8 Ways to Enhance Home Safety for Adventurous Toddlers

It’s so exciting when your little ones enter the toddler stage. As they start walking, talking and engaging more with the world around them, they also become more adventurous around the home. While we don’t want to discourage them from learning and challenging themselves, we can take steps to keep them safe from unnecessary harm. Read on for eight ways to enhance your home’s safety for your toddlers, with practical solutions for indoor and outdoor spaces.

1. Stay safe around water

It only takes 20 seconds for a toddler to drown. That’s why it’s crucial to keep an eye on children around water – whether it’s a backyard swimming pool or a bathtub, any body of water can be a serious hazard for an unsupervised toddler.

To stop your kids from accessing the pool alone, make sure it’s fenced properly without any child-sized gaps for them to squeeze through. There are plenty of choices for balancing style and functionality – you could pick swimming pool fencing with glass panels for clear views of the pool area, or you could try aluminium fencing with its variety of designs to suit your home. What’s great about glass pool fencing beyond the style is that it’s completely transparent, so if you have older children, you can maintain an unrestricted view of them while they’re playing in the pool.

2. Secure heavy items

Toddlers love climbing and engaging in risky play. As this is a key part of their development, we need to make sure they can do this safely when at home. Securing heavy furniture and appliances can help prevent tipping accidents and associated injuries, keeping your little ones safer when they inevitably try to climb something they shouldn’t.

Use brackets and anchors to fix items like bookshelves, drawers and TVs firmly in place. You can find them at your local hardware store if needed. Test them every so often to make sure they’re working properly, and replace any that seem worn or damaged. Negating tripping hazards also involves not leaving items and packages around the house, even temporarily, while you find a home for them. It’s tempting to drop something down as soon as you get home, but with toddlers, the small amount of time it takes their curious minds to explore their surroundings means it can quickly become an issue.

3. Keep cords out of reach

Curtain and blind cords, particularly those with looped ends, can be a strangulation hazard for small children. To reduce the risk, tie loose curtains and blind cords at least 1.6m above the floor. If your blinds are older, consider installing breakaway tassels and cord tensioning devices. Move your furniture away from cords, too, so that your little one won’t be able to reach them by standing or climbing on furniture.

The same applies to machine and appliance cords. Make sure you pack away your vacuum and clearing machine’s after you use them so their cords aren’t left around. With phone and laptop charger cables, make charging stations on top of counters, high enough where toddlers can’t access.

4. Install locks on accessible cupboards and appliances

If you have cupboards or appliances like dishwashers that your toddlers can reach with ease, consider installing child-safe locks onto them. This will help stop your children from accessing anything they shouldn’t, particularly in spaces like the bathroom, laundry or kitchen. You can get these from hardware stores, too.

It might appear safe enough if your cupboards simply close, but toddlers grow and learn so fast that they will soon discover how to open cabinets and doors, so toddler and child-safe locks are essential.

5. Store batteries and poisons safely

Since toddlers use all their senses to explore their environment, they often put non-food items in their mouths. But there are plenty of things around the house, like batteries and household poisons, that we absolutely don’t want our little ones to consume.

Make sure loose batteries and household poisons are stored securely out of sight and reach of your little ones. Also, check toys to make sure any batteries – especially button batteries – are inaccessible to your children.

6. Prevent finger jams around the house

Unfortunately, little fingers can easily get trapped between things like door hinges and toy box lids. Prevent painful finger jams by using door stops, wedges and slow self-closing springs where possible. Also, avoid moving furniture or heavy items when your child is galivating by your side.

Additionally, whenever you’re opening or closing doors, make sure your children’s hands are well out of the way first. This may take some getting used to, but if you move slower when closing all types of doors and cabinets, you’ll get into a habit that helps to keep little fingers out of the way as you do it. If you have older children, teach them to close doors carefully and to be mindful of their younger siblings, too.

7. Add safety gates and barriers around hazardous places

Some spaces, like staircases or the kitchen, should only be accessed with adult supervision. To keep your adventurous little ones safe, consider installing safety gates and barriers at the top and bottom of stairs and around the kitchen and laundry.

Where you need to add safety gates depends on your house layout. For example, if you live in a high-rise apartment, consider adding a safety gate that separates the rest of the house from the balcony door. Or if your front yard isn’t completely fenced off, consider investing in some security fencing, and until then, you can add safety gates around your property so your toddler can still enjoy the front area safely.

8. Create dedicated safe spaces for playtime

Lastly, having specific indoor and outdoor spaces for playtime is a great way to ensure your little ones get the stimulation they need in a safe, controlled environment. First, ensure play areas are located away from hazards. For the indoor space, put covers on sharp furniture edges and non-slip backing under rugs and mats to prevent injuries.

For the outdoor play area, make sure the play equipment meets Australian standards. Regularly check it for stability, and ensure that there are no sharp edges, splinters or loose pieces that your toddler could injure themselves with. Consider waiting to get a trampoline until your children are at least six years old, and check if the plants in your garden are safe for consumption.

Home Safety Helps Adventurous Toddlers Thrive

While it’s great to see our little ones become adventurous toddlers, we need to ensure the home is safe for them to explore with dedicated play areas and minimised hazards. Stay vigilant around water, with proper pool fencing to keep unsupervised children out. Help prevent injuries by securing heavy items, keeping cords, batteries and poisons out of reach, installing locks where necessary, using door stops and self-closing hinges, and adding safety gates to high-risk areas like stairs.