Your child is a curious creature. By the time they learn to crawl, most kids are in the mood for discovering all kinds of things around the house, including dangling wires, electrical sockets, your home electrical box, and other things that aren’t safe for kids to be messing around with. Baby-proofing and child-proofing your home isn’t a difficult task. But when it comes to keeping your electrical system and your children safe, you might need to think out of the box. It’s not just dangling wires that could pose a problem for your kid. If you haven’t had an electrician update your home’s wiring in a long time, you could be presenting a fire hazard for your entire family. Home electrics are important to think about, whether you’re updating your system or teaching kids about safety around electronics. If you want to turn your home into a completely child-safe area without losing access to your favorite devices, here are some things you should do.
Clear Away All Loose Cords
Your child is going to want to pull all the strings they can find around the house. Your electrical cords are no exception. If you have a ton of cords going every which way, it’s not only going to cause danger for your child, it could end up tripping you up or presenting a general hazard to your household. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to organize your loose wires and cords, including using a cable management tray or concealer box. These gadgets won’t cost you a ton of money, and they’ll allow you to clean up your home office and make it look way more professional while protecting your curious baby or toddler from the peril of loose wires.
Cover Electrical Sockets
While babies and toddlers won’t be able to actually put their fingers in electrical sockets, these can still present an opportunity for danger in your home. Investing in small plastic covers for sockets not only protects your baby from getting too interested in the area, it can help remind you to unplug devices when they’re not in use for energy conservation and safety purposes. If your electrical socket is loose, you’ll also be more likely to notice and tend to this issue quickly rather than leaving it unnoticed. Getting a cover for your sockets will help keep your child out of danger, and will help remind you to clean up any stray cords and unplug items that aren’t in use for a safer, more energy-efficient home.
Don’t Leave Anything Within Reach
If you have the kind of house that has a lot of stray wires and cords everywhere, you want to make sure you deal with this issue before a child comes. This doesn’t just apply to wiring. If you have electronic items like phones, computers, or hard drives, you simply don’t want your kid being able to access them without supervision, which means you can’t leave things laying around. While it might not be the biggest deal to leave an iPad hanging around, you simply don’t want to take the risk of a child hurting themselves or dropping an expensive device. In general, you should keep anything that isn’t soft and child-friendly far out of reach. If you can, invest in shelving that allows you to keep anything potentially hazardous far away from the ground and safe from your child’s reach.
Get Your Home Re-Wired
Keeping your family safe from electrical issues isn’t just about cleaning up your home and clearing your choking hazards away. It’s also about making sure your home’s entire electrical system isn’t outdated and dangerous. Many older homes come with their original wiring, which means that your nursery or playroom could be a fire hazard without your even knowing it. Ideally, you’ll want to have an electrician look over your home wiring before your child comes in case you need to make any changes or update your system. Don’t take chances when it comes to your home electrics. If in doubt, call in someone to make sure your home is safe and up to date.
Keep Things Unplugged
When it comes to your home, you don’t want to drain every last bit of electricity by keeping things plugged in when they don’t need to be. Even if you don’t have kids, it’s good to get into the habit of unplugging items that aren’t in use. If you do have a baby or toddler, it’s even more important to clear cords out of the way that aren’t necessary by unplugging them, rolling them up tightly, and storing them away.