Still on electricity safety - appliances and cords

Safety is a cheap and effective insurance policy.  ~Author Unknown

I was watching a show on TV some time ago with my friend, enjoying it and getting along well when the screen went blank. No, it wasn’t a power cut (or our dear PHCN) as we usually have to deal with that a lot here. Her 16 month old son who was playing around had made his way to the socket, pulled out the TV plug and was standing there looking all mischievous with a big smile on his face. His mum complained that he had done that a number of times and was wondering what to do to stop it.

I’m guessing this is something some
of us may have experienced a few times, and it could be really annoying when it happens in the middle of a favourite show or movie; this is also not forgetting the most important fact that pulling out plugs like that could be potentially dangerous to the child, as well as damage your electrical appliances. 

Unfortunately, I do not know of any safety product that can prevent kids from doing that. There is a simple suggestion however, in addition to a few more cost-free suggestions for keeping children safe in our world of electrical appliances and devices. Please see below:

• To prevent your crawling babies and toddlers from constantly pulling off plugs from the wall sockets, make the sockets inaccessible to them. You can do this by just moving your furniture right across the area where it is located. Of course this may mean rearranging your furniture in the rooms where this happens often, but I think it is much better than letting them tamper with the sockets, and it costs nothing. J

• Sometimes, there may be some appliances plugged close to where they are being used, but have excessively longs cords hanging down or lying around (e.g. your TV close to the wall or reading lamps by the bedside). To prevent this from posing a tripping hazard or targets for toddlers to grab, just fold the excess cord in a bundle and wrap it around with an adhesive tape (preferably duct tape). 

• Cords or cables should not be left dangling from appliances whether in use or not (e.g. blender, hand dryer, devices left to charge on table tops or surfaces etc). Babies, when learning to stand or walk are quick to grab on to things for support. They can pull on anything they see and do not have the skill to react quickly to dangers. When they see these cords hanging down, they could pull on them causing the items to drop, and leading to severe injuries. Try to put away appliances immediately after use.

• Standing (pedestal) fans which we tend to use a lot here, should have a solid weighted base and should be kept as close to the points where they are plugged as possible (excess cord should also be folded and duct-taped).  I know we had this silly habit of speaking into standing fans as kids to make our voices sound like aliens/robots J. Sometimes my siblings and I would push ourselves around to have a go at it; thankfully, it didn't fall on anyone. If you are still concerned about the standing fans for kids that like to experiment by sticking their fingers in the spokes, maybe you could try the bladeless fans. Table-top fans should also be kept away from the edge of the table.

• Switches are very tempting for toddlers as they enjoy pushing the on/off buttons on electric sockets. If you do not have a full socket cover, put a duct tape over the button so they become tamper-proof.

    That's all I have for now. I'll let you share any cost-free tips you have with us in the comment section. 

The Baby Analyst.

Not a doctor, just a financial analyst who loves kids