Your bathroom is a slippery area full of potentially dangerous items that can endanger your little one. Baby proofing your bath or shower room is just as important as baby proofing the rest of the house. Here are a couple of tricks and tips to keep your bundle of joy safe and out of harm’s way while in the bathroom:
Door lock
A small child should not be left alone in the bathroom without supervision. Objects such as detergents and shower products could catch their attention, and ingesting them is life-threatening. Furthermore, falling can be very dangerous whilst in the bathroom as almost everything in there is made out hard materials, such as tiles, which can cause serious damage. A simple hook-and-eye lock on your bathroom door should do the trick, as long as the child is not tall enough to reach it, or another option is to install a child-proof lever handle lock.
Protect them (and yourself) from slipping
Whether your house has walk in showers or bathtubs, they can get very slippery, meaning your child could potentially fall over and hurt himself or herself. Protect your family from bruises or other serious injuries by getting a slip-resistant mat. This way no one will take a tumble.
Toiletries and medicine
Let’s say you forgot to install a lock on the medicine cabinet, or your child has managed to get into it regardless, they may be find all those little pots of pills intriguing and even mistake them for sweets. This is a scenario no parent wants to think about, but being aware of such possibilities means you can protect your child from them. Keep medicine and toiletries in a locked cabinet somewhere high where they can’t reach it if you want to prevent this from happening.
Trash can
Most bathrooms have a trash can and they are usually easily accessible by children. The danger here is that toddlers could end up ingesting some of its contents- as awful as that sounds. There is however the possibility to buy bins that have a locking mechanism which is too complicated for children to decipher. Even though they tend to be rather expensive, it is an investment that is worth the money.
Get a GFCI
The ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) is an amazing device designed to stop an electric power circuit when it detects that the current is flowing along an unintended path. This could be either a person or water. This genius device will prevent everything that a parent dreads happening such as electrical shocks, burns and even electrocution. Install it in the bathroom, and everywhere else in the house for that matter, to keep your child safe.
Make your fittings more durable
Babies and young children can take their toll on your interior decor. Your beautiful, modern bathroom might look great right now. But give it a couple of years of nappy changing and kids’ baths, and it’ll soon look completely different.
The trick here is to improve the quality of your fittings. For instance, Floors To Walls offers one of the largest collections of quality PVC wall panels currently available. These panels essentially replace traditional tiles or paint, providing an easy-to-clean surface that helps to prevent damage. It’s made of plastic-derived compounds, so it naturally lasts longer and resists dampness, mould and smudges.
How do you keep your children safe in the bathroom?
Image Credit: Shutterstock.com
I can relate to the parents who don’t feel the need to baby-proof their bathroom before their new-born arrives. But these ideas highlight the importance of keeping children out of danger in this slippery area.