3 ways to protect them

Corner Protector

If you've ever been around little ones, you'll know what I'm taking about. The energy! The restlessness and the drive to constantly be on the go, touching, feeling, tasting, grabbing, pulling, poking, e.t.c. It's how they explore their new world. Everything is new to them and they find the most mundane (to us) things absolutely fascinating.

Unfortunately some objects they will encounter are not very benign to them, as they are to us. We have learnt to navigate our surroundings through experience - they haven't. Simple things like sharp edges, wet surfaces or hot liquids that we take for granted could do them a lot of harm.

Thankfully, there are many ways to make their environment safer of which I bring you three. These are amongst the cheapest, yet most protective items that can really up the safety of an environment for a little one.

1. Corner Protectors.

These are small soft bits that can be attached to the corners of structures like tables and chairs with sharp edges. They're not all created equal however; some are made of rubber, some of plastic. I like the silicon ones the best. Silicon has a higher heat tolerance than plastic or rubber and is chemically safe. Another thing to consider is how they attach to the corners. The adhesive should not be permanent but strong enough to prevent being pulled off by the little one. Also, it should not mess with the paint or polish of your furniture. Get these ones, they're cheap and cheerful, yet tick all the aforementioned boxes.

2. Adhesive Wall Hooks.

Adhesive Hook

You've seen the warnings on virtually everything; "keep out of reach of young children". This is a serious warning. Rugrats will pick something up, look at it for a few seconds and put it in their mouth for further investigation. That's just what they do. Soon enough you're going to run out of out-of-reach places to put things. That's where hooks come in handy. Unless you want to make holes all over your beautiful walls, then I recommend no-nail adhesive hooks. These ones come with a transparent adhesive pad that promise not to mess with your paint work. What's more, they're reusable and hold up to 6kg! Yes, you can also hang photos on them. Heck you can really get creative with these - for example you can use them to hang window blinds on plasterboard walls where nails or screws can be problematic.

3. Socket Safety Covers. 

Socket Cover

I remember it like yesterday, that night in Providence, Rhode Island, when my sister put a hair pin into a socket and got electrocuted before my very eyes. She survived, thankfully, but that experience has never left me. One could say I was traumatised by it. My sister was treated for electrocution, but I was never treated for trauma I don't think.

So simple, yet so effective are socket covers that one should probably have them anyway little one or not. Granted, American (and continental European) sockets are a lot more dangerous because they don't have switches like in the UK and countries of the former British Empire, but I find that many people forget (or aren't bothered) to switch off sockets. They are cheaper than a Mocha at Starbucks for a pack of 12 or so. Check Amazon for socket covers to suit your local type of socket.

So there you have it. Over to you, can you suggest any more? I'm genuinely interested.