The Importance of Childproofing Your Home for the Christmas Holidays

The Importance of Childproofing Your Home for the Christmas Holidays

During Christmas, we spend a lot of time with our family and friends rejoicing in the many Christmas traditions together. This can include decorating the house with Christmas cheer, eating festive food and gift-giving. However, with everything that’s going on, we sometimes forget how curious children can be, especially when they’re all gathered under one roof. So, it’s important that we child-proof our homes to prevent any unwanted accidents. From keeping your fragile items to putting name labels and using allergy labels, here are tips and hints to keep your children safe this Christmas so everyone can have peace of mind. 

Place breakable ornaments up high

Kids love to play with anything that looks shiny, fury, or colourful. Many decorations are usually very eye-catching so kids will naturally want to touch them. However, these decorations can be covered in tinsel, made out of glass, or have sharp edges. These are choking hazards or could cause allergic reactions. If glass and other sharp-edged decorations are hung too low, they can be fiddled with and broken by children. So a good idea is to place your decorations out of reach of little hands.

Check Christmas lights for damage pre=decorating 

Before any Christmas lights are put up to decorate your home, always check for any defective lights and exposed wires. Also check for frayed cables, broken sockets or loose connections. We often put Most of us tend to place these Christmas lights in 3 places:

  • On the windows

  • Outside the house, or

  • On the Christmas tree

Every child loves the spirit of Christmas and is usually drawn to Christmas lights. They are bright, flashy, and pleasing to look at.  To avoid any accidents, make sure to put your lights where kids cannot play with them. There are also toxic chemicals found in most Christmas lights. All the more reason to keep them away from children who might be tempted.

Never use lit candles to decorate your home

For obvious reasons candles, even if left alone, can be a serious fire hazard in the home on Christmas. The last thing you want to deal with is accidental damage as a result of tipped candles. But it’s also important to keep candles away from the kids in your home. Small children who don’t know the dangers of fire and hot wax might get burned. There’s also a high chance that kids will accidentally knock them over wherever they are placed. So just make sure that decorating with lit candles is an absolute no-no if you’re expecting a lot of kids coming over for Christmas.

Use name labels for the kids and other Christmas food items

When it comes to a lot of kids being around the house at Christmas time, there is a reason to be careful with what you cook. This means looking after kids with allergies and other special conditions. Parents can use allergen name labels and kids sticky name labels to identify who has allergies to certain food. By applying these sticky name labels to food dishes and trays the kids and adults will know if one of the kids have allergies right away.

Be mindful opening presents that contain small parts or allergens 

Ribbons, plastic wrapping, and gift bags can be a choking hazard for young children. As can allergens that are contained in foods. To create a safe environment for your toddler to crawl around come presents time, use this great idea. Have separate tubs for each of your elder kids and the adults. 

Everyone will know where to stash their presents and if your toddlers try to sneak in to anyone’s tubs, someone old enough will be right there to stop them. Name labels are perfect to use here and stick on the tubs to identify whose presents are whose. Another good idea is to also have a central bin for rubbish like wrapping paper and other plastic wraps. Mum or Dad can position this next to themselves and instruct everyone to throw their rubbish into it after unwrapping their presents. 

Clean up on-the-go when having Christmas meals

Small toys from Christmas crackers, table ornaments or foods that may contain allergens need to be removed as soon as dinner starts. Even though you’ll want to relax and eat at the dining table, you don’t want your kids picking up anything small and putting it in their mouth. Keep things orderly this Christmas. Know that cleaning as you go will help to diminish the chances of your kids eating something they shouldn’t be.

Use a Christmas tree fence

So, you think that just because the kids are around this Christmas, you will have to put away your favourite delicate tree hangings? Wrong. Just use a Christmas tree fence. 

Even with the kids crawling around underneath the tree, you can keep them safe from breaking and cutting themselves on sharp tree decorations. The fence will act as a barrier for any curious hands wanting to reach above and grab hangings off the tree. The area inside the fence, if made wide enough, will also act as a fall zone for anything that does happen to fall from your tree.

You can purchase Christmas tree fences quite cheaply from a variety of different online stores.