Kitchen Safety For Kids

Kids are curious beings, and that curiosity can sometimes get them into trouble. In the modern household, many adults spend most of their time in the kitchen.

Not only is it a social hub, it’s also where most of our meals are prepared and eaten. There are so many different things to keep track of when it comes to keeping your children safe around the kitchen, which is why I’ve compiled this short guide on how to be safe around the kitchen as a parent.

Below is a handy table of contents. Clicking on any of the article headers below will jump you straight to the place on this page you are interested in.

Don’t leave Children Unsupervised In The Kitchen

If you’re in your kitchen preparing a meal, having your child helping with the preparation can be both fun and educational.

In fact, it’s a great way to not only teach them about food and cooking, but a great way to teach them about the various dangers a kitchen can pose.

For instance, my little one knows never to go near the oven – ever.

Regardless of whether the oven is on or not, he still exercises extreme caution around the area of the oven, because from a very early age he’s been taught the the oven is very hot and can burn (or as he used to say, ‘the oven is burny’).

But if you’re going to leave the room, even for just a few minutes, it goes without saying that your child should bever ever be left unsupervised in the kitchen area, especially if you have pans on the hob, or the oven on.

One way of keeping your child safe is the use of baby gates, this way you can keep places like kitchens and stairs segregated and ensure your own peace of mind.

And of course, in a kitchen, there’s plenty of food. When your children are young, you should always supervise their eating and take the neccessary precautions to prevent them from choking.

Child Locks – Cupboard And Drawers

Curious minds will explore without grasping the potential consequences their endeavours can bring.

If your home is anything like my home, we keep things like medicines, paracetemol tablets, and sharp knives and other utensils that could get a chikd quickly into trouble.

And you you don’t want your child rummaging through drawers where they can easily put things in their mouth.

If you have an adjustable cabinet or drawer handle, make sure to lock it so your child can’t pull the drawer open by accident.

You can also install a child-proof cabinet or drawer lock to prevent your child from gaining access and opening them.

We can also include windows in this section. If you have a window that is easily accessible by a child who climbs better than Spiderman, consider installing child safety locks to your windows.Best Child Safety Locks For Windows (UK Top 3)

Countertops – Strategic Thinking

When you’re cooking, you should always keep your countertops clear.

This includes cooking ingredients, utensils, leftover food, and any potential hazards.

While you’re in the middle of preparing a meal, you should keep your countertops clear so your child can’t reach over and accidentally pull a pan of hot ingredients onto themselves.

The easiest way to ensure they can’t reach is to cook on the hobs that are the furthest away from them, making sure any wires for kettles or air fryers are not overhanging the countertop and ensuring things like knives and other sharp utensils are kept away from the edge of the countertop.

Summary

Be sure to stay alert and watchful at all times.

ROSPA state that every year more than 67,000 children experience an accident in the kitchen; 43,000 of these are aged four and under.

You can improve kitchen safety for kids by doing the simple things, like:

Having a child in a kitchen that is in use is no different to them having a bath – you wouldn’t leave your child unattended in a bath, and the same should go for kitchen areas.

Of course, you can remove all the risk of an accident in the kitchen by making the kitchen a no go area, especially when they are very young.

That being said, children learn a lot of the fundamentals when they are very young, so excluding them altogether from the kitchen environment means they may well lose the educational impact that an adult can provide whilst in the kitchen – as well as the fun from helping to cook and learning all about food and food preparation.

Other Articles You May Like

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• – ROSPA
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• – What Age Should Children Learn to Swim?
• – Checking On Elderly & Vulnerable Neighbours This Winter
• – Best Medicine Box Organiser
• – Child Locks For Windows (UK Top 3)

Questions & Comments

If you have a question or a comment on this article, please use the comments box below. I’ll try my best to reply to each and every one of your questions, comments and suggestions.

Stay Safe. Stay Secure.