OTCSafety.org is full of helpful info
Friends, we need your help. And a lot of it. When OTCSafety.org reminded me that June is National Home Safety Month, it couldn’t have been a more timely nudge that my husband and I have some serious safety issues to address in our home.
The advice offered at Up and Away to keep medicines out of the grasp of young ones are truths we have been learning the hard way. Tips like “picking a place your children cannot reach” and “put medicines away every time” are things we can no longer ignore.
You see, we’d had a few problems with our kids “getting into stuff”. It’s been a progressive learning curve for us as parents. My daughter is the true wild child, the kiddo who has no problem finding trouble, but as the oldest, it’s always been our son who (lucky him!) has been our guinea pig.
He was the one who showed us that childproof latches don’t always work when he discovered the world of ladies’ feminine products as a 1 yr. old:
He will LOVE this picture when he gets older
So we forewent the child safety latches and decided to move anything of concern to a physically higher level, where surely, our kids couldn’t access such items. Please note: “anything of concern” included our Sharpie permanent markers and the stash of stamps Mommy had just sunk some fancy cash into. This went well:
He was supposed to be napping…
Obviously, higher ground is not a viable option for safe storage of non-kid-friendly items. This was also made apparent when my little dude somehow scaled the shower wall to retrieve my razor from the faucet caddy and shave his legs. This happened.
Fortunately, so very fortunately, this shenanigan resulted in no more that a few minor surface skin scraps. Lucky. We were both too traumatized to think to snap a pic at the time, but let’s just say the razor is no longer kept in the shower caddy…
After this shaving incident, we decided to be smart and put unsafe items in the bathroom closet behind one of those nifty childproof door handles (you know, the ones that hug the entire handle and you have to use your fingers to pinch open?). And no lie, this very day, as I was prepping to write this post, my son introduced himself to green nail polish:
He is so fancy!
I joke about this stuff, but truly, I do recognize how lucky we have been. How very worse all these situations have been. How very, very serious. And this is why I need help.
Clearly, after today’s discovery of nail lacquer, that genius door handle on the bathroom closet door isn’t so genius after all.
Also, given our track record, I’m guessing my proud solution of stashing anything of question above the bathroom cabinet is only time limited. Let’s not guess how grouchy Mommy will be if someone gets into her precious Urban Decay make-up. Not to mention the non-medicine stuff I store in the medicine cabinet itself, which is definitely not-so-safe in young hands. Things like eye drops, hair products and my fancy face creams can be incredibly dangerous if misused.
So it appears we have two rather un-safe storage spots in our home:
Clearly, this doorknob safety situation isn’t cutting it when it comes to nail polish appeal
Obvious valuables at the top–you know, make-up, neti-pot and the like…
Learn more.
This is why we need your help. Tell us what to do. Short of a locked safe with a hidden combination, I’m feeling tired.
It’s all you, readers.
You see, June is the month we take the time to explore the potential dangers in our home. Beyond exploring, we need to address them and fix them to create a safer environment for ourselves and our kiddos. And as summer approaches, it’s important to remember that this applies to not only our own home, but all the places we may travel to and visit on vacation. We have to make sure our environments, be them permanent or temporary, are safe!
Stories of what our kids get into can be funny–very funny–but the reality is safety is no joke. So help us figure out the best solution for protecting our kids from things that could hurt them in our house.
And then go make the same safety fixes in your own homes–or on the road as you travel. Keep it real this summer, friends, and tighten up the safety quotient wherever you find yourselves!
****I am compensated as an OTCsafety blogging ambassador for this post, but my opinion are my own.****
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The Next Step says
Don’t waste your money on those door knob things – all three of my kids dismantled them in about 2.2 seconds.
“Tot lock” is the only thing to successfully keep my kids out of cabinets. That particular name brand requires tools to install, but there is another brand (Safety 1st?) at Target that just uses sticky pads and has been just as effective.
Good luck!
Meredith says
So appreciate this info, and thanks for answering all my questions about them!
stacey says
I loved the magnet locks we got at Babies RUs. It involves some installation skills by the hubs, but it is so worth it. We then locked up the booze to keep the older kids and babysitters sober! 🙂 Take the other end of the magnet in your purse when you go out on a date! ;0
Meredith says
Time to put the husband to work! Thanks, Stacey 🙂
Cynthia Gabriele Sprouts Consignment Boutique says
Safety is no laughing matter when it comes to the “little” ones. They will find a way to get into something we have missed and hopefully it is only green nail polish!
Meredith says
Amend, Cindy!