When you have toddlers at home, you want your home to be as safe as possible for them. Kids can be prone to accidents, but you can make your home safer for small children with a few upgrades and small renovations. 

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1. Fit a stair gate at the top and bottom of the stairs and keep them locked. A fall down the stairs could be very nasty, so don’t skip the stair gate. 
2. Cover sharp corners with padding. You can buy covers for table corners, which can protect little ones from nasty injuries if they fall. 
3. If your toddler has begun to climb, move furniture away from the windows so they can’t climb up to them. If your home windows are easy to open, fit locks or switch them for windows that are difficult for little hands to get open. 
4. If you have glass doors, like patio doors, cover the glass with safety film. The film won’t stop light getting in, but will stop the glass from shattering if it gets broken. Broken pieces will be held in place, preventing nasty cuts. 
5. Don’t forget the garden. If you have a pond, make sure it’s covered with a mesh grill so a child can’t fall in. Empty the paddling pool after it’s been used, and never let a child play near water unattended. 
6. Make sure your toddler can’t grab anything they could hurt themselves with. Move heavy pans to the back of cupboards, or move them to a higher shelf, so little hands can’t reach them and pull them out onto themselves. 
7. When cooking, turn pan handles inwards so they’re not sticking out over the edge the oven where they can be grabbed by small children. 
8. Cover fires and radiators with a fire guard, to avoid burns. 
9. Fit child locks onto drawers and cupboards that have anything dangerous in them, such as wherever you store sharp knives, cleaning chemicals, or alcohol. 
10. Make sure to keep hot drinks out of reach of small children so they don’t accidentally tip them over onto themselves and get burned. 
11. Don’t rely on child-safe tops and keep all medicines in an out of reach cupboard.
12. Be aware of choking hazards, and keep small items out of reach, especially ones that a child might be tempted to put in their mouths. Small items of jewellery, beads or coins should be tidied away. 
13. Don’t forget your handbag. Kids are curious, and may look through it, so be sure to store it out of reach if you keep small items that could be choked on or things like painkillers in it. 
14. Anchor your TV securely to the wall if it’s within reach of children. You don’t want a child to get hold of it and pull it over onto themselves. 
15. Be careful with candles. Burns can be nasty, so perhaps swap your candle habit for a fake LED version until your children are older. Keep matches well out of reach in case of accidents. 
16. Keep things tidy, if you can, to avoid tripping over toys and being hurt.

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