for keeping your young children safe and giving you greater peace of mind.
With so many types of locks out there, here are some tips on which kinds to buy and where to place them:
1. Get down on their level: One of the best ways to figure out what types of locks you will need is to actually get on your hands and knees and crawl around your house. What do you see? What can you reach? What looks enticing? Do you notice an outlet you had forgotten about? Is there a cupboard with household cleaners in it? After you've crawled around your house, you can better assess your needs and realize all the ways your young children could hurt themselves if precautions aren't taken.
2. Safety Yes, Bubble No: We all want to protect our children, but we have to realize we cannot protect them from everything. No matter what you do, kids will sometimes find ways to get hurt anyway. The best thing we can do is understand the inherent risks in childhood and then take necessary safety precautions.For example, a toilet lock is a good thing for a child who is going to have access to a bathroom. If you are unable to keep the door shut and aren't always around to supervise, consider installing a toilet lock. These simple devices attach to your toilet and lock the lid down. Toddlers are prone to drowning in toilets because their heads are so heavy compared to the rest of their bodies that they are simply unable to lift their heads back out of the toilet if they fall forward.
On the other hand, installing a refrigerator lock may be unnecessary as most toddlers aren't strong enough to open a refrigerator anyway and the lock will only cause you frustration in the end. Locking everything up and installing padded bumpers on everything will make you feel like you are a toddler again as well. With proper supervision and attention to those areas of obvious concern, most parents will be able to adequately protect their children from harm.
3. Take a "wait and see" approach: Covering the outlets in your home is an easy and obvious place to start. Children seem to be drawn to those little holes in the wall and covering them up doesn't require very much money, time, or effort to install or remove when needed. The same goes for cupboards where cleaners are kept. Obviously you will want to keep children out of those cupboards by installing some sort of cupboard lock which can be found at most grocery stores and big box stores. The other things like stove guards, oven locks, refrigerator locks, etc. can all be purchased as needed. If you see your child reaching for the oven and he is able to open it, you may want to consider buying a lock.
Conclusively, child safety locks come in many varieties and are usually relatively inexpensive. They can be as important as your child's car seat and should not be overlooked. You won't regret taking the time to purchase and install these safety features.
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