Melanie Cole, MS (Host): Welcome to Long Live Childhood, a pediatric health and wellness podcast presented by Rady Children's Health. I'm Melanie Cole, and today we're talking Childproofing 101, simple safety tips every parent can do at home. Joining me is Amy Frias. She's a Safe Kids Orange County Coordinator and a health educator in the community education department at Rady Children's Health in Orange County.

Amy, I'm so glad you could join us today. When we think of the top three children's hazards, the household hazards that every new parent is like thinking about in advance before their kids are old enough to crawl around, what are we thinking about?

Amy Frias, B.S.: Oh, well hello there, Melanie. It's nice to hear you again. Well that is a great question. The bottom line is children birth to five are at greatest risk of being injured in and around the home because that's where they spend most of their time. So it really makes sense to focus on that area.

 So some of those household hazards that I think parents don't think about are things like button batteries. Those little small shiny button batteries are found in various items like toys, kids toys, remote control, and all sorts of things. Like you don't even realize how many button batteries we actually have in devices in and around our house.

It's crazy. Our fob to our keys that we use, those have button batteries in them and those are really big choking hazards. And more importantly, if children swallow these button batteries, they can cause internal burns. So it's really important. We can talk a little bit more about prevention later, that these things are stored securely.

Another area of injury that I think parents can be surprised over is furniture tip overs. We're seeing a lot of dressers and bookshelves that are very top heavy that can be tipped over, and these can cause very serious injuries, especially for children when they start to climb on them. And developmentally, when kids get a little bit older, they do start to climb.

So it's really important that those are secured to the wall. Things like flat screen TVs are secured to the wall and there's things that parents can do to help prevent that. And then another one that I thought had kind of dissipated, are those laundry detergent pods. Can you even believe they're coming back and the bottom line is because of how colorful they are. And they pose a really specific significant risk for children who mistake them as candy. So those are something that should be stored. These are concentrated with detergent and can cause burns to skin and eyes even if they touch them.

So kids are going to be really attracted to something that's colorful like that. And unfortunately, kids have ingested them and it is a poison. So those are kind of the three areas that I think are the bigger hazards that parents don't necessarily think of.

Host: That is so important, what you just said. And like you said, many parents don't think of these things. We think of the common ones, getting under the sink to the poisons under there. And when you're a new parent, you walk around the house and all of these things seem like they're dangerous, right? And when they're toddlers, it's even worse.

So how can parents childproof common areas of their home Amy, like the kitchen, the living room without overwhelming themselves because there's a lot of costly solutions on the market. There's a lot of things other than just baby gates. So tell us a little bit about some of the things that are tried and true that really do work for this.

Amy Frias, B.S.: That is something that parents can think about is basically breaking down the house by room and thinking about the fact that the two most dangerous rooms in the house are the kitchen and the bathroom. So I would typically start with those areas and one of the biggest things parents can do is secure cabinets and drawers.

You can install childproof locks or latches on cabinets and drawers, especially those drawers that contain hazardous items like cleaning supplies or medication, sharp objects, knives, scissors, glassware. Really you want to keep things that kids are going to have access to either locked up, up high and locked up.

 Parents can consider something like a magnet lock or adhesive straps, or a sliding lock. These are inexpensive options. Or you can do a DYI option. And use like a strong rubber band around a cabinet knob and handle securing it with double loop or figure eight for extra tightness. You can use rubber bands, you can use things like that to help kind of prevent kids from getting in the cabinets.

A couple other things looking at the kitchen, is just also when you're looking at the stove, it can be an issue because kids love to push buttons and stuff like that. So getting knob covers for your stove or even removing them completely can actually prevent kids from accidentally turning on the gas.

Just simple things that you can do. Also kind of blocking where you have your cords with furniture. But also keeping in mind that you want to keep furniture away from the windows because you don't want kids to be able to climb up and have access to a window. So moving furniture around and kind of cutting out some of that clutter is a really good way to kind of start preventing injuries in your home for your child. It's important that parents get down on their hands and knees and access their child's perspective of what things they're going to be able to see. And it sounds silly, but really it's those things that are on the ground and that are low where their eyes are, that they're going to get to.

So, things like small objects. Regularly check for coins and buttons and small toys that can be choking hazards. Safety gates are still a great idea, but it's important to install safety gates both at the top and the bottom of stairs because the bottom line is kids, they try to get where they want to go, they're falling downstairs or going upstairs, they can always fall and injure themselves.

It's important to teach kids as early as you can about safety rules and also parents allowing them to realize that just supervision is the biggest key to prevent injuries. You want to check and maintain your childproofing devices to make sure, sometimes they have that sticky, substance that attaches to the cupboards, and over time it can get a little bit loose, just to make sure that they're still secure and those items are out of reach of our little children.

Host: Yeah, there's so much to think about, Amy. There really is. Now, you mentioned earlier in your top three was furniture tipping, and we've heard about this for a while, shelves, TVs, things. When I had young kids, I had my husband, DIY, all kinds of things. You know, these very elaborate devices that would hold that furniture really tightly against the wall or the TV.

I was always terrified of that. What are we looking at now to do that? To hold furniture to the walls, whether it's shelving units or televisions that are up on something. I mean, there's a lot right now.

