Mom's Beware: How safe are your children at home?

When I had my first daughter, I'm sure, like many of you, began taking steps towards childproofing my home. I bought those little kits that lock you cabinets, toilets, door knob covers and table corner bumpers; I thought I had it all figured out. I've learned over time, however, that if a child can't get into one thing they will look for something else; it's only when an accident occurs do we realize how dangerous something in our home really is.

Here is a list of possible dangerous situations, most of them you may already know, but some you may have not thought to safe guard from your child:

1. Furniture Tip-overs
    When my son was 3, I heard a loud crash from his bedroom. I immediatly ran to see what happened and found my son laying underneath his dress that had tipped over on top of him. Fortunatly, he was not seriously injured; however, he could have been one of the 100 children killed each year from furniture tip-overs.
    Look around your home, check your televisions, book stands, heavy chairs, dressers and stand up cabinets. You can place wall mounted straps and/or anti-tip kits on your furniture or T.V's to prevent such accidents. Most can be found in local hardware stores or Amazon for around $4-$12.

2. Recliners
 
According the familyeducation.com ,one item of furniture you might not think about as dangerous is the recliner chair. Yet several children have died or suffered severe brain damage when their heads got caught in the folding mechanism. The CPSC says the typical victim was between 1 and 5 years old and had been left unsupervised. The child climbed onto the leg rest while the chair was in the reclining position, and his weight made the leg rest fold down. The child's head then got caught in the opening between the foot rest and the seat.

3.Mothballs

I've used mothballs quite frequently when storing our winter and summer clothing; but many unsuspecting children are finding them and and consuming them. Mothballs are full of pesticides that can can cause headaches, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, jaundice and convulsions. Not only dangerous when ingested, but also through contact with skin or inhilation. It is recommended that you use natural moth balls, cedar chips, or lavender soaked cloth instead.

4. Batteries
Improperly disposed of batteries can make for a very dangerous situation. Several batteries banging together or contacting metal can short circuit and ignite;  cell phone or camcorder batteries with exposed terminals, thrown into in the trash, can come in contact with something as simple as aluminum foil and cause a short circuit.
The best thing you can do is put batteries in a Ziploc bag or better yet, tape up the terminals so they can't make contact with anything; alkaline batteries do not pose this same risk, but precautions should still be taken.