Safety Tips: Ensuring Your Home is Safe for Your Children

All parents want to keep their children safe. We put plugs in the outlets to keep them from getting electrocuted, we put covers over the bathtub faucet to keep them from hitting their head on the metal, we test their food to make sure it's not to hot. But do you consider their ability to get out of your home?

I didn't until about a week and a half ago when my children decided to run away because they didn't like the house rules. Now I have a one story apartment with privacy fenced in back patio. You tell the kids to stay in the yard and usually they do, but on this occasion I couldn't have been more wrong. They headed out the back door and I thought that they were hiding from me under a tarp. But they had already snuck thru a broken spot in the fence and were on their way. Now the gates on either side of my patio had locks in place but that didn't fix the small hole in the fence or the fact that the neighbor on the other side didn't have a gate anymore. They were off and running. Forty terrifying minutes later and several phone calls to friends they were located, but by this time the police had been called and were involved in the hunt and due to the police involvement, outside agencies are now involved.

Now I work in Emergency Services and I try very hard to keep my children safe due to the things that I see everyday. But I had overlooked some very important things. Doors are an easy out of any home; let's face it that is what they were designed for. But did you ever stop to consider if you can hear your door open from the other side of the house? I was sitting where I watched them go onto the back patio and figured they would get cold and come back in shortly since it was raining and cold out. Instead they went thru a hole in the privacy fence and were on their way. But what if I hadn't been where I could see them go out. It would have been a lot longer before realizing that they were gone. An easy fix for exterior doors is a small devise no bigger than your doorbell. It has a magnetic connection that when broken lets out a sound that will wake the dead. A pack of two of these is available in the night light and padlock isle at Wal-Mart for approximately $10.00. I placed one on the back sliding glass and one in the corner of their window in their room. Now even if I don't see them go, I will definitely hear them go. I also found an easy way to fix the privacy fence without replacing the entire 6 x 8 panel. The local Menards has already cut boards that matched my fence. For $2.90 a board I was able to fix the fence and gate so its security was restored. I also changed the locks on the gates to padlocks that require either a key or combination to open.

Another wonderful idea I was given was hook and eye's on the front screen door and back sliding patio glass. This ensures that they only get out when I want them out. It's a bit of a hassle for those busy days when you run in and out but for the slow days when you are trying to get things done around the house they ensure you won't be chasing children down the street.

We as parents consider the obvious hazards but sometimes the easy ones to notice aren't the ones that get us.