How to Make Your Home Safe For Kids

To kids, our homes are an adventurous obstacle course waiting for exploration. Those innocent-looking coffee tables and inviting staircases are no less than a Mount Everest expedition for those adorable, tiny explorers. And let’s not forget the magical land of “under the sink,” where colorful cleaning bottles beckon further opening. So, while our homes are our castles, let’s make these castles safe for our little princes and princesses.

Home child-proofing measures significantly reduce the likelihood of home accidents, creating a sanctuary where your child’s curiosity can bloom safely. It’s a proactive approach to creating spaces where your family can grow and thrive without constant fear of potential hazards. Child-proofing your home involves looking at your home from a little one’s eyes and finding all the “fun” ways they could explore–and potentially run into harm. Injury prevention is the best way to stop accidental injuries.

To get you started, this lists different areas of concern for families to child-proof.

Securing Doors and Latches

One of my neighbor’s favorite stories is the one where they came down in the morning to find their back door open. When they checked their camera, they found their three-year-old daughter had opened the door and wandered around their backyard at 2 am–with them none the wiser! Luckily, their yard was fenced, and their toddler returned safely to bed.

Children are natural explorers, so curious about the world. That adventurous spirit leads them to venturing into areas where they may be unsafe. Unfenced pools, busy streets, and unfamiliar surroundings pose serious threats. And as any experienced parent knows, all it takes is a minute for a pioneering toddler to slip outside unnoticed through an unsecured door or window.

Installing child-proof door locks and window guards prevents little ones from opening them themselves. In addition, installing alarms on doors leading outside provides an extra layer of security. You’ll know if a door opened when your back was turned or when you stepped out for a minute. Keeping children safe in our neighborhoods starts by knowing when they’ve gone outside.

You can add baby gates to help keep kids from wandering outside or into specific rooms. However, as they get bigger and stronger, some enterprising little ones are known to treat baby gates as climbing obstacles.

As part of your home child-proofing strategy, don’t underestimate the importance of addressing interior doors. Little hands can quickly turn door knobs or accidentally hit the lock, only to realize they don’t know how to open them from the inside. Imagine the child’s panic when they can’t leave the bathroom they just entered– and for the adults outside. Safety door knob covers can easily be operated by an adult while preventing small kids from opening or accidentally locking. Add these covers on any room where there’s a risk of a child getting locked inside, such as bathrooms, bedrooms, and utility closets.

Finally, door stoppers ensure that doors don’t close accidentally, preventing small fingers from getting pinched.

list of ways to child-proof a door

Safer Kitchens

Families love to gather in kitchens, but this hub of family activity presents a minefield of potential hazards for young children. We’re talking about hot surfaces, sharp utensils, breakable dishware, and toxic cleaning substances. Kitchens are hands down one of the most dangerous rooms for a curious child. That’s why so much childproofing focuses on injury prevention around these common spaces.

Start home childproofing by installing stove guards to prevent little hands from reaching up to hot burners or pulling down hot pots and pans. Similarly, oven locks keep children from opening a hot oven door. For refrigerators and dishwashers, installing appliance latches stops toddlers from accessing food items that could pose choking risks or become trapped inside.

If you have toddlers at home, add childproof latches to drawers with utensils and cutlery, and to all the lower cabinets. Place breakables and unsafe products in high cabinets out of reach, but install safety locks on these, too. After all, children can move stools and chairs and love to climb.

Never store cleaning solutions under the sink, even if you put on a child lock. Instead, move these items to a high cupboard secured with a safety latch. Household products are essential items, but they are poisoning risks should they get on the sink, eyes, or swallowed.

Lastly, keep toasters, blenders, and coffee makers unplugged and out of reach when not in use. Prevention is key to avoiding electrical injuries.

Kitchen childproofing will take about an hour to install, depending on the size of your kitchen, but it will go a long way toward ensuring that your little ones can explore their world safely.

Securing Furniture

furniture and tv tip-overs cause the most injuries for children younger than 6 years old

To kids, our bookcases and dressers are exciting climbing structures. But treating a bookcase like a ladder unknowingly puts them in harm’s way. Unsecured furniture can quickly turn an ordinary day into a tragedy. Heavy items easily become unstable when climbed on or pulled by a child, potentially causing severe injuries or even fatalities.

