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If you have kids of your own or care for little ones on a daily basis, you know that one of the biggest concerns on a parent's or caregiver's mind is keeping their children safe.
This can be incredibly hard to do, in general…but it can be especially hard to do when you have twins because once those multiples are mobile, you're screwed.
You're suddenly running this way and that way, somehow needing to be in two places at once almost all of the time.
...as a parent of twin toddlers, my daily step count is triple what it used to be before I had children...
When I tell you that, as a parent of twin toddlers, my daily step count is triple what it used to be before I had children, I am not kidding or over-exaggerating.
This is because I am living with two toddlers who have one mission: team up to help each other (every parent's dream), so they can reach higher and conduct as many toddler "safety experiments" as possible (every parent's nightmare).
If your twin toddlers are like ours, they spend a fair portion of their time getting crafty and collaborating to create cardiac-event-worthy chaos that actually makes you appreciate both their ingenuity and their teamwork.
Or they're doing different things at hyper-speed in the opposite directions of each other, leaving parents spread thin and trying to decide in a split-second which one is in greater danger and needs to be stopped and redirected first.
The ins and outs on childhood injuries
According to the most recent statistics from the Canadian Paediatric Society, over 3,200 children and youth are treated in emergency departments for injuries every day, for a grand total of around 1.2 million children who get treated in emergency room departments in Canada every year.
In the United States, approximately 9.2 million children go to the emergency room for accidental injuries every year, which averages out to more than 25,000 children who get treated in emergency room departments every single day.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), almost 2.2 million of those emergency room visits we just noted for each year are for fall-related injuries.
Falls are the most common cause of non-fatal injuries for children aged zero to 19 years old. They happen quickly, and they can't always be prevented because, as anyone who has a toddler knows, they can be very uneven on their feet as they figure out their center of balance and how their bodies work.
After falls, the other leading causes of unintentional injuries among children and teenagers, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians, vary by age and include (in no particular order) drowning, poisoning, suffocation, fires, burns, and motor vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian-related crashes.
Most of these injuries are preventable if parents take the time...and make the effort to increase the safety in their home...
Most of these injuries are preventable if parents take the time (I know, as a parent of twins myself: what time?!) and make the effort to increase the safety in their home environment by childproofing the heck out of the place.
Instead of chasing down your multiple speed-demons multiple times a day, get on babyproofing your home before they hit the ground running (or just straight-up hit the ground because, let's face it, they're still figuring out how to balance themselves on these things the big people keep telling them are called feet).
While we can't always be within arm's reach of both toddlers to instantly intercept absolutely every single potential danger our children may encounter, there ARE some pretty simple steps we can take to do our best to help prevent some of the most common injuries from occurring.
It's been proven that childproofing your home with safety devices such as security locks, stairway gates, cabinet locks, electrical outlet covers, and more helps lower preventable childhood injuries by up to 70 percent.
Here are 10 items that can help you childproof your home and keep it safer for your little ones as they learn to explore the world around them.
10 childproofing tools to help prevent the most common injuries in your home
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1. Door Guardian by Cardinal Gates
Turn Your Home into Fort Knox
This is the Door Guardian by Cardinal Gates. It's a childproof safety security lock that will prevent your little ones from escaping to investigate the great outdoors when your back is turned for a moment. This durable security lock resists forced entry (it's 10 times stronger than a standard deadbolt) and reinforces inward-swinging doors to prevent any unwanted escape attempts from any particularly gung-ho toddlers. The locking mechanism features a spring-loaded design that requires the lock to slide and rotate into an open position in order to access the door. A rubber liner sits flush against the door when it's locked, protecting it from the daily wear and tear of using the lock. It's available in six different finishes to complement your home: Antique Brass, Black, Brass, Satin Chrome, Satin Nickel, and White.
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2. Outlet Covers by 4Our Kiddies
Protect Those Curious Fingers
This is a 60-pack of three-prong outlet covers. They provide parents with easy access to outlets when they need them but provide secure coverage to keep your toddlers from putting their fingers or anything else into the socket, preventing electrical shock hazards. They're made of ABS plastic, which has excellent electric insulation properties, and they sit firmly in the plug, so they're not going to fall out once they're installed. They're designed with a U-ring pull handle that adults can manipulate but babies and toddlers can't, ensuring they stay in place until you want them to be removed.
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3. Double Outlet Concealer with Extension Cord & Power Strip by Sleek Socket
For Outlets You Want Covered AND Powered
If you need to have your cribs set up in a way where there's a remote chance your twins could find and try to play with an outlet on the wall, then you'll want to make sure they're properly babyproofed. Your standard outlet covers could do the trick, UNLESS you still need power by their cribs for their monitors. And in that case, these thin outlet concealers with a built-in extension cord and power strip are a wonderful solution. This exact model has a three-foot cord, so it's long enough to go from the outlet to sit underneath a crib and doesn't have a bunch of extra length to coil up or worry about your baby finding and grabbing. This unit works with all standard outlet sizes that have a round ground pin below the flat pin (visualize any three-pronged outlet you've seen in a home you've encountered). It also comes with an adhesive cord concealer kit, so there are no loose or hanging cords for your babies to discover; they'll be flush against the wall.
