Home Safety Checklist for Young Kids while Mom is Homeschooling

You are a good, caring homeschool mom. You want to keep kids safe, especially your younger ones while you are homeschooling. Mobile babies and toddlers love to explore and that can be dangerous. When you are busy homeschooling your older kids, safety for toddlers can be at risk. But it doesn’t have to be! In this post, we will share a Home Safety Checklist for young kids while Mom is homeschooling. I hope you find it helpful!

Home Safety Checklist for Young Kids while Mom is Homeschooling

Let me ask you several questions to get your wheels turning for a bit.

• Do you have curious and adventurous babies and toddlers?
• Does that make you nervous and stressed while you are homeschooling your older kids?
• What household safety measures do you take to ensure your little ones are safe?

Here, we will share some parenting tips for toddlers and babies that don’t want to stay near you while you do school at home. Baby and toddler safety is paramount, so take a look at our checklist below.

1     Keep a list of emergency numbers (911, Poison Control, Pediatrician, Neighbor, etc) and step-by-step instructions on who to call and what to do in case of an emergency. Here is a free printable template. Print it out, fill it out and go over it with all of your children once a month. I cannot stress how important safety information for kids and families is.

2     Go around your house on your knees (a toddler’s perspective) and check out what they see and what they can reach, including the kitchen cabinets. Are there any long objects that can strangle your mobile baby or toddler? Think: blind or curtain cords, any electrical cables that are long enough to place around the neck, any apron strings, ribbon or rope that might be hanging low.  Please check all of your window coverings and any exposed cords that are dangling.

For future reference, cordless window coverings and blinds are the way to go! I’d like to point out that October is National Window Covering Safety Month, so I want to recommend a product that I think will give you so much peace of mind while your littles roam around your house while you are busy homeschooling. Look for products that are part of the Best for Kids™ certification program.

Discuss safety facts with kids that are old enough to understand. They can help you keep their eyes open for dangers around your house.

3     Again, go around your house on your knees (a toddler’s perspective) and check out what they see and what they can reach. Are there any small or tiny objects that can choke your mobile baby or toddler?

Think: small items like Legos, corn kernels, hard candy, any homeschooling hands-on or craft materials like googly eyes, brads, clay or play dough, staples, etc. When doing fine motor skills activities with kids, do it always under supervision and keep these in places that are out of reach!

4     While walking at toddler height, do you see any sharp objects that can cut your mobile baby or toddler? Think: Tacks, knives, hole punch, stapler, scissors, etc. Home safety for children is very important, so please try your best to be thorough and remove all of these from their reach and keep in a safe place.

One often-overlooked aspect of home safety is ensuring that your furniture is child-friendly. Toddlers learning to walk can easily stumble into sharp corners, especially on coffee tables, cabinets, or even a sofa bed with hard edges. To minimize the risk of injury, consider using corner guards on sharp edges and securing larger pieces of furniture to the wall to prevent tipping. A well-padded sofa bed can also be a safer seating option in play areas, reducing the chances of bumps and bruises. Taking these extra precautions will help create a safer environment for your little ones while you homeschool.

5     Is there anything high that they can climb on and fall from and hurt themselves? Think: stools, chairs, step ladders, flights of stairs, etc. If they are in another room, try to keep the doors to those rooms closed so they can’t get in and climb on them. If they are in the room your are at, place something on them so they are not able to climb on all the way.

More Home Safety Tips for Kids

6     Look around for anything that could hold water that is within reach. Think: bathtubs, toilets, sinks, buckets, etc. Keep bathroom places drained always and all bathroom doors closed for good measure. Empty any containers with standing water that could be a drowning hazard for mobile babies and toddlers.

You also need to consider water temperature, as hot water is a serious burn risk for young babies and toddlers. So, be sure to clearly display a caution hot water sign in both the kitchen and bathroom to prevent accidents and injuries.

7     Look around and determine if there are any liquids or powders that could be considered poison. Think: kitchen cleaners, bathroom cleaners, hand sanitizers, laundry soap, laundry pods, etc. Keep all of these completely out of reach. They need to be in a locked cabinet or in a completely sealed container with a lid.

8     Are there any blunt objects that can hurt your child? Think: night stands, tables, dressers or anything that could fall on top of a child. Secure all of these items with brackets and screws. Many can be secured to the wall or to the floor, depending on where they are located in the house.

9     Lastly, look around every room and see if there are any electrical outlets that are exposed, especially those that are within reach (which would be almost all outlets). Remember that littles are curious and can jab any little thing into an outlet, so be extra vigilant and don’t take it for granted that they will ignore the outlets. Be sure to block them with either outlet covers or with something like a piece of furniture. And don’t forget those that might not be within 18 inches from the floor. We have some on our kitchen cabinets, right below the countertop. Those are within reach, too.

I know you care about the home safety for kids, toddlers and babies. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this. I appreciate you wanting to have peace of mind that your littles will be safe while you are teaching the older kids during your homeschooling day. Following these 9 tips will get you on the right track.

Involve your older kids. I’ll bet they will have fun running around on their knees, giving you a few new pairs of eyes on these safety concerns around the home. Then you can know that you can homeschool in peace and get more out of your day! For more information, consult the WCSC Facebook Page