How Safe Do You Think Your Furniture Is?
Jan
21
Written by:
21/01/2014 17:01
Did you know that the majority of toddlers seriously injure themselves at home? Falling down the stairs, banging their heads, pulling objects off surfaces on top of themselves, we’ve all known children to do at least one, if not all, of them. As parents, how can we make our family home safe for our children? You will often see stair gates, locks, catches, plastic or foam padding on table edges, and these are all wonderful injury prevention tools. But are there further preventative measures we can take?
If you take a trip to IKEA or flick through the Argos catalogue, you will notice that the more contemporary table designs are constructed from glass or metal, though they have been designed to be aesthetically pleasing, many of the designs have sharp edges. You must know the feeling of how painful it is to knock your shin on the side of a coffee table or to catch your hip on the side of a dining room table, and it’s no different for small children, they know how painful it is too when they run their head into the same part of table. Protecting children should be our primary concern, and I believe, as parents, we should buy furniture that is safer for our children prior to the addition of extra padding.
Though contemporary designs are primarily glass and metal, the long lasting allure of oak and pine furniture still exists. Solid wood furniture just oozes the essence of home and warmth, the natural surface will fit most decors (of course, depending on taste), and ultimately the nature of the material means that the corners have more of a dull edge than a sharp corner. At speed, an impact with this furniture would still hurt, but the blunted edges may have just prevented the situation from being much worse. As a parent, I know my children will injure themselves whilst their spacial awareness develops, but also as a parent, I have a responsibility to help them grow and develop as well as to keep them safe. If your home isn’t a safe place, where is?
As a family, we have oak and pine furniture because not only does it fit with the décor of our home, but I know that my children will be safe being themselves and just doing what children do. Our furniture should not keep us on edge every time our toddler runs into the room, but comfortable knowing that the home that you have created for them is a safe environment for them to grow up in.