Is your little one starting to get into everything? Will your child start becoming more mobile sooner than you would like to think about? While these milestones are joyous and exciting, they also come with the need to keep a closer eye on them so they stay safe and out of trouble! Childproofing your home is important to avoid some common electrical safety hazards. Let’s dive into some essential electrical safety tips for children.
Top Electrical Safety Tips for Kids
- Outlets: Unused or rarely used outlets should be secured in some way. There are small plastic inserts that you can purchase to place in the outlet that will ensure a child is not able to put their finger or any other object in the outlet, avoiding electrocution.
- Cords: All cords should be out of reach of children and ideally hidden. Tucking them behind furniture or using cord management systems will help with this. You also want to teach your child that you should never unplug a device by pulling on the cord, but by pulling from the plug that is inside the outlet itself.
- Technology placement: If you have technology on a TV stand or somewhere high, make sure that a child cannot pull on a cord and pull it down on themselves causing harm. Make sure all small kitchen or bathroom appliances are stored in cabinets out of reach or secured. There are childproofing cabinet locks to help with this. This will allow your child to explore more freely and you to have more peace knowing that they are safer in the home.
A few more tips to teach your child:
- Never put anything in appliances like a toaster or blender.
- Stay away from power lines and substations.
- Do not go near fallen power lines or fly kites with power lines around.
- Obey warning signs and do not climb on metal boxes with warning symbols on them.
- Never use anything electrical near or in water.
Parenting is overwhelming! Applying these electrical safety tips for children will help you to feel more confident in your home. While you can never eliminate all risk, you can do your best to eliminate true hazards. There is an important distinction between the two. You can always reach out to Lux Electric if there are any areas in your home that you would like to make safer for your family.
