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As your little one starts crawling and exploring every nook and cranny of the house, he will eventually make his way into the bathroom. A few preventive measures can keep him safer. (See more about childproofing your home.)
1. Install toilet latches on all toilet lids. As soon as a curious baby can pull himself up, he may decide to have a look inside the toilet, or a toddler may try to fish out something he dropped in. In either case, he can go in headfirst if he loses his balance. The best toilet latches are easy for adults to use but hard for children, and they reset themselves after use. (Learn how to keep kids safe around water.)
2. Make sure your towel bars are securely fastened to the wall. Even if they are, remember that a towel bar is not a grab bar; it's designed to support the weight of a towel, not a person—even a little person. Try to hang your towels so your child can't reach up and pull on them. And as he grows, teach him that pulling on the towel bar is a no-no. Likewise, be careful yourself not to whip towels off the bar when your child might be underneath.
3. Stash the stool. Once your child is a toddler, you'll want a stool in the bathroom to help him reach the sink faucet. But don't let him use the stool near a window where he might fall out, near window cords that might strangle him, or near anything else that's unsafe for him. And be sure to stash the stool someplace where your child can't find it when you're not looking.
4. Childproof the bathroom doorknob. Purchase a child-proof cover for the bathroom door knob that adults can open by gripping and turning the plastic cover. That way, kids won't be able to enter the bathroom alone in the first place.
Check back next Friday for Part 2 of Childproofing the Bathroom.
What ways do you childproof your bathroom or other parts of your home? Share your ideas in comments.
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