3 Most Common Mistakes: Childproofing
Expert advice from the president of Childproof-America.
by Babble Editors
July 25, 2008
2. Stocking up on cheap plastic outlet plugs
Probably the product that people are most familiar with is the little plastic plug that goes into electrical outlets. We don't recommend those. We will use them in certain circumstances, but the reason that we don't recommend them is that we differentiate between what we refer to as 'active' and 'passive' devices. Passive devices are basically devices that are childproof unless you do something to it. An active one is something that you have to do something to in order to make it childproof. So let's say you're vacuuming the living room and you unplug that plastic thing and you put it on the shelf. You finish vacuuming, the phone rings, you answer it. You never remember to put the plastic plug back in and it's no longer childproofed. Not to mention that if the child can remove it, it's small enough that they can actually put it in their mouth and swallow it.
What we recommend, wherever it can be installed, is something called a retractable plate. We take the existing plate off and we replace it with one that has a spring loaded guard behind it. So in all circumstances the plug is covered, and you can't put anything into the outlet. And when you want to plug something in, you can actually just use the prongs of the plug, push the guard into the sides, and it's plugged in. As soon as you unplug it, it's childproofed again. Those types of products are not made for all configurations of outlets — typically they're double outlets. So for a single outlet, or a double outlet with a cable outlet on the other side, that doesn't work. Then we can use those plastic types, but the ones we use always have a loop on them. You take the screw out of the plate and you screw this loop in. So even there, when you unplug it, at least the guard is still attached to the outlet.
3. Mistaking your childproof gate for a full-time nanny
What we always say, every time, is that childproofing is not a substitute for adult supervision. In fact, we have turned down jobs where we really got the sense that that's what the parents were aiming for, and we said, "We don't want to get involved with that."' The parents or the adult in charge still have to exercise care for the kids.
Interview by James Brady Ryan
©2008 Babble
