The greatest addition to your life is a child. Naturally, you’ll want to protect your child from harm and one of the most dangerous areas in your child’s world is his home. The average family has about six electrical outlets per room. If you have a three bedroom home with a kitchen and living room, that equals 30 outlets. Each one that sits near the floor presents potential harm to a curious toddler.

Identify Your Home’s Hazards

The process of baby proofing your electrical inside and out begins with you identifying all the potential hazards that your home presents to your infant or toddler. They are just now learning about their world as well as learning to walk. You’ll need to protect your baby from innocently playing with wall outlets, surge protectors and you’ll need to dispose of tripping hazards such as long electrical cords stretching across the floor.

The Best Child Outlet Protectors

Select the best wall outlet protector for your child and if possible you the adult. To baby proof open outlets, use individual outlet caps, paired outlet caps, press-fit outlet plugs or safe-plate outlet covers.

• Safe-plate Outlet Covers-cover the entire outlet and have a sliding access to the plug. Most children are not able to slide the cover over long enough to stick something into the opening.
• Press-fit Outlet Plugs-these plugs have to be pressed to remove, which is an action the child would not be able to perform.
• Outlet caps-single and paired simply insert into the outlet. They have an exterior solid cap preventing anything else from being inserted.

Prevent Your Child from Playing the Big Kid

Another hazard is the child attempting to use the outlet for plugging something up, which would normally be acceptable for an older child. To prevent your young child from attempting this action use Baby-safe electrical outlet covers, an adaptor and plug cover or a childproof power strip cover. All of these covers are not easily removed by adults, so your child should be safe.

Get Rid of Tripping Hazards

The last electrical hazard is the electrical cord. Long cords stretched across the floor can be a tripping hazard. There are two ways to reduce the danger posed by cords. Covering them with a duct cord cover will reduce the chance that a foot will be tangled in a cord. Another option is to simply shorten the cord with an electric cord shortener.

Don’t wait to see if your child will be safe from the dangers lurking in your home. Call TFC Electric today to get a full list of safety devices you can install today to keep your most precious gift safe.