Amy Frias, B.S.: It is a little bit scary. So some of the things parents could think about is storing heavier items low. So place heavier objects in the bottom drawer of the shelves of the furniture to reduce that risk of tipping over. And it's important not to place things on like shelves or like a dresser that entice children to climb up, to grab such thing that's up there.

Do you know what I mean? Because they are little climbers. And it's important to, again, teach kids not to climb on furniture. There's items that you can actually buy to actually help with the furniture. They're pretty inexpensive that you can do things that don't have to fasten into the wall, but that you secure it to the wall.

So I think we've gotten to a point where we don't have a lot of those older TVs that sit on there. Most people do have their TVs on the wall or on a flat surface so that it's not likely to tip over if the kids are up close to the TV.

You know, you always see little kids, they want to be right, right face onto the TV and if they're pulling on something and that falls on top of them, it can be a really bad injury.

Host: Well, I think you're right. I'm probably showing my age because the TVs are much lighter now anyway,and so they're not those big, humongous, heavy boxes. Now, one of the things that I think is so important. You mentioned teaching our kids from a young age, but also having their own safe spaces for play. And when we think about creating those spaces, whether it's like a sort of a playpen that you create in your living room or in their bedrooms or a playroom, what do we want to look for to do that, to make sure that those spaces are pretty free?

Because they do need that autonomy. They do need that space to roam around without having to worry about all the hazards.

Amy Frias, B.S.: And there are, there's like little play yards that you can actually put in your living room. They've come such a long way in these kind of items that parents can do. And obviously there's going to be some rooms, that are not accessible to kids like I definitely would work on keeping the bathroom doors closed, you know, things that you just want to consider doing and picking an area within the house, whether it's in the living room or you have a playroom, that these are all items that they can access without climbing and, that are safe. That you have the outlet covers, you have no furniture near windows, but that they can play freely.

And that way you can get some of your stuff done. So if you do kind of, kind of keep them a little bit more confined, you have more control of that area. And like you said, it really helps with their emotional wellbeing. And this gives them an opportunity to explore their environment and kids should be able to do that.

So it's important to keep that area very safe for those kids so they can do that without hurting themselves. It also helps them with a sense of security. It makes them feel like, okay, this is a very safe place and I can have my sense of belonging. I can kind of feel like I know what I'm doing and this is my stuff.

And it really kind of gives them that, like you said, autonomy. I definitely wouldn't put that in an area like where you have something that's dangerous, just keep in mind where your kids are going to be the safest in your home and doing what you need to do to make that area safer.

Host: One of the things I found so important that I asked my husband to take care of right away when our kids were little is putting a lock on the basement door, a high lock so the kids couldn't open a door and fall down the stairs to a basement when you're not keeping that door open and the baby gates and that sort of thing.

But you've given us really a lot to think about, but one of the things parents ask is when. Because when babies are little, they're not really doing much, and then maybe they start to crawl but not very fast and they can't really climb yet. When is it we start to baby proof our house?

Amy Frias, B.S.: The interesting thing with kids, and I always tell parents this, when I, whether I'm teaching CPR or I'm teaching them anything, I will tell them, kids don't announce to us when they learn a new task. They don't say, Hey mom, by the way, don't take your hand off me if you're changing my diaper on the couch because I can roll off.

They don't tell you they know how to roll until they have rolled off the couch. And that's the scary part of them. They don't announce a new, I've achieved this. I can do this now I can open this door. They don't tell us, and that's the scariest part. So honestly, I tell parents as soon as you possibly can, at least before like three to six months.

You want to do it before that. If you could do that even sooner, like once you bring the baby home and they're sleeping, one day I would just literally kind of do some research. Kids, you can't fall too far from the ground. So when changing their diaper, do it on the ground on a blanket. If you're using a changing table, make sure that you use the strap to have them secured. Do things that will help keep them safe because you don't know when they're going to be able to actually roll over or open that door. So I definitely would just when you get a chance, like I said, get down at their level and look around your house and see all the things and keep in mind, if you're changing them on the floor, they're not going to fall. If you're using the strap on the changing table, they're not going to roll off. You want to always make those choices. After you give them a bath, take them out and drain the bathtub. Doing those steps of always thinking about the safety step next because the bottom line is kids are relying on us to do what's safe for them and making that environment safe for them.

And I know that parents can be overwhelmed, but like I said, if you do it room by room and focus on the things that you can do and take your time when you're doing things, it'll be okay. We gotta keep them safe and it's about supervision and also education and environmental changes.

So those are just the three things that parents need to look at definitely before that three to six month age.

Host: That's such great advice. Amy, you're such a great guest as always, with really usable information and parents, take this information, walk around your house, as Amy says, room to room, crawl around. Be at eye level with your baby so you can see what they see that could be a hazard because that's really what it's all about, is keeping our kids safe and happy. So great information. Thank you so much for tuning into Long Live Childhood, a pediatric health and wellness podcast, brought to you by Rady Children's Health. Together we can keep kids happy, healthy, and thriving. If you enjoyed today's episode, please consider downloading, subscribing, rating, and reviewing Long Live Childhood on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, and Pandora.

Your support truly means a lot. I'm Melanie Cole. Thank you so much for joining us today.