Don’t think your furniture is “too heavy” to pull down and dismiss the possibility it could happen to you. Over 11,500 children went to the emergency department in 2019 due to tip-over-related injuries.

Always position tall furniture away from baby cribs and beds. Purchase child-proofing brackets and safety straps to anchor tall and heavy furniture to the wall. These are simple and cost-effective ways to prevent catastrophic furniture tip-over accidents.

Look for sharp edges on furniture for those learning to walk. Unstable toddlers are more at risk of injury from tumbling into low tables. Add cushions to pieces of furniture to soften these edges; there are child products made specifically for furniture corners.

Making Stairs Safe

Little ones love the challenge of stairs when they’re learning to crawl and walk. But the risk of injuries increases significantly when our off-balance toddlers want to explore the ups and downs. So, if you have young children, prioritize the stairs as part of your home child-proofing. Some measures:

Install Safety Gates: Safety gates must be at the top and bottom of the staircase. Choose hardware-mounted gates rather than pressure-mounted ones for maximum security. Check that their safety latches are more challenging for little ones to open.
Secure Open Railings: Installing a banister guard or Plexiglas stops small children from slipping through the gaps, potentially falling or getting painfully stuck.
Non-slip Surfaces: While hardwood surfaces are pretty, they can be slippery when climbing and walking. To provide additional grip, install non-slip stair treads or use carpet on the stairs. In bathrooms and bathtubs, use non-skid mats.
Keep Stairs Clutter-Free: Always clear stairs of objects a child could trip over.

Remember, always keep an eye on your little ones when they start showing an interest in climbing the stairs.

Storing Cleaning Products

Keeping a clean home is part of providing kids with a safe home. The problem lies in where you store the essential cleaning products. These substances can pose a severe threat if ingested, inhaled, or come into contact with skin. That’s why looking at where you store cleaning products is part of home childproofing. Keep cleaning products in:

High and Locked Cupboards: Place all cleaning products in a high cupboard. If you can, lock the cupboard or, at the very least, use a child-proof latch. Never underestimate a curious child’s ability to climb.
Original Containers: Storing cleaning products in their original containers avoids confusion and unintentional ingestion due to misidentification of the contents. The containers also may have information on what to do in the event of accidental contact or swallowing.
Avoid Food Containers: Never put cleaning products in containers previously used for food or drinks. Children may mistake them for something safe to consume.
Child-Resistant Packaging: Purchase cleaning products that come in child-resistant packaging whenever possible. No packaging can be 100% child-proof, but it does add that extra layer of security.
Immediately Store: Even if you step away for a small moment, that presents a window of opportunity for a child to gain access. When you’re done, put them away.
Safe Disposal: Dispose of empty cleaning product containers promptly. Even residual chemicals can harm children.

Gun Safety at Home

Do you have firearms in your home? If so, maintaining gun safety at home is critical to child-proofing. Over half of the states have some kind of legislation about securing firearms at home. Not following local protocol could leave you liable. But when it comes to kids and guns, breaking the law is the least of your worries. Remember:

Locked: The most secure storage for firearms is locked storage. Gun boxes and safes come with security features like combination locks, biometric identification, and tamper-proof materials. Add an additional layer of protection with individual gun locks that render the firearm unusable when it’s not in use.
Unloaded: Prevent accidental firearm injuries by never leaving ammunition inside the gun. Place ammo in its own locked storage receptacle.
Separated: Store ammunition and guns in separate locations.
Avoid Visible Storage: Never leave a gun out in the open, even for a moment. It might catch a child’s attention, and their curiosity could lead to a dangerous situation.
Educate Your Children: Once old enough, teach kids about why firearms are dangerous. Make sure they understand they should never touch a gun, leave the area if a gun is present, and tell an adult immediately.

Remember, if you choose to keep a gun at home, it is your responsibility to ensure it is always stored securely.

Managing Electrical Hazards

Electricity and kids don’t mix. They see an interesting dangly cord to yank or chew or an interesting dark hole right at eye height. But we know better. To prevent kids from getting a jolt:

Cover Electrical Outlets: Safety covers block children from sticking their fingers or objects into the sockets.
Secure Loose Cords: Tuck all electrical cords away from children’s reach. Use cord holders to keep loose cords against the wall and avoid tripping hazards.
Avoid Extension Cords: Minimize using extension cords, especially where children frequently play. If you must use them, ensure they’re securely fastened somewhere and out of reach.
Appliance Safety: Keep electrical appliances out of reach, especially in the bathroom and kitchen. Unplug appliances when not in use.
GFCI Outlets: Install Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) outlets in areas with water, such as bathrooms and kitchens. These outlets automatically cut off power if an electrical device comes into contact with water, preventing electric shocks.

