Child Home Hazards You May Have Missed

Caring for children is hard work, but it can be a touch easier if your home is free from common child home hazards. While it's widespread knowledge to have a fence around your swimming pool or keep toys with small parts away from kids, there are so many other, less common hazards lurking in every home. This list is non-exhaustive, but the risks mentioned here are big enough that everyone should still actively work to minimize them — especially since, while unknown as dangers, they are regular fixtures in many homes.

Something as simple as forgetting to tie up the cord on the blinds, hanging your coat on the back of your chair, or even leaving the door to the laundry room open can unfortunately create an emergency situation. Do a walk-through of your property now to identify and rectify these pain points and baby-proof your home for a safer environment for your children (and for you, too). As a note of caution, while this article intends to inform parents and caregivers about the risks of these home hazards, it also discusses the harm that has and can come to children as a result, which some may find distressing.

Small children combined with long chords of any kind are a real risk for strangulation. The most common hazard present in homes is the chords for blinds. Things can happen so quickly, and unfortunately, children can get tangled in these strings and harm themselves. "In many of these cases, these were children who were put in their own bedroom to go to sleep," Dr. Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, told NBC News. "The parent left the room to allow them to go to sleep, didn't understand that the window blinds that they had in the room had accessible cords and the child must have climbed over and started playing with them."

To avoid any sort of tragedy, caregivers should swap out corded blinds for cordless ones. As an added bonus, cordless blinds tend to be less annoying to open and close for adults, too. There are many chic options available, like the Cordless Pleated Light Filtering Fabric Shade from Redi Shade or the LOTUS & WINDOWARE Cordless Mini Blind. Like most cordless blinds, both options are easy to install and don't require a lot of prior DIY experience.

Button cell batteries get their name from how they look: like small round buttons. They can cause great harm to the human body if swallowed. According to Connecticut Children's, within 15 minutes of digestion, the battery will begin to burn a hole in the esophagus or digestive tract. If it's not removed within a two hour window, it can lead to potential death. It has also been known to end up in noses and ears, causing blockages. These batteries are similar to lithium coin cell batteries, which pose similar risks, but tend to be a touch smaller. What makes this hazard something easy to miss is that these button batteries are in a lot more things around the house than you might have guessed.

A non-exhaustive list of potential places to look includes inside hearing aids, remote controls, flameless candles, bathroom scales, key fobs, and even most watches and electronic jewelry. Curious kiddos have been known to take these things apart. So, when they discover the shiny small battery, that's when the real risk begins. For items your child might have more access to — like a remote — consider taping the battery compartment shut to make it harder to get into. Never leave loose batteries lying around, even in a junk drawer, without a child lock present.

As explained in a harrowing Instagram video, pediatrician Dr. Niky Mamamd warned that even something as simple as hanging a sweater on the back of a chair can have serious consequences. "It is very exciting for your toddler to be able to reach something and pull it," she said. "And it is very easy for that chair to fall directly on top of them." From toddler level, they can't tell that the sweater, blanket, or other object is attached to anything else from that angle, hence the risk.

To avoid this, be wary of hanging larger fabrics like jackets or blankets over the back of office or kitchen chairs. Although doing this is convenient and carries no risk in an adult-only household, having children around changes things. Instead, you can update your mudroom or entry hall to accommodate hanging these items far out of reach. For example, instead of switching to a free-standing coat rack that might carry similar risks, try something like this Amazon Basics Wall-Mounted Coat Rack. If installed high enough, there is no risk of it being pulled down by little hands.

While IKEA provides plenty of great low cost furniture options for families, the popular retailer recalled more than 29 million dressers in 2016, including its very popular Malm units, as they were too top heavy. Multiple children were killed when the units fell on top of them, triggering the recall. This is a good warning to be wary of all dressers and wardrobes, as when the drawers are open, it sometimes doesn't take much weight for them to tip forward.

To prevent this from happening, it's best to follow IKEA's own safety instructions after the recall. All dressers must be secured to the wall, especially if they are in a home with children. Most sets from IKEA do come with a special kit to assist with wall securing; however, for furniture purchased elsewhere, things like the LOMILY Anti-Tip Furniture Wall Anchor Straps are also readily available online. Luckily, they are both easy to use and only take a few minutes to install, immediately reducing the risk of a tipping accident.

You might not realize it, but curious little fingers and unsecured cabinet doors can sometimes be a lethal combination. It is typical to keep common cleaning tools and products like bleach, Magic Erasers, dishwasher soap, and countertop sprays under the kitchen sink, but the bright bottles and colorful liquids might be tempting for children. If ingested, these items can cause serious harm and even death if not caught in time. Even as your children age and are allowed more unsupervised access to cabinets, experts recommend never storing anything edible and any cleaning solutions in the same area — as it can be very confusing and deadly.

To minimize the risks of your children getting into something they aren't supposed to, many caregivers choose to use cabinet locks. Cabinet locks for babies, like this 10-Piece Cabinet Lock Set from Jetec, are a great temporary option. They work well to keep littles out of places they shouldn't be, but might disrupt the aesthetic of a kitchen or bathroom. With that in mind, there are also invisible options, like the Benny Bradley Invisible Baby Proofing Cabinet Latch Locks. You install them on the inside of the door, so from the outside, the cabinet appears completely normal.

