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You’ve added safety gates to the tops and bottoms of your staircases. You’ve tethered your bookcases and shelving units to the walls. You’ve put stoppers on window frames and finger-pinch guards around doors. All in all, you’ve done a lot of childproofing around the house. But have you done enough in the bathroom?
Here are four things that need childproofing in your bathroom.
1. The Medicine Cabinet
Your medicine cabinet contains a long list of items that could be dangerous for your kids. Prescription painkillers, sleeping pills, cough syrup, vitamins, rubbing alcohol, mouthwash and contact lens solution are just some examples of things that you don’t want your kids to get their hands on and ingest.
To make sure that your kids don’t get curious and raid your medicine cabinet, you should add childproof locks onto the cabinet door. Any pills or medications should be kept in the original childproof bottles, just in case.
Whatever you do, don’t leave your medications or any other potentially harmful substances out on your bathroom counter or sink ledge where your kids can easily grab them. Always keep them in the cabinet, where they’re safe.
If you ever suspect that your child has ingested something from your medicine cabinet, you should call poison control immediately.
2. The Water
Hot water could scald your kid’s sensitive skin when they’re taking a bath, taking a shower or washing their hands.
How can you protect them from burns? Check your home’s water heater. It should be at 120 degrees Fahrenheit — not higher. You can also install anti-scald pressure-balancing valves in your showers and sink faucets.
3. The Floors
Your bathroom floors are going to get slippery after your kid spends time splashing in the tub. To make sure that they don’t slip and fall, put anti-slip rubber mats on the floor. Add an anti-slip tub mat to keep them from slipping and tumbling inside the tub, too.
4. The Toilet
Sometimes, childproofing isn’t about keeping your kids safe from everyday dangers. Sometimes it’s keeping your home safe from your kids’ destructive behavior.
Kids often think that toilets are toys to play with. They think it’s fun to flush things down there. They’ll do it with toilet paper, toys, food, jewelry they found on your dresser, etc. This can lead to some very expensive problems like clogged drains and toilet overflows.
If your kid clogs your drain after playing around with the toilet, you should call a plumber to come and fix it right away. You can dip into your emergency fund to cover the urgent service costs. If you don’t have enough savings to handle the service costs, you could apply for a loan online. Do some research on same business day loans designed to help people facing small emergency expenses. As long as you meet the qualifications, you can apply and see whether you get approved.
How can you stop your kids from using your toilet as a toy?
- Install toilet handle locks
- Install toilet seat locks
- Install childproof knobs on bathroom doors and keep the doors closed at all times.
Once you’ve crossed these childproofing projects off your to-do list, your bathrooms should be much more kid-friendly.