Safety at Different Ages

1. When should I childproof my home?

We strongly recommend that you childproof your home before your baby starts to crawl. Babies typically start to crawl at about 6 to 9 months, although some can start earlier. Some infants skip crawling all together and go directly to walking. To be really prepared, you should consider childproofing your home when your baby is about 4 to 5 months old.

2. My 5-month old is already beginning to crawl and I need to childproof my home fast! Do you have any suggestions?

Your baby is progressing to the next stage of his natural development, which can be an exciting time for you both, but can also increases the potential for injury. Here are a few tips for you to consider as the first steps towards childproofing your home:
Conduct a "crawling tour" - get down on all fours and examine your home from your child’s point of view. Check closely for small items under furniture or between cushions. Be sure and examine the entire house from this perspective.
Secure cabinets and drawers that contain cleaning supplies and cosmetics, as well as perfume and mouthwash, both of which contain high levels of alcohol.
Place plants that could be toxic to your child out of reach. Also, you may want to check out our Plant Saver cover to keep children from playing with the dirt in your household plants.

3. Do you have any kind of cover for electric baseboard heaters? I am concerned that my one-year old might burn her hands on our baseboard heaters.

We do not offer any specific product for covering electric baseboard heaters. You may want to re-arrange your furniture so that the heaters are not as accessible to your curious daughter. Just be sure that the furniture is far enough away so as not to be a fire hazard.
You can also try keeping her favorite toys near the middle of the room and away from the heaters. One solution would be to purchase one of our freestanding gates to confine her to the middle of the room while she plays.

4. My 2-year old has figured out how to unlock our screen door. Do you any suggestions for keeping him from doing this?

Yes, most hardware stores carry a sliding bold for screen doors.

5. Is it best to childproof my home in stages, according to my baby’s development, or to do it all at one time?

We recommend that you anticipate each level of your baby’s development and childproof your home accordingly. Be sure and childproof before your child reaches that next stage. This will ensure your child’s safety and keep you one step ahead of him or her at all times, while allowing you time to adjust to the new equipment in your home.

6. I have an 8-month old crawler and a 7-year old. How can I keep my baby from playing with my older daughter’s toys?

We recommend installing one of our wall-mounted gates in the doorway of your older child’s room. This will protect your 8-month old from accessing your older child’s potentially unsafe toys, and provide your older daughter with some privacy as well.

7. Is there any way to keep my toddler from playing with the knobs on our kitchen stove and oven?

Stove knob locks and covers keep curious toddlers from turning on burners and the oven. Our Stove Knob Locks keep stove knobs locked in the off position. They install underneath the knob and prevent it from twisting or turning. When you're ready to cook, simply slide out the lock. These locks also work well for outdoor gas grills.
Our Stove Knob Covers are great for use on stoves with larger knobs. Our see-through covers fit over the large knobs and lock them in place.

We also offer a durable Stove Guard that helps prevent tots from reaching hot burners, as well as pots, pans, and utensils placed on the stove top.

Common Household Accidents

1. What are the most common types of household accidents?

Fire and burns, suffocation, drowning, choking, falls, poisoning, and accidental firing of firearms are the most common types of accidents that can occur in the home. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that most home accidents happen where there is water, heat or flames, potential for a fall, or where toxic substances, including medications, are stored.

Although we highly recommend our childproofing products and services, nothing replaces the necessity of watching your child or children at all times. Even if you have your home childproofed, it only takes a moment for a toddler to fall, burn themselves, or swallow something toxic. You are your child’s most full-proof protector!

2. We have heard about tragic accidents involving children who were crushed to death after furniture tipped over on them. How can we prevent such a tragedy from happening to our precious twin boys?

This concern is easily resolved with our durable, super-strong furniture and appliance straps. These straps attach to the walls to secure furniture and prevent tip-overs. We also offer furniture brackets to secure smaller pieces of furniture.

3. Is there any way to protect our child from kitchen injuries without having to install numerous latches on our cabinets and drawers?

