Christmastime is the happiest time of year. Who doesn’t love the smell of wonderful cookies and Christmas dinner and the smell of a fresh cut Christmas Tree or freshly unboxed artificial tree 😉 I know with all the decorating and running around it’s easy to forget one thing or another? Staying home keeps you in your familiar surroundings and a kid-safe environment. So here are some tips and tricks to keep the kids safe for the Holidays at home and during travels. When we are packing for grandma’s or driving to see friends and family it’s always good to have a travel plan to keep kids safe.
Here are 8 Tips to Keep Kids Safe.
Shop Safe
Buy toys and other gifts from reputable sellers if shopping online make sure the seller has good reviews. Avoid buying toys that have already been opened or are knock-off counterfeits as the safety standards may not be as strict as the original makers. Just because it’s popular it may not make it age specific, check the guidelines, for small pieces.
Decorate Safe
Put small decorations up high and out of reach watch out for loose batteries and small pieces of plastic or plastic boxes from opened packages. Throw out plastic bags and wrappers, look out for the puppies chewing on wrappers as well.
Sleep Safe
If staying with relatives do a walk through before you let the kids loose. Just because your house is childproof doesn’t mean your relatives are as vigilant. Block off stairways and lock cupboards just like at home, if there are unfamiliar pets, keep kids out of their faces and protect from overexciting the pets.
Cook Safe
Kitchens are crazy busy at regular dinners but add in a few relatives maybe a visiting pet and people adding and taking goodies out of the oven and plugging in warmers and carrying serving platters. The Best bet is to keep kids clear of the kitchen, but if you must have kids in the kitchen here are some safe cooking tips not just for the holidays. Tug all cords up high and avoid using wobbly tables to hold hot or heating up foods on short temporary tables that could be easily knocked over.
Drink Safe
Keep alcohol and bits and bobs of leftover drinks away from the kids. It’s easy for children to drink after everyone in a room be sure it’s not your spiked eggnog. Keep spiked drinks obvious maybe make your spiked eggnog red and your regular eggnog, well regular 🙂
Medicate Safe
Having loads of people visiting or going to lots of peoples house for the holiday makes you susceptible to the medicine habits of everyone else. Make sure children don’t have access to medicine cabinets or if parents and grandparents leave meds by the bed, make sure all of it is tucked away. Especially nowadays with all the pretty colored pills, it’s a way to easy for a child to mistake it for pretty candy.
Candle Safe
When using candles for decoration make sure they are up high and not next to any decorations or on temporary tables that can be bumped. Keep them out of the running path of the kids, dogs, and company. Keep candles in one general area so you don’t miss one or two when blowing them out.
Christmas Light Safe
It may look pretty to sleep with the fireplace on and the Christmas tree lite up and all the outside lights aglow. Be sure to turn off everything before going to bed or leaving the house. If you prefer to have the lights on late put all lights on a timer, extinguish the fireplace and always keep screen and doors closed. Check your smoke alarm batteries before you get busy.
Here’s to a safe and Happy Holiday Season, we appreciate you and wish for wonderful family times and lots of good memories.
Talk soon,
Kristi Linebaugh
Flamingo Mom Blog 