One of the most important objectives for every parent is to ensure that your home is safe for toddlers and young children. A part of the home that is often forgotten is the garage. Making sure that your garage is safe for your little ones is extremely important. Sears Garage Doors has a few tips for how you can make sure that your garage is a safe place for your entire family.
Place All Equipment & Tools Out of Reach
The garage is often a great location to store equipment and tools such as power tools, lawn tools, gardening tools, and other types of equipment. Be sure that all of these items are out of reach from your toddler. If your toddler every wanders into the garage and can get a hold of these tools, there is the potential for problems and safety issues.
Car and Vehicle Safety
Many families choose to keep their vehicles inside of their garage. Make sure that your toddler never stands behind a running car in order to prevent a major accident from occurring. Always lock the doors to both the inside of your house and your car in order to make sure that your little one remains safe. If you keep bicycles, motorcycles or scooters in your garage, be positive that they are sturdy in order to prevent these vehicles from falling onto your toddler.
Place the Garage Door Opener Out of Reach
The placement of your electric garage door openers is important to your toddler’s safety. Place the garage door opener switch in a place that is high enough that your toddler will not be able to reach or touch it. Also, always make sure that your toddler is in a safe location whenever your garage door is opening or closing.
Protect Children From Chemicals & Cleaning Supplies
Keeping cleaning supplies and other chemicals that can be harmful to toddlers in the garage is very common. If you do this, be sure that all chemicals such as lighter fluid, antifreeze, and windshield wiper fluid are locked away and completely out of reach from your toddler. These chemicals can be very dangerous for your toddler and it is not worth the risk of leaving them on a low shelf.
Storage Safety
It only takes one inch of water for a toddler to drown. For this reason, make sure that all containers are faced down. This will prevent water or other liquids from accumulating in the container and becoming a potential danger to your child.
While making sure that your garage is a safe place may not be the first thing that comes to mind when childproofing your home, it is a very important part of the house to consider. There are many potential dangers in your garage such as vehicles, tools, and chemicals that you want to make sure are out of reach from your toddler. Check on all of the mentioned items and aspects and your garage will be a much safer place for your toddler!
Elena says
Great tips! Thanks for the info
shelly peterson says
Thanks for discussing this important safety topic and sharing your tips. I do not have a garage but my daughter does and has 2 little ones. I will pass this info on.
Julie Wood says
I have everything up on high shelves so my kids can not get into anything, and they never can get a hold of the garage door opener. These are good tips to remember!
Janet W. says
We have shelving in our garage and the dangerous items are placed up high. We also have a latch on the garage door so my grandsons don’t have access to go out that door without an adult.