cook. The possibilities for disaster are multiple. In the same vein, never carry your baby and a cup of coffee or other hot liquid at the same time.
KITCHEN STORAGE
Store all cleaning materials and other dangerous substances in their original containers. Never store them in familiar food containers such as milk or juice cartons, even though you are sure they are securely locked away where your child cannot get at them. (See last chapter for information on product poisoning.)
Keep plastic wrap and all sizes of plastic bags out of your child’s reach, especially garbage and dry cleaning bags. (This warning obviously includes bags stored in bedrooms, closets and the garage, or anywhere else.) When you dispose of plastic bags, tie them in knots. Then they cannot possibly be wrapped around a child’s face or inhaled to cause suffocation.
Remember to keep boxes of kitchen wraps out of your child’s reach. Their serrated cutting edges are as dangerous as your knives.
Keep all potentially dangerous kitchen utensils in securely latched drawers. Don’t forget such items as apple corers, eggbeaters, vegetable peelers and grape-fruit spoons.
Don’t store crackers, cookies or other goodies above the stove, tempting your child to attempt to climb there.
Save childproofing tops from finished containers. Use them on whatever bottles they fit which would benefit from them.
THE HIGHCHAIR
One of the most necessary pieces of baby equipment is also one of the most potentially dangerous. The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that in one year 7,000 children were treated in hospital emergency rooms as a result of accidents involving highchairs.
Check the highchair you buy — or borrow — carefully. Be sure it has a wide base and a tray that locks securely. The buckle on the restraining strap should be easy to fasten. Caps and plugs on tubing on a metal chair should be firmly attached.
Be sure the tray is locked after you put your baby into the highchair and always hook up the restraint system. It’s important to keep the highchair clean. Stuck-on food can interfere with the locking mechanics and cause its restraint system to fail.
Watch your baby’s fingers as you put the tray on. When your child is old enough to understand, you might use the watchwords “Hands Up” to help make sure fingers are out of harm’s way.
Put bathtub decals or a rubber sink mat on a slippery highchair seat so your child is not prone to slipping down the seat.
Be sure any item attaching a bottle or small toy to the highchair is no longer than 12 inches. Pacifiers can be attached to clothing with pacifier holders that can be purchased in baby departments. The ribbon on them should be no longer than seven inches. Longer string is a strangulation hazard.
Never leave a baby alone in a room in the highchair, even with the safety strap securely fastened. Any child will try to climb out of it eventually if you’re there or not. And remember, the highchair tray is not an adequate child restraint!
Keep the highchair at a safe distance from the table or counter. Any child can tip a highchair over by pushing off with hands or feet. Standing up in the chair or rocking it back and forth can also cause it to tip.
Teach older children not to climb on the highchair with or without a baby in it. That’s equally dangerous.
THE KITCHEN
PORTABLE HOOK-ON CHAIRS
Choose a chair with a strong clamp-on device that keeps the seat level so a child can’t kick it off the table.
Do not use on a glass or loose tabletop, or on a table with a single pedestal, leaf, tablecloth or placemat. Test any table first by putting weight on the edge.
Never place an ordinary chair under a hook-on chair because a child can push off against it.
BABY PROOFING THE BATHROOM
The bathroom is as full of dangers for your baby as the kitchen. The combination of water, attractive poisonous substances and intriguing appliances is fascinating to a curious child looking for entertainment. Make sure every bathroom can be unlocked from the outside.
THE BATHROOM “FURNISHINGS”
Keep the toilet lid down, or better yet, get a guard that actually locks it. It’s important to prevent it from becoming a place for water play and a dangerous opportunity for drowning. (Yes, children have drowned in toilets.) Children are often fascinated by the action of the swirling water and can fall in head first.
Get a soft spout cover for the bathtub. It will save your baby from bumps and bruises. It will also help to avoid the possibility of burns from a very hot water spout. As an extra safety measure, face your child away from the tub spout.
Test the bath water on the inside of your wrist before putting your baby into the tub. Better yet, invest in a bath thermometer. When you’ve filled the tub, turn off the hot water before the cold, so the latter will flow through the faucet if your child manages to touch it.