Yes. Installing a safety gate at the entrance to your kitchen is a quick, easy solution for keeping your child safe from potential kitchen injuries, without having to install latches on your cabinets, drawers, refrigerator and oven. We offer a number of wall mounted and free-standing gates that are designed with your child’s safety in mind.

4. One of my older children accidentally locked our two-year old in the bathroom. We had to call a locksmith to get him out...the wait for the locksmith was very traumatic for our two-year old. Is there any way I can prevent this from happening again?

You can try taping the latch on the door so that it won’t lock shut. Also, you may want to check out our Emergency Lock Release, which keeps the door locked with normal use. If you need to "rescue" your toddler, a strong, forceful push will open the door.

Proper Childproofing

1. Should I childproof my entire home or just the rooms my toddler plays in the most?

A toddler’s curiosity is usually not limited to just two or three rooms in the house, and neither should you be. We strongly recommend childproofing your entire house. This will ensure the safety of your little one and make life easier for you.

2. Which childproofing items are most important?

We highly recommend installing stairway safety gates, locks and latches for doors, windows, drawers, and cabinets, and specially designed outlet covers to keep curious tots from receiving electrical shocks. Furniture straps or brackets are essential for preventing tip-overs.

Other recommended items include:

• Cord control devices for windows
• Fireplace, wood stove, and barbeque gates
• Corner and edge padding
• Audio-visual guards
• Stove knob locks and covers
• Corner and edge padding for sharp furniture surfaces
• Anti-scald devices for kitchen and bathrooms
• Smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors

3. My three-year old daughter somehow managed to unlock the window of her ground-level bedroom and crawl out. Fortunately, she was okay. How can I prevent her from climbing out again?

Your daughter was indeed very fortunate not to have suffered any injury. Even falls from ground-level windows can often result in injury. And if your daughter’s room had been on the second floor, things could have been much worse. Window locks are essential to childproofing your home. We offer sliding window locks that can be mounted in either narrow or wide track windows. They attach easily without tools and can be positioned as either a window lock or to allow partial opening as a vent lock. You may also want to consider window guards to keep your child safe from her natural curiosity. Our Guardian Angel Window Guards keep tots safe from open windows and the window glass, yet can be removed by an adult in case of emergency. And our Window Wedges let you control the width or height of your window opening. Finally, we recommend that you move any furniture that is near a window so that your daughter can’t use it to crawl out.

4. Our two-year old son loves to poke in our electrical sockets in the home. We have put in plug covers but he just pulls them out. Is there any more secure method for keeping him safe from electrical injury?

We offer a variety of solutions for this problem. Here are just a few. Our Sliding Safety Plate comes with a built-in slide action that helps prevent access to outlets and comes with a special energy-efficient, insulating seal. To insert a plug, just slide the cover to the right. When you remove the plug, the special cover snaps shut to protect little fingers from the outlet. Our Outlet Protector shuts down power to the outlet when it is not in use. When the outlet protector’s dual sensors detect the insertion of a proper plug, it allows electricity to flow to the outlet. Our Power Strip Safety cover fits most standard, single row power strips to prevent tots from accessing plugs and outlets. The cover snaps shut with four child-resistant latches and a separate door allows adult access to the on/off switch.

5. We often take our daughter to visit her aunt and uncle who live nearby. Their home is not childproofed, so we have been looking for a removable gate that we can bring along with us on these visits. However, we have been unsuccessful in our search so far.

Check out our Toddler Temp Wall portable travel gate. This gate is made of a soft nylon mesh and is designed for doorways separating two rooms. It collapses for easy carrying and is great for traveling.
You may also want to consider our freestanding gates, which set up easily and provide a safe area for your child to play when she is away from home.

6. Our stone fireplace has a curved hearth. Is there a gate out there that fits rounded hearths?

The best solution is to install our HearthGate™, which can be customized to surround any size and shape hearth or wood stove, and protects your child from heat and flames, as well as from the hearth's rough corners and edges. The gate consists of five interlocking sections which can be adjusted in ten-degree increments.
The HearthGate™ can also be used to enclose outdoor barbecues.