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4. Extra Wide Walk Through Pet Gate with Small Pet Door by Carlson Pet Products
You Shall Not Pass!
Babyproofing 101 will tell you to get a baby gate to prevent your toddlers from climbing up and from falling down the stairs. But if you have pets, the gates can prevent them from getting around the house to spots they need...like their litter box. This pet-friendly gate by Carlson Pet Products has a small door your pet can walk through when it's opened. You can open and close the smaller door at the bottom to allow access to different areas of the home as needed. These gates were incredibly handy in our home, ensuring everybody had a designated area and stayed safe while our babies grew and while our pets got used to their newest companions. And while you're at it, these wall protectors are a game-changer. I wanted to make sure we didn't do any damage when installing the safety gates, so we used these protectors to prevent any marks from the pressure-mounted gate. They are available in black, white, brown, or gray.
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5. Magnetic Cabinet Locks by Skyla Safety
Cut Out Chaos in the Kitchen
If you're looking for a quick, safe, and easy way to prevent your precious kiddos from wreaking havoc in your cupboards...or worse, finding their way into the drawer that stores all your knives and other sharp kitchen objects...you'll want to grab a pack or two of these magnetic cabinet locks by Skyla Safety. These multi-purpose 3M adhesive latches come in a pack of 12 and they're quick to install, requiring zero screws nor any tools to set up.
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6. Furniture Corner Guards by Komfortology
Soften Sharp Corners
This is an eight-pack of furniture corner guards that you can install easily to protect your little ones' noggins from bumps when they inevitably zoom too close to a a corner in their excitement to get where they're going. They're made with strong 3M adhesive and non-toxic rubber foam that's soft, dense (read: it absorbs impact), and durable. Installation is easy and can be done in a matter of minutes. All you have to do is cut the length with scissors to fit your furniture and adhere it in place.
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7. TV & Furniture Anti-Tip Straps by Bootwo
For Anchoring Large Items to the Wall
This is a pack of two heavy-duty metal straps for anchoring large items, like a TV, dresser, bookcase, or other bulky furniture, to the wall to prevent it from tipping over and toppling onto your toddlers. The safety straps are adjustable, they have an incredible jaw grip that prevents sliding, and the nylon webbing is triple-stitched for extra strength. These straps are made to withstand a load of up to 400 pounds.
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8. Iron Chevron Fireplace Screen by Fire Beauty
Protect Your Babies from Fire Hazards
This steady and durable wrought iron fireplace screen has a single-panel design with a protective dense mesh that effectively blocks flying or popping embers, creating a safer indoor environment for your kids and pets. This screen fits most conventional fireplaces and has two sturdy feet on the bottom of the frame to help keep the panel in position once it's been placed.
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9. Door Finger Pinch Guards by Esteopt
No More Pinched Pinkies
This is a seven-pack of foam safety guards for doors inside your home. You can use them to prevent pinched fingers when doors inevitably get slammed by over-zealous toddlers who are learning all about physics and cause-and-effect. These guards also precent your kiddos and your doggos (or cattos) from accidentally getting locked in a room.
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10. Toilet Lock by 4Our Kiddies
Protect that Potty
There's nothing worse than having to fish something out of the toilet. It doesn't matter what it is...if you're fishing it out, you're deeply regretting not installing a toilet lock to prevent your toddlers from tossing their toys, their toothbrushes (I speak from personal experience on this one), or any other small-ish sized items from around the home into their toilet to see what happens when they flush it down. You don't even want to think about the damage that can be done to your plumbing system if the items actually make it past the S pipe and can't be retrieved with a snake or grabber tool. A word of advice, always opt to grab the item and pull it back out instead of using a snake to push it further into the system. Just do yourself a favor before you run into any problems and grab a few of these to install in your home. You'll save yourself from some gnarly headaches you'd rather not deal with, and that, alone, is worth it.
Preventing common injuries is common sense
If we lived in a perfect world, everyone would always be safe, and your kids would never face danger or injuries.
But we don't live in a perfect world. We live in one where we're constantly chasing our toddlers who are trying to see the world at top-speed.
Even though we're busy running around most of the time, it's important to remember that we still live in a world where we can take some precautions to prevent some of the common dangers our toddlers will try to explore several times a day on a daily basis.
Taking the time to childproof your home can help prevent some of the most common injuries before they happen, keeping things safer for your little ones as they learn to explore the world around them.
How did you childproof your home to keep your twin toddlers out of trouble? Let us know in the Comments section below or connect with us on Instagram to share your thoughts!
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