Making a new house 'Kid Safe'

BestBuilder · Nov 28, 2006 7:39 pm

I was wondering if anyone has built a new house while having small children and whether there is anything that should be included in the design to cater for it.

eg Should you have doors to section off say the living area so the little ones can't easily get to the front door and the like?

Any tips?

BB

Dukekamaya · Nov 28, 2006 8:45 pm

You can buy 'child' gates to fit between doorways to prevent them from getting into rooms or down stairs etc. You don't really want the exspense of something too permanent as you only need it for a couple of years.

uncle_ant · Nov 28, 2006 9:33 pm

Hi BB

We have just started the process of building a new home, but did the best to make our current one as child safe as we could. The Royal Childerns Hospital Melbourne has a shop with many child safety devices. One item I would strongly recommend is Tot Locks. They are installed in kitchen cupboards and drawers and require a supplied magnet to open.

With these, the kids can't get into the knife draws or to poisons such as dishwasher powder that most of us keep under the kitchen sink. I would also recommend the metal stove guard that the RCH sells too, it is stuck down to the stove top or bench top with strong double-sided tape. It prevents kids from pulling hot pots down onto themselves.

These items are after-market and not included in the design of the new home, but thought you may find the information useful.

I would also recommend the childgates that Dukekamaya told you about, these work really well.

NeilD · Nov 28, 2006 9:50 pm

From the time our kids were able to crawl until we felt they were 'house safe' we had easily movable gates that we could place across doorways. e.g. to stop entrance to the kitchen when there was cooking going on. No structural modifications to the house needed. I just modified some old wooden cot sides so that they could be placed in the doorway, then fastened some adjustable door stops each end. When in position, just unscrew the door stops so that the 'gate' is wedged in the doorway. Easily movable, can be placed in other doorways as needed, and the rubber door stop doesnt damage paintwork.

Michelle · Nov 28, 2006 10:02 pm

As much as we try to have kid safe homes… it really boils down to common sense.

As far as the front door is concerned make sure the one you buy has a lock on it….Fly screens as well, if you have any. That’s the best way to keep them in! It really is a matter of being aware of were they are.

What you should be concerned about is keeping them out of the kitchen at all times.
This is the most dangerous space in the home. This is where most accidents occur.
Nothing like cooking dinner with a smally crawling around your feet at the same time….
Or building block in the centre of your work space. My advice is the gates for this area.

While designing your home give clever thought to the danger zones, this brings me to flick mixer taps…not good in the bathroom on a bath, they are too easy to turn on. Usually the wrong way. These are better suited for the elderly or people with chronic arthritis.

Don’t have bedroom doors that are only locked from the inside and not assessable from the outer. It just takes one hissy fit and the slamming of a door and you have a child locked in a room you can’t get to. Great when their teenagers!!!!

I hope I have sparked some common sense ideas for you, just give it clever thought. But you don’t have to go over board with it.
Good luck!

BestBuilder · Nov 30, 2006 10:59 am

Thank you all for your comments. Lots of great ideas. The kitchen certainly does sound like a key danger area!

Looking at those gates they seem to only be a certain width. Can you get wider ones for entry passage ways etc?