For children, a kitchen is a place where there are so many exciting things to watch and experience. Of course, the children also want to lend a hand and experiment themselves. What is in the cupboards and drawers? What can you do with these devices and ingredients? But be careful.
There are plenty of sources of danger for children lurking in the kitchen. If you take our tips into account, you will have a lot of fun with family life in the kitchen - without having to refuse the help of the little helpers.
A kitchen is a very practical room. However, children are not always aware of the hazards that can be found there. Before you let your little ones loose in the kitchen, it is best to take precautions so that nobody gets hurt.
Tips for baby proof kitchens
Of course, there is no such thing as a completely child-safe kitchen, but with our tips, you can reduce some dangers to a high degree.
Free space under supervision: In principle, small children should never be in the kitchen without adult supervision. If your child wants to help out in the kitchen, provide them with a safe, enclosed corner. Here the little chef can play with wooden spoons, pots, and plastic bowls. You can also take advantage of this play area for the children's meals. This way, you will keep an eye on them and prevent accidents in the kitchen at the same time.
If your child wants to help out in the kitchen, provide them with a safe, enclosed corner.
Kitchen cabinets are always potential sources of danger. If you have drawers or cabinet doors that are badly closed or open too far upwards, give them extra protection with foam rubber tubing. It is very easy to install - just put it around the joints between moveable parts and fix it in place using cable ties. For example, if your oven door sticks when opening, use this solution to make it easier for little fingers to handle it safely. You could also use three-sided foam rubber tubing to prevent your drawers from opening too widely and trapping small fingers.
Explain in a playful way
Explain to your child, again and again, the dangers in the kitchen and show them in a playful way. For example, you can use drawing materials to paint pictures of situations that could be dangerous for children. Draw the little ones in different playful settings with kitchen utensils surrounding them - but avoid putting them in extreme situations.
The kitchen is not a children's room
Falls are the most common cause of accidents in the household. There is a risk of slipping, especially on the smooth floor, where grease or water is also splashing on it. So don't let your child run and run around in the kitchen. And be aware that the floor is slippery when you wear socks or soft shoes. This kind of footwear has no anti-slip sole - it can also be purchased in children's sizes. ' To avoid injury, make sure your child always wears welly boots or other forms of solid footwear when they are in the kitchen.
Toys belong in the play area, not in the kitchen. So do not let them gather up all their toys on top of or around any appliance - even if you have a baby gate.
If your children are using the kitchen as a play area, make sure they sit on a chair tall enough for them. Get rid of small chairs and stools that can be tipped over easily. Also, take care that no chairs or stools are too close to the edge of any surface where they could become unstable and cause an accident.
Some kitchen furniture invites you to climb
The worktop and stove are often used as steps to get to the cupboards and trash cans. Always keep stools and stepladders that you use out of the reach of the child after use.
Install baby proofing items: There are protective grilles for the hob, which prevent pans from being torn down and the hot hob from being touched. Cover plates for oven windows are also important if these are installed at the child's reach. Also secure the drawers and doors with safety locks so that children cannot get to cleaning supplies, knives, or other dangerous kitchen utensils. All sockets should also be equipped with child safety devices.
What baby proofing items can I use?
There are many different types of baby-proofing devices that you could use in your kitchen. The most popular items are cupboard locks, drawer locks, door locks, oven locks, safety plugs for electric outlets, microwave locks, and cabinet latches.
- Cupboard Locks: These come in sets of two or three locks which provide extra security when the cabinets are closed.
- Drawer Locks: Drawer stops prevent drawers from being pulled out further than needed so they can't stick out enough to allow children to climb up easily. Drawer stoppers are useful above all if the child is crawling because it slows them down when getting into a crawling position - which can protect them from falling face-first on the floor.
- Door Locks: Door levers are available in two types. One type requires the child to push down in order to open the door while another one has a protector that is inserted into the door handle when it is locked.
- Oven lock: If your oven does not have an automatic lock, then you will need to get one separately. This device is attached to the oven controls and needs to be removed using a key. It ensures that no curious hands can reach out and burn themselves on hot surfaces of your oven or even switch off or change heat settings if they manage to pull down the control panel of your oven.
- Microwave locks: This device attaches onto the side of your microwave and has a round plate that needs to be removed with a key. It prevents children from opening the microwave door or being able to access any function buttons other than the stop/cancel button.
- Safety plugs for electric outlets: These are plastic caps that fit over existing outlets and prevent anything from getting into them, such as fingers or hairpins. The plug can only be removed using a screwdriver for adults who know not to play around with electricity.
- Cabinet latches: Cabinet latches are beneficial if you want an additional level of security where your child cannot remove the latch themselves but also do not need a screwdriver to open up cabinets. They simply stick onto the front of cabinets or cupboards and provide a visual cue for your child as to how they should open it.
Protection from electrical devices
Electrical devices such as kettles, blenders, or coffee machines should be placed out of the reach of children. Make sure that the cables do not hang down. In general, you should be careful when handling electrical appliances near water. It is best to pull the plug out of the socket after use and put the device away. All the electrical devices are placed into a plastic tub and put out of the reach of children unless they are played with under supervision.
With most appliances, there is an inherent danger in leaving the device plugged in and unattended. If you would like to use your appliance and keep it at hand (for example a blender or coffee machine), then try placing some sort of guard around it so that either the cord cannot be reached or the blades cannot be touched by little fingers.
Cook mindfully
When cooking, you should place pots and pans on the back of the hob if possible. If these are already occupied, always turn the style of the pot and pan backward. If there are no back burners free, then you can use a stovetop guard or barbecue ring to prevent the pot from tipping over. Children can easily get burned by any boiling hot liquid that spills out so it is important to be careful while cooking.
At child-safe height
The oven and dishwasher should always be closed. If you are planning a new kitchen, it is best to have the oven installed at a height that is easy on your back. Then the children don't even have a chance.
Avoid bumps
Sharp edges on cupboards and tables should be provided with edge/corner protectors, e.g. made of silicone. These avoid any nasty bumps and bruises. Furthermore, you should always keep your sharp knives out of reach, that way if your child does get their hands on one then they won't be able to cut themselves very deeply.
Set the table carefully
When setting the table, make sure that you always place pots and bowls with hot contents in the middle of the table. Do not put a tablecloth on. Children instinctively try to hold on to something when they tilt the chair and could tear everything down with it.
Dangers out of reach
The following items should always be kept out of the reach of children and in lockable or secure locations:
- Dishwashing detergents and cleaning agents
- Matches
- Spices
- Alcoholic drinks
- Medication
- Small parts that can be swallowed
- Plastic bags
- Sharp knives and other dangerous cutlery
- Fruit bowls with e.g. cherries or nuts, because of the risk of suffocation.
How to babyproof trash cans
Put garbage cans in a closed cupboard if possible - the kids can reach in too quickly and injure themselves or put something in their mouths.
Always throw away empty cans directly and, if necessary, transfer leftovers to plastic containers. In this way, you protect your children and at the same time prevent the metal inside the can from spoiling the food.
Plastic bags?
Caution: danger of suffocation! It is therefore imperative that you always bring bags out of the reach of small children - and instruct larger children never to pull a plastic bag over their heads.
Find out whether your plastic bag dispenser has an automatic stop function so that the next bag is not released until it is pulled out properly. Or you can just attach a small lock to the device.
You will avoid accidents if you use only non-transparent or metal garbage bags in your kitchen corner. If transparent bags are unavoidable, try to influence the shape of their contents so that little fingers won't get caught anywhere. And never leave your child alone with waste disposal containers!
Having a childproof home is as important as having a smoke alarm. It is also useful to know some basic first-aid in case of emergencies. Try going through the first-aid list once a year with your family and make sure everyone knows what to do if someone gets hurt.
Children can be reckless, curious, and impulsive. You need to always keep little ones in mind when getting anything new for your kitchen or changing old appliances or objects around. If you are unsure about whether any object or appliance poses any danger for your children, then don't hesitate to ask - it's better to be safe than sorry!
It helps protect them from harming themselves by accidentally contacting sharp edges on furniture, electricity cables that are unsafely placed or dangling, and removing unattended hot beverage mugs from the stove.
The kitchen is a hectic place with all sorts of appliances going on so being able to keep them out of reach for children is ideal. It also helps you when it comes time to do the washing up because you won't have any accidental help from little ones who try their hand at dishwashing before they're ready.
If it has been a while since you've been in your kitchen, then perhaps it is time to revisit all appliance outlets and cords in the room and make sure there isn't anything that could be potentially dangerous hanging around. You can do this by simply asking yourself if an average-sized child would fit into the gap between cabinets/shelves and wall plugs.
You may want to teach your child the same safety rules you follow so that you don't have to fear for them too often. Some of these are simple precautions, such as not leaving doors to rooms where you work open when the heat is on high or turning off appliances after use, but knowing about why they are necessary can be equally important even if it does seem strange at first. If you're unsure, simply ask yourself if you would feel comfortable with an average-sized child doing what you do in regards to appliance usage. Remember, it's better to be safe than sorry!