7. I would prefer not to install a gate around our fireplace but still want to protect my child from the hearth’s rough corners and edges. How can I do this??

You can add padding all around the edges and corners of your hearths. We offer two hearth padding products: our Edge Heath Guard and Soft Seat Hearth Pad, both of which are flame retardant so you can use your fireplace without removing the pad.

8. I want to childproof my house but am feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the products there are out there. Is there any way to distinguish between and determine which would be the effective childproofing devices?

Yes, there a lot of products out there, some more effective than others. More expensive does not necessarily mean they are higher quality; rather they may just have finer styling or more color choices. On the other hand, some of the more expensive items may offer additional safety features and added convenience.
The first thing you want to look for is how childproof they really are, and also, which will be the most convenient for your busy lifestyle.
For example, look for safety gates that are are easy to open and close, though not too easy or else your toddler will quickly figure out how to open them. Gates with automatic locks keep your child from getting through, in case you forget to close them. Gates made of metal or wood, as opposed to plastic, will tend to be more durable. Other additional features for gates may be added height and one-way opening.

9. I am setting up a daycare out of my home, and need to install a chain link fence in my back yard. Are there any safety latches made specifically for chain link fences that children will not be able to open?

Yes. chain link fence companies typically offer special child-resistant latches that are designed specifically for preschool or daycare use.

10. We have a treadmill in our home, which our daughter just loves to climb on whenever she is in our exercise room. Can you suggest any way to keep her off the treadmill?

Yes, our Safety Gate allows you to create any size and shape gate you want. Unlike standard safety gates, which mount in a straight line, this gate mounts in any configuration. The walk-through door opens in either direction and you'll only need one hand to operate the safety latch. This gate is perfect for gating off exercise equipment, entry ways, and unusually shaped areas at the bottom of stairways.

11. What’s the best type of gate to use to block off stairways?

Hardware-mounted, straight-lined gate with vertical slats is going to be your best bet for keeping your child from accessing stairways. These type of gates install into the walls or bannister. The vertical slats will make the gate difficult for your toddler to climb. Be sure and measure the stairway opening from the widest part before purchasing a hardware-mounted gate.
You may also want to consider the height of the gate, and the construction--metal or wood gates are the most durable and long-lasting. An added safety feature would be to install a gate that only opens in one direction. We offer a variety of wall-mounted safety gates that are ideal for blocking off stairways.

12. Our front yard and driveway seems to be a congregating spot for both our own kids and most of the neighborhood kids as well. What can we do to protect the children from cars pulling up into the driveway?

We have the perfect solution. Our bright orange Retractable Barrier Safety Netting creates a visual barrier to clearly set boundaries for drivers and kids. This netting is made of weather resistant plastic mesh and is easily removable.
We also offer our Driveway Protector Safety Netting, which helps keep kids from riding their bikes or chasing a ball into the street while warning motorists not to enter the driveway where kids are playing.
In addition, our bright yellow Safety Signs serve as an alert to motorists that child are playing in the area.

Services

1. How do I find professional childproofing services in my area who will conduct an assessment of my home?

Hawk Child Safe serves the greater Puget Sound area and Eastside. If you live in our service area, you may contact us for a professional home assessment at no charge.
If you live outside our service area, check for child safety services in your phonebook or favorite search engine. You may also want to check with local Moms’ groups to see if they can recommend some child safety companies. Be sure and ask for professional references from any child safety service.

2. How do I request a free home assessment from Child Hawk Safety?

You may contact us by calling 206-777-7860 or emailing us at sales@hawkchildsafe.com for your free home assessment and estimate.

3. How much will childproofing my home through Hawk Child Safe cost me?

We offer a wide variety of affordable products. Your home assessment will rank the priority of what products you need most. You can always choose to purchase and install the most urgent items for now and do the rest later.