Whilst no parent can anticipate every single possible danger their child may encounter around the home and garden, it is possible to anticipate and remove potential hazards. The easiest way to do this is to follow some general and basic garden safety guidelines. The first of these basic safety guidelines is to ensure that children playing in the garden are supervised at all times. They are most vulnerable between 2 and 5yrs of age - when they are curious and able to walk and therefore explore their world unaided, but haven't yet had time to learn a healthy respect for danger or the consequences of their actions. So that they have freedom to explore, but are restrained by a restricted and safety checked area install a fence around the perimeter of your garden (or the area you wish them to play in.) Fit any drives onto your property with gates and fit any gates with child proof locks to prevent your child from exploring their wider environment. If possible, fence off the driveway from the garden so that the child cannot unwittingly wander out to play behind a parked car. When installing fencing around your property, make sure that there are no gaps - it may appear impossible to crawl through to you, but your little one will almost certainly attempt to fit through it! The best fence is one with very small gaps or no gaps between panels or between the panels and the ground as this will prevent hands and heads getting stuck. If your garden is steep, with terraces or steps it is worth thinking about fitting a gate or fencing off the more dangerous sections. Soft grass and moss are perfect for bare feet, little bottoms and chubby knees. Thorny bushes, paving slabs and building rubble are not. Water features are a pleasure to adults and a delight to young children - and all can drown in just an inch of water. However, that is easy to fix if the toddler is never left unsupervised whilst playing near water. Ponds or fountains can be fenced around or covered with a purpose produced mesh which is fine enough for water and oxygen to filter through, but strong enough to support the weight of young people should they fall onto it. Paddling pools should be drained after use. Swimming pools should always be securely fenced around as children can find their way beneath pool covers and can fall into a drained pool if it is not fenced off. Most gardens contain more than just grass, in the form of flowers, shrubs, trees and vegetables. If you did not plant all the greenery within your garden, take some time to identify each specimen before allowing play there. With the internet, this is easy and is worth doing to rid your garden of anything poisonous that your toddler might decide to chew on. On this note be careful what you put on your garden such as slug pellets etc. Garages are best left closed. This way, you will avoid any potential for your offspring or anybody else's to get trapped in the space, play under or around the wheels of vehicles or burn themselves on hot exhaust pipes. Garage doors themselves require some safety procedures - make sure that your door has an emergency start/stop function to avoid it continuing to open or close if a small person is in the way and block easy access to your garage door openers so that clothes and therefore the little people they contain cannot get caught on moving parts as the door opens or closes. Above all, remember that child-proofing - whilst necessary for those of us with young ones busy exploring their world - is no substitute for parental supervision. Copyright (c) 2011 maud Business Solutions Ltd
Please Rate this Article 5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