Prevent Accidental Drowning

According to the CDC, more children ages 1-4 die from drowning than any other cause of death. That’s why homes with swimming pools require special child-proofing attention. In some states, like Florida, some of the following measures are now required by law in homes to protect young children. Remember, it doesn’t matter if you have an in-ground or above-ground pool; any pooled water poses a risk to an intrepid child.

Pool Fencing: Install a four-sided isolation fence around the swimming pool with self-closing and self-latching child safety gates to prevent easy access.
Install Alarms: Install alarms on doors leading to pool areas to alert whenever someone accesses the pool area.
Install Water Alarm: These devices sit in the water and sound when the water surface is suddenly disturbed, such as if a child falls in. You remove it from the water when swimming and replace it when swim time ends.
Constant Supervision: Never leave a child unattended near water, even if it’s just a shallow kiddie pool. Ensure an adult with swimming skills and knowledge of CPR is always near when kids are in or around water.
Drain Covers: Check the pools and hot tubs for compliant drain covers to avoid entrapments.
Teaching Swimming: Learning to swim is key to preventing drowning. That’s why early swim lessons teach toddlers survival skills like rolling over, floating, and crawling along the edge. These classes also emphasize water safety and self-rescue.
Empty Tubs and Buckets: Immediately drain bathtubs, buckets, and paddling pools after use. A few inches of water is enough for a young child to drown.
Life Jackets: Have children who can’t swim independently wear life jackets around the water. Floaties and noodles are not substitutes for safety measures and supervision.

Remember, while these measures drastically reduce accidental drowning risk, the best protection is constant supervision when children are around water. That includes when they are taking a bath.

Additional Safety Features for a Child-Proofed Home

Beyond the commonly checked areas of home child-proofing, the following further contributes to creating a safer environment:

Fire Extinguishers: Keep in an accessible location, ideally on every floor of your home. Ensure each of-age household member is familiar with how fire extinguishers work.
Smoke Detectors: Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and on every level of your home, including the basement. Regularly check and replace the batteries at least once a year to ensure they function correctly.
Carbon Monoxide Detectors: Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless gas that can lead to serious health issues or even death. Install CO detectors in your home, especially if you use natural gas in the kitchen or for home heating. Check the CO monitor’s function regularly. Some come as a combination smoke alarm, so you don’t need two devices.
Non-Toxic Houseplants: Some houseplants can be toxic if ingested. Only have child-safe plants in your home or place potentially harmful plants out of reach of children.
Inactive Charcoal: Keep inactive charcoal in your home in case of accidental poisoning, such as ingesting cleaning supplies. However, store it out of reach, such as with prescriptions, as its misuse can lead to health complications. Pair it with the number for poison control.
Safely Store Medicine: Keep prescribed medicine and over-the-counter products also out-of-reach. Even child-proof bottles can be opened by determined little ones. Consider adding locks to your medicine cabinet.
Window Blinds: This one is easy to miss, but dangling window blinds are a hazard for curious children–especially the ones with multiple long strings. Kids can get tangled up and choke in the cords. Buy a cord hider, tie or pin them out of reach, or opt for cordless window coverings.

Childproofing the Home

Remember, home child-proofing is an ongoing process. Continual checks and adjustments should be made as your child grows and their abilities change. But no brand of door locks, pre-planning, and alarms replace being proactive and vigilant regarding a child’s safety at home. Injury prevention is the best way to keep kids safe. Apply these basic child safety practices to your home.

Updated November 2024

Preston Guyton Founder @ ez Home Search

Preston Guyton has spent 20+ years helping people find the right home—and helping them avoid the costly mistakes that often come from not knowing their options. As the founder of ez Home Search, he’s leading the charge to build a better way to discover real estate—one that puts your privacy first, delivers accurate information, and gives you the confidence to make informed decisions. Preston has assembled a powerhouse team—made up of the innovators behind many of the technologies people use every day—to build the tools and transparency that deliver on a single mission: A Better Way To Discover Real Estate.