Stair gates, window restrictors, furniture strapped to walls, medicines and cleaning products high and locked, and blind cords tied up. Those five prevent most serious accidents at home.
- Stair gates top and bottom, fitted properly. The top one should be screwed, not pressure fitted.
- Window restrictors on any upstairs window, and nothing climbable underneath it.
- Strap tall furniture to the wall. Chests of drawers and bookcases tip forward when a child climbs the open drawers, and this causes deaths every year.
- Medicines and cleaning products high up and locked, including dishwasher tablets and laundry capsules, which look like sweets.
- Blind cords tied up and out of reach, with a cleat fitted. These are a strangulation risk.
Get down to the child's height and look. You will see things you cannot see standing up: a trailing kettle lead, a low bookcase that is a ladder, a cupboard with bleach in it at eye level.
Household accident data points at the same small set of mechanisms repeatedly: falls down stairs and from windows, furniture tipping, poisoning and strangulation by cords. Addressing those five is worth more than a house full of cupboard catches.
This is general information, not medical advice, and it does not replace a GP, a pharmacist or NHS 111. Call 999 in an emergency. Full disclaimer.