When children grow up, they have unique physical and psychological needs to meet. Therefore, it’s crucial for parents, guardians, or caregivers to modify the home when kids are growing up to support their development and ensure their health, safety, comfort, and overall well-being. But how do you go about it?
Below are some of the best ways to modify your home as your child grows up:
1. Childproof Your Home from Electrical Hazards
Make your home child-friendly by ensuring electrical safety. Here are some suggestions to make your home free from electrical hazards:
Install Tamper-Resistant Receptacles
These electrical receptacles prevent anything from being inserted into electrical sockets other than electrical plugs. Unlike ordinary electrical outlet covers, tamper-resistant receptacles stay in place and passively protect your little one from the electrical system.
Install Surge and Power Strip Protector
Because every extension cord and power strip are a safety hazard for exploring children, it’s crucial to install a protector in these electrical components.
Hide Cords and Wires
Extension cords should be temporary because they aren’t suitable for small children. You can hide cords and wires using electrical tape, behind furniture, cord covers, cord clips, and electrical conduits.
2. Upgrade the Bed
Your child grows taller every year. The growth rate is faster than you imagine, prompting the need to upgrade your child’s bed. While siblings usually prefer to sleep together, having individual beds is better to promote undisturbed sleep as well as proper growth and development.
Parents usually consider a twin bed with rails to facilitate the growth and ensure the safety of their little ones. This type of bed is available in brick-and-mortar furniture stores and dedicated bed online shops.
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3. Renovate Storage Compartments
Kids love to explore the surroundings, touching everything they see, spilling liquids, digging soil, and inhaling gases from food carton boxes to colognes and perfumes. That’s why parents and guardians should be extra keen on leaving potentially harmful things around such as the following:
- Flammable materials like matches and torches
- Chemicals such as liquid soap, bleach, and other cleaning solutions
- Toxic substances like solvents and acids
- Important documents such as birth certificates, licenses, etc.
- Dangerous objects like knives and guns
Keep these things away from children’s reach. Renovate your storage areas and make sure they’re high enough so curious kids won’t reach and play with the things kept inside.
4. Eliminate or Caution Sharp Edges
Furniture pieces tend to have sharp ends and edges. Children may encounter accidents when around with them. So, it’s a good idea to modify your home by cautioning sharp furniture edges using specially designed protectors that you can buy in home improvement stores.
5. Install Railings
Railings are safety features of a child-friendly home. You can install railings on possible areas where your child may fall or stumble such as staircases. Hire a professional to securely build railings like steel or aluminum to safeguard your child and prevent any untoward accident at home.
6. Install Home Security Features
Home security cameras and smoke sensors aren’t just for monitoring adult activities. These security devices are also important in children’s safety. Aside from installing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in your backyard to deter burglars and other criminals from entering your property, installing surveillance cameras in children’s rooms is essential for growing up kids.
With CCTV cameras and sensors in place, you can monitor your child even if you’re not with them or even when you’re at work.
7. Make Your Home Lively and Clean
Your child deserves a clean and beautiful home. So, make your home lively by changing your boring decors to interesting ones that children will admire and learn from as they grow old such as wind chimes and art decors.
Check out the other home decoration and renovation tips to make your home lively and clean:
- Replace your old fabric sofa with easy-to-wipe and clean leather or faux leather sofa.
- Repair broken fixtures such as faucets, tiles, windows, and doors that growing children may try to open, use, or come in contact with and potentially cause an accident.
- Repair leaks, cracks, and damages on the floor, walls, and ceilings that can cause safety hazards to children and even adults.
Conclusion
It’s important to modify your home as your child grows up. By upgrading the bed, installing safety features, and ensuring your living space is child-friendly can make a huge difference in attaining proper growth and development as well as reaching developmental milestones without so much stress and difficulty. Consider the ideas mentioned here as you plan and prepare.
