The purpose of the article is to guarantee the safety of toddlers and young children.
As all parents know, when an infant becomes mobile, a whole new world of adventure and exploration opens up for the child. For the parent, in addition to the excitement surrounding the child's developmental achievement, comes new concerns about safety. Once a child begins moving on his own, there are many potential dangers to consider. Parents are able to purchase a variety of devices designed to help reduce the risks of accidental injury in the home.
Among the most popular 'baby-proofing' products are cabinet and toilet latches, child-proof medicine caps, and electrical outlet covers. While products of this sort are very useful, and their utilization should be encouraged, it is important that we, as parents, bear in mind that they are best used as teaching aids, rather than depended upon to keep our children safe from harm.
Using these products as teaching aids means that when, for example, the unsuccessful attempt to open a cabinet secured with a child safety latch is heard, it is taken to be an opportunity for correction. Correcting the child, rather than resting sure in the knowledge that the contents of the cabinet are inaccessible, moves parent and child closer to the point at which the child stays out of the cabinet because he or she knows that the contents are not to be played with, not merely because the contents cannot be gotten to.
This is important for two reasons. First, it adds protection against an accident on the part of the parents, such as that of forgetting to fasten a latch. While knowing that she or he should not be touching a certain thing does not ensure that a child will, in fact, leave it alone, it may provide enough hesitation in the action of the child that the parent takes notice before any real harm is done.
Secondly, child saftey products are only useful for a limited amount of time. Toddler's dexterity develops rapidly, and after a bit of experimentation, most figure out how to defeat the purpose of such devices. Parents, then, have a relatively small window of opportunity in which to instill in children an understanding of which explorations are dangerous and which are, at worst, an annoyance.
As with anything that parents teach children, the most efficient and sure means of doing so is to be consistent. Although it may be tempting, while in the midst of an important telephone call or something of the sort, or even from simple exhaustion, to allow a toddler to rattle a cabinet door she can't unlatch or to shake a pill bottle that he can't open in trade for a few minutes of peace, it is not good policy. In regard to safety issues, in particular, consistency is the highest principle.
When used in combination, child safety products and consistent discipline in regard to what is and what is not off-limits are among the best options available to parents to ensure that their children pass through early childhood to the age of reason with as few household accidents or injuries as possible.
