Keeping our children safe is a critical part of parenthood, but most of us are guilty of overlooking unsafe things in the home, like glass light bulbs that can smash when water splashes on them to cupboards that slam shut and trap fingers.
Kids’ bedrooms are notorious for slack safety, despite most children spending hours every week in there playing and a third of their lives sleeping.
This article reveals 10 safety tips for kids’ bedrooms to help tighten your ship.
Let’s jump in!
1. Tether furniture to walls
No matter how tall or wide the furniture is, it is safer tethered to walls around children to eliminate the possibility of tip-over injuries and deaths.
You can tether furniture to walls with metal screw plate brackets or dedicated furniture straps. Not all furniture comes with a tethering kit, so you should check and ensure that you have a kit ready to go when you install the furniture.
2. Say no to all glass.
Glass in a kid’s bedroom is just asking for trouble. Plastic is a safe option for cups, bottles, and light bulbs. Wood is another option for cups and plates, but it is less resistant to rough playtime.
3. Use soft close hinges.
Installing soft close hinges on wardrobes, drawers, toy boxes, and even the bedroom door will eliminate the risk of trapped fingers. You can upgrade most standard hinges or buy new furniture with soft-close hinges as standard.
4. Use corner and edge guards.
Corner protectors for furniture and tabletops and edge guards for walls are a must to ensure that accidental bumps do not cause cuts and lacerations.
Most corner protectors and edge guards are made from polyvinyl chloride or TPU, although hard foam ones work well too.
5. Make plug sockets safe.
You can make plug sockets safe by installing blanking plugs, which sit flush with the socket casing and are difficult to pry off without a flat tool.
If you have things plugged into a socket, such as a nightlight, you can stop your kid from messing with them by installing a socket cover box.
6. Consider a bed guard for young children.
Once your child reaches age four, they are ready for a single bed, but most standard single beds do not have a bed guard to stop them from falling out.
You can add a bolt-on bed guard to increase safety at bedtime or buy a kid’s bed with a bed guard as standard, like the Nordic Mill Teddy.
Curious children have a habit of climbing onto windowsills to see the world outside, which spells disaster if you have heavy items on them.
Ornaments, hardback books, and other items that would crush a foot if dropped from height are a no-no for windowsills in kids’ bedrooms.
8. Use a good night light.
A night light that emits a soft but helpful glow will help your child navigate their bedroom during the night without bumping into things.
Night lights are also helpful for children who fear the dark, helping them relax and stay settled even in the middle of the night.
9. Invest in adequate storage solutions.
You can’t stop your kid’s bedroom from turning into a mess, but you can at least promote a tidy bedroom and organise all those toys, books, and bits and bats.
A tidy bedroom is safe because there are fewer tripping and stepping hazards. A soft-close toy box that stays open on a strut and toy storage organisers with plastic bins are great storage solutions for children’s bedrooms.
10. Avoid bunk beds and high sleepers until age 8.
Bunk beds and high sleepers are useful for sleepovers and children sharing a bedroom, but they are also deadly for children under eight due to the risk of falling out of bed.
Children under eight are more likely to take risks and fall out of bed, which can lead to severe injury or death. Read our guide to bunk bed safety to find out more.