Laundry rooms are a child home hazard in and of themselves. Laundry soaps tend to be brightly colored and things like Tide Pods can look a lot like candy (remember that social media challenge?) It is very popular right now to remove scent beads and laundry soaps from their original packaging and store them in more aesthetic containers instead. However, experts recommend against storing anything that's inedible in a container that might easily be mistaken as a candy jar or drink bottle by a child. By keeping laundry products in their original packaging, children can't see what's inside as easily and are less likely to confuse the item for a snack.

That said, the best course of action, in addition to keeping the original packaging, is to store the items in secured cabinets and keep the laundry room door closed at all times. If there is a child lock on the door, like this Wappa Baby Child Safety Door Knob Cover, you won't have to worry about many of these hazards, as the space will be inaccessible entirely. You can also teach your child about public service figures like Mr. Yuk, a character created to warn children that anything his sticker is attached to is dangerous to eat. You can purchase Mr. Yuk Stickers to place on your laundry products.

Most folks enjoy having houseplants and flowers around to add life to their home, but what you might not know is that plenty of greenery is highly toxic if ingested. If you have young children in the house, what is meant to just be a nice pop of color suddenly becomes a trip to the poison control center. Azalea (Rhododendron spp.), climbing lily (Gloriosa spp.),English laurel (Prunus laurocerasus), European mistletoe (Viscum album), and pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) are just a few common plants that can quickly kill you if ingested. They are classed as having major toxicity, which can mean death.

Yet, there are many other common plants that you might have around the house, like baby's breath (Gypsophila paniculata) and English daisy (Bellis perennis), which won't necessarily lead to death, but can still give children a nasty rash. To this end, it's always a smart idea to store houseplants and flowers high up, where children cannot reach them. Place vases in the middle of the table, so they can't easily be pulled down, or on window sills that are too tall for curious hands to accidentally reach.

Sometimes, even the most securely hung heavy mirrors and wall art don't stay that way. Whether you slam a door too hard, there is an earthquake, or somebody just bumps into the wall, things can fall. And when they do, they can be of great harm to your children. This is especially true if you hang anything above their crib or bed. Whether directly above it from the ceiling, or on the wall above them, it's just not worth it due to the high risk of serious injury.

That said, when you do hang things up in other places around the house, take great care to avoid them becoming a hazard. Using sturdy hardware, like screws anchored into wall studs, makes the hold secure enough to withstand accidental bumps or tugs. You can use a stud finder like JAXWQ Stud Finder to make the task easier. When things are screwed into studs, they are more secure. For added security, consider using safety straps or earthquake putty to prevent frames from shifting or falling. The Quakehold! Museum Putty is popular and can provide an extra layer of strength to all hung items.

Bath time can be a really stressful time of day, especially when your toddler figures out how to adjust the faucet on their own. The slightest turn of the tap while bathing, brushing their teeth, or washing their hands, can seriously burn your child. "Whereas adults could sustain a hand held in hot water for several minutes, young children can only have it in for a few seconds before getting burned," said Robert Kennedy, MD, emergency medicine specialist at St. Louis Children's Hospital. "These few seconds can lead to lifelong scarring — or even death. That's why it's so important to turn down the hot-water temperature [in your home]."

The recommended temperature for homes with children is between 120 and 130 degrees Fahrenheit. This way, the water in the tank stays hot enough to kill bacteria, but won't get so hot that it'll cause damage to your children. Luckily, lowering the temperature on your water heater is an easy enough DIY task. There are different types of water heaters. On gas units, there is typically just a knob on the tank you need to turn. On electric options, it's as simple as punching a few buttons. Take a few minutes to complete this easy task today.

Kids run around like crazy, whether we want them to or not. Unfortunately, most of the furniture in your home is likely a hazard to your children simply because of what might happen to them when — not if — they collide with it. One trip and fall into a mid-century modern coffee table with sharp corners and it's time for a trip to the hospital.

Luckily, you don't have to completely gut your house or sacrifice your personal style for the sake of your children's safety. Yes, sharp corners and glass tables can be real hazards, but you can make quick, easy adjustments to plenty of pieces to make them safer. For example, there are ways to childproof your home with pool noodles by covering furniture edges or fireplace hearths with them. However, if this seems a bit too garish for you, there are also more stylish options. Anti Collision Safety Corner Protectors by Xrrxy are clear, so they do their job without being seen, while the Angloria Silicone Edge Protectors are long to keep little heads safe from extended edges.

Having a baby gate at the top and bottom of your staircase is essential for most parents; however, pressure-mounted gates should only be used at the bottom of the stairs, where falling down the flight isn't a risk if it fails. "I would never have a pressure-mounted gate at the top of my stairs," Dr. Niky Mamamd said on TikTok. "These gates are not reliable at all. It is super easy for even your infant to lean on it, push forward, and for it to come down." Instead, Mamamd recommends that all gates at the top of the stairs be screwed into the banister, or attached to a protective bracket that loops around the banister, so it's not as easy to push over.

And that's not the only tripping hazard. Pressure-mounted gates also tend to have a bar at the bottom of them to help them stay in place. This is very dangerous at the top of the stairs, as a caregiver could easily trip over it and take a tumble while holding the baby. To avoid this, Mamamd recommends never selecting gate options with bars across the bottom and looking for swinging hinges from the banister only. An example is the Babelio No Bottom Bar Baby Gate.