9 - 18 Months: Home Safety

One thing’s for certain: your child’s only going to get more mobile and more curious. Time to start taking some safety precautions

Nappy-changing
Eating and Drinking
Playing
Bathing
Always, always...

Accidents do happen and, sadly, they happen most often, say safety experts, to children under four. We’ve worked with the Child Accident Prevention Trust (www.capt.org.uk) – a national UK charity committed to reducing the number of children and young people killed, disabled and seriously injured as a result of accidents – to bring you this safety advice.

Nappy-changing

Make sure you have all you need close at hand. Never leave your child alone on a changing unit – even the tiniest baby can accidentally slide or roll off.
Start changing on the floor once your baby’s too wriggly to lie still.

Eating and Drinking

Never leave your baby with a bottle propped up in his mouth – he could easily choke.
Avoid heating up bottled milk in the microwave: it can create scalding hot spots. Use an electric bottle warmer or jug of hot water instead. And always test the milk’s temperature by dripping a little on your wrists before you give it to your baby – it should be not hotter than blood-warm.
Always stir purees (and other baby food) if it’s been heated up in a microwave. And test it to check for hot spots.
Use the back rings of the hob wherever possible and turn saucepan handles so they’re not poking out.
Make sure kettle leads are tucked out of reach.
Always check your baby is safely strapped into his highchair.
Be aware that oven doors (and radiators) can get very hot.
Take care with hot drinks – they’re the most common cause of scalding. Keep them out of reach and never hold a mug of tea or coffee while feeding or carrying your baby.

Playing

Always look at the age range marked on toys before giving them to your child. Toys with small parts are nearly always intended for older children and can be a choking hazard for children under 36 months.
If you have older children, keep your baby away from their toys. And teach the big ones the importance of clearing their stuff away.

Bathing

Never leave your child unsupervised in the bath or near the toilet. A child can drown in just 2cm of water in under a minute.
Always run cold water into the bath before hot, and test the temperature on the inside of your wrist, or elbow. (Your baby’s skin is much thinner than yours and much more easily scalded.) Alternatively, use a bath thermometer.
Use both hands to lift him out of the bath – wet babies are surprisingly slippery.

Always always...

Fit smoke alarms on every floor and test them every week.
Secure your baby in a properly fitted car seat suitable for his age and weight, even on short journeys.
Fit stairgates at the bottom and top of every flight of stairs. Make sure you do this well before your child shows signs of wanting to get around on her own.
Keep all your cleaning products and medicines in high cupboards fitted with childproof locks.
Make sure cords on blinds or curtains aren’t dangling low enough to get wound round your baby’s neck
Tuck electrical flexes out of reach and cover all empty sockets with a socket protector.
Fit locks to all windows above the ground floor.
Lock away garden tools and chemicals, fill in or fence off garden ponds and water features and check your fences and gates are secure.