The Working House

Most infants could win the medal of honor. Their curiosity far exceeds their sense of danger.

Little Willie, age 2, in full battle gear, crawls over the top of the trench. He creeps through a mine field while pretty star shells burst overhead and picks up an unexploded grenade which he brings back into the trench to show his captain. “Ooka dis Capmum!” The captain and all the men jump out of the trench and rush the enemy. The enemy surrenders. Willy gets a medal.

Your home could be a mine field for children. Houses are designed for adults, with little regard for the needs of the smallest inhabitants.

Some architects and designers, however, are taking the first steps towards integrating aesthetically pleasing child-safe features into new homes. Their work was recently showcased by The National Institute of Children’s Environments, Inc. (NICE), a chapter of the National Safety Council. Child safety can be easily incorporated into the design of a new home; write to NICE, 23622 Calabasas Road, Suite 149, Calabasas, Calif., 91302 for suggestions.

But in an older home, it is still a matter of retrofitting with a wide array of child safety devices and learning to recognize potential hazards. According to Don Vandervort, author of “Making Your Home Child-safe” (Lane Publishing, Menlo Park, Calif., $6.95), there are some basics that must be attended to before any of the safety gadgets are installed, because it is the basics that make for a truly child-safe home.

For example, post a list of emergency numbers near the telephone. The time it takes to act may make the crucial difference. Get a good first aid kit that includes supplies for treating poisoning.

Turn the temperature on your hot water heater down to 120. Wind up drape cords and pick up objects that could be swallowed or harmful. Don’t use tablecloths. Pleasure, for a 2-year-old, is yanking the tablecloth and listening to the exciting cascade of French china.

Your house may be equipped with smoke alarms, but children must be taught what to do if the alarm sounds. Don’t tell them to bat it with a broom like most adults do; show them how to leave the house safely, instead.

Finally, child-proofing gadgets aren’t babysitters. Infants must still be watched even after the gadgets are installed.

Available gadgets

A toilet seat lock will keep the toilet closed to toddlers. Dogs prefer that water; kids might too.

Pads for sharp edges and corners can be fashioned with the same foam tape used to weatherstrip doors and windows.

Cord clamps on lamps and small appliances will keep them on the table or counter, rather than smashed on the floor.

Child-proof latches on cabinet doors, particularly under the sink, will keep baby from guzzling lemon oil polish.

Baby gates at doorways and the top and bottom of stairways prevent a dangerous tumble. Block the woodstove or heater with a fence, too.

A loose fitting doorknob sleeve requires an adult’s grip to open a door meant to exclude a curious child. Don’t install these on doors that the child might need to use in an emergency.

Protective covers on electrical outlets can eliminate shocks. There are two types: one covers an outlet with a chord in it and the other covers an empty socket.

A “spout snout” is a soft foam cover that fits over the bathtub spout — a likely place for a child to bonk her head.

The best thing about child-proofing gadgets is that once they are installed, you can sit back and enjoy the fumblings of your adult friends as they try to work out the puzzles.

Despite their endless quest for fantasy, children do grow up in the real world. They can’t be protected from every danger but they can be provided with a relatively safe environment that doesn’t inhibit their joyful curiosity.