Playroom safety

When you have kids, it might feel like every room in your house has turned into a playroom. Toys seem to magically multiply and take over your home. The best way to reclaim your house is to make one room or small area into the playroom or play area. It will help you to stay organized, and even more important, you'll be creating a special environment that's safe and kid-friendly.

Organize the room

When you're having a tough day, just getting the toys put away seems like a major accomplishment. Organization is the key to making it easier. As a first step in organizing the playroom, get on your hands and knees and try to see the room from your child's perspective. This will help you determine how best to store his toys and identify the potential dangers in the playroom. Organize the room so that your child can easily reach her toys, thus eliminating the temptation to climb to get something she wants and allowing her to safely explore her space. Lots of handy storage makes it easy to put toys away where no one can trip over them.

Make organizing fun

You can turn the job of organizing a playroom into a fun project for you and your child. It's simple: Buy some sturdy plastic containers with lids that snap closed. Working together, fill the containers with different items, such as books in one, toy cars in another, and toy animals in another. Next, look in magazines for photos of the items in your containers and cut them out. Using glue labeled "nontoxic," "washable," or "for school use," attach the photos onto the corresponding containers. Glue is recommended only for kids over 5, so make sure you're supervising if your child is younger than that.

Beware of hinged lids

Toy chests or storage bins with hinged lids can fall on your child's head or neck, trapping her or causing serious injury. And children have been known to crawl into these chests and suffocate while trapped inside. If you have a toy chest, or any chest, with a freely falling hinged lid, the safest thing you can do is remove the lid entirely. Or you can add a lid support; heavy lids may require two. A lid support will keep the lid of the toy chest open in any position you choose. You can purchase a chest with a lid support or one that has hinges that support the lid, or you can install a lid support or two yourself. Check them frequently to ensure that they are still in good working order and that they do indeed work in any position. Remember to check, tighten, and adjust as needed.

Make toys accessible

When storing toys, use baskets, buckets, or other containers that allow your child to easily reach inside to pull out what she needs. Be sure that the toys in these containers are age-appropriate for all of your children. A 2-year-old should not share toys that are for a 6-year-old because of the danger to the younger child from small toy parts that could pose a choking hazard.

Don't put your young child's toys and games on high shelves or ledges

It's more than likely that he will figure out how to climb up to get them, with potentially deadly results. If he is allowed to have the toys, store them within his reach. If he shouldn't have them, keep them out of sight.

See also:

Car seats

Strollers

High chairs

Cribs