Start by Seeing Your Home From Their Level

Before you buy a single safety latch, try this: get down on the floor and crawl from room to room. It feels a bit silly, but it is the single most useful thing you can do. From 30 centimetres off the ground, your home looks completely different. The dangling tablecloth, the laptop cable, the bowl of pot pourri on the coffee table, the shiny plug socket — these are the things that catch a curious eye.

Children develop quickly in the first three years, and each new skill changes what they can reach. A baby who can only lie on a playmat has different needs from one who is rolling, and a crawler has different needs again from a toddler who can pull up, cruise and climb. Safety is not a one-off job you finish in an afternoon. It is something you revisit every time your child discovers a new trick.

It helps to think in terms of three simple jobs: remove the hazard, block access, or supervise closely. Most of the suggestions below are quick, cheap and take minutes to put right.

The Kitchen: The Busiest Room in the House

The kitchen deserves the most attention, because it combines heat, sharp edges, chemicals and hard floors in one small space.

• Keep hot drinks well out of reach. A mug of tea left on a low table can scald a crawling baby in seconds. Never pass a hot drink over a child's head, and avoid drinking tea or coffee while holding a baby on your lap.
• Use the back rings of the hob where you can, turn pan handles inwards, and consider a hob guard if your child can reach the cooker.
• Coil kettle flexes short so they cannot be pulled, or push the kettle to the back of the worktop.
• Store knives, scissors and blenders high up or in a locked drawer — not in a low cupboard next to the pans.
• Keep dishwasher tablets, laundry capsules and cleaning products in a locked cupboard, ideally above waist height. Never decant bleach or detergent into a drinks bottle or food container.
• If you have a dishwasher, load knives point down and keep the door closed. The detergent inside is caustic and extremely harmful to small mouths.

A safety gate on the kitchen door is often the simplest solution of all, particularly while you are cooking.

Living Rooms, Stairs and Windows

Furniture that tips over causes a surprising number of injuries, and it usually happens when a toddler begins pulling themselves up. Bookcases, chests of drawers, televisions and tall lamps should all be fixed to the wall with proper straps or brackets.

• Fit corner guards to sharp table edges and consider a hearth guard around an open fire or woodburner.
• Keep blind cords short and secured on a cleat, or choose cordless blinds. This matters most in bedrooms and anywhere near a cot or bed.
• Use a proper safety gate at the top of the stairs — one that screws into the wall rather than a pressure-fit gate that a determined toddler can dislodge. At the bottom, a gate with a step-over bar is fine.
• Keep stairs clear of toys, shoes and laundry baskets.
• Fit window restrictors so windows cannot open more than 100 millimetres, and move beds and chairs away from windows.

Bathrooms and Water

Drowning happens quickly and quietly, and young children can drown in just a few centimetres of water. Never leave a child alone in the bath, not even for a moment — if you need to answer the door or the phone, wrap them in a towel and take them with you.

• Run cold water first, then hot, and test the temperature with your elbow. Aim for around 37 to 38°C.
• If you can, have a thermostatic mixing valve fitted so hot taps deliver water no hotter than 48°C.
• Use a non-slip bath mat and tap covers, and close the toilet lid.
• Empty buckets, paddling pools and water play trays straight after use.
• Keep medicines in a locked cabinet, in their original child-resistant containers. Handbags are a common source of swallowed tablets — hang them up out of reach.

Small Objects and Button Batteries

Anything that fits through a cardboard toilet roll tube is a choking risk for a child under three. That includes grapes, cherry tomatoes, whole nuts, popcorn, raw carrot, marshmallows, coins, hair bobbles and small toy parts. Cut grapes and tomatoes lengthways into quarters.

Button batteries deserve a special mention. They are found in remote controls, musical cards, bathroom scales and some toys, and they can cause severe internal burns within a couple of hours if swallowed. Check that battery compartments are screwed shut, and if you ever suspect your child has swallowed one, go straight to your nearest emergency department rather than waiting for symptoms.

Building Safety Into Everyday Life

Aim for a home that works, not a home that is perfect. Rather than saying "no" all day, try to create at least one yes space — a room or corner where everything within reach is safe and your child can explore freely while you breathe.

Do a quick ten-minute scan once a month, and again whenever your child reaches a new milestone. Keep emergency numbers somewhere everyone can find them, and if you work with a nanny or childminder, make sure they know your routines and where the first aid kit lives. A paediatric first aid course is worth the afternoon it takes, and it will make you far more confident in the moments that matter most.