Children have an irresistible attraction toward kitchen. There, they can find their mother, there are many shiny things and from there come sounds and smells which are captivating for them.
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These unexpected and unsupervised incursions in the kitchen can be extremely dangerous for your children.
Fortunately, childproofing your kitchen is possible as childproofing any other room of your home.
Use safety gates
First of all, never ever, leave a child alone in the kitchen, especially when is a little toddler up to four years old or when you are boiling or cooking something on the stove. Your kid will get into big trouble if he could reach and pour the hot stuff on to himself.
The kitchen door should have installed a safety gate. You can easily install it. Using safety gates can give you the possibility to keep your little toddler out of the kitchen area and in the same time to communicate and supervise him.
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Keep the cabinet doors and drawers locked
Keeping the cabinet doors and drawers locked are extremely important. Usually cabinet drawers are installed of a toddler head height and in open position present a high risk.
You should secure drawers and cabinet doors with internal locking devices that can keep them in closed position when you are not using them.
Keep your kitchen stuff away from the reach of children
The best way to protect your children is prevention. Keep your kitchen tools: knives, choppers, peelers, etc, out from reach of the children. Also, do not give them possibility to play with condiment and spices jars and cans like: pepper, chili powder, vinegar, etc. Keep locked all detergents, cleaning solvents and any other chemical product.
And don’t forget the classical attractions for children – matches and fire. Keep matches out of their sight.
Remove any electrical danger
Small electrical appliances present a major risk. The best thing to prevent any accident is to unplug them ant to pull them away from the edge of the countertop.
Cover low level outlets with plastic protection covers. A great idea is a self closing outlet plastic cover that slides back into its place when the outlet is not used.
Prevention, prevention, prevention
Turn the pot handles away from the counter edge.
When you are using the dishwasher, lock the door. Steam can escape and burn a child. You should do the same with stove and oven doors. Speaking about stoves – a glass top stove is safer because it hasn’t an open flame.
Do not keep anything to attract children above the stove. Generally, they are curious and impulsive.
Conclusion
Kitchen is the most attractive and dangerous place for children but making the kitchen a safe place is possible. You should eliminate any hazard and take all the safety measures. However, do not forget, children supervising is the utmost importance.