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Remodel and Make Your Kitchen Childproof

By Scott Rodgers

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 07Mar2009
Word count: 582
Viewed: 344 time(s)

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As your child grows a little bit older and starts walking and crawling all over the house, you need to make sure that he can't harm himself while discovering his little world. One of the common places where danger lies for your toddler is the kitchen. If you are remodeling your house, then it's a good practice to remodel your kitchen too, especially if you are already a mom or dad to a small child. This article reviews some of the areas you need to take care of, to make the kitchen safe and secure for your toddler to explore.

Hot stoves are certainly amongst the most hazardous things in the kitchen, for kids as well as for adults. Though it's not the norm in western countries, if you are living in Asia or Africa, make sure that you don't have any stoves that are at a very short height and within reach of kids. Secondly, if you are using the stoves and have something cooking over them, keep the children away as hot water or whatever's inside the pots can spill out and cause burns.

Try to use back burners of the stove whenever you can; if you have to use front burners in any case, make sure that you turn the pot handles to the back so that your child can't pull the handles. You can also find quite a few stove knob locks in the market; get some and install them on all knobs so that your child can't open the stoves. This is highly recommended if you are living in one of those countries where stoves are run on gas. There have been many, many cases when open gas stoves have suffocated the whole family to death.

Furthermore, make it a habit not to leave knives, forks, or other dangerous stuff in the open. Always keep them inside drawers and lock up the drawers keeping the keys out of your children's reach. If you don't have safe locks in drawers, now is the time to think about it. Also do the same with dishwashers; keep them locked up and never forget sharp objects inside to be even more secure. Make cabinets and cupboards to keep detergents and other poisonous liquids such that the children can't reach them. Also take care of the garbage bin; people usually leave them within the child's reach and it can contain anything from sharp objects to dirty stuff.

Safety child latches are a good idea as long as your child is too young to learn smart stuff. But some children have been found to learn things pretty quickly when they watch their elder do it. So if your child is that type, then get rid of latches and use safer locks. Most households keep electrical appliances like toasters and electric kettles in the open. If you do so, then make sure they are out of your child's reach when they are hot. And even when they aren't hot, detach their cords and also secure nearby electrical outlets.

All these and probably many more precautionary steps seem like too much in the beginning, but they are a necessity let me tell you. It isn't that every time you leave a knife in the open your child would hurt himself. But even if there is a 0.01% chance of your child doing so in 10 years, would any sensible parent settle for that?

Scott Rodgers is a master plumber who has recently begun writing articles for both a plumbing and non-plumbing audience. To view more of plumbing articles, visit http://eLocalPlumbers.